Journal article
Exploring the principles of logotherapy in genetic counseling: Enhancing decision-making, adaptation, and justice
Journal of genetic counseling, Vol.35(1), e70165
02/2026
DOI: 10.1002/jgc4.70165
PMID: 41492223
Appears in UI Libraries Support Open Access
Abstract
Logotherapy is a psychological approach originated by Viktor Frankl, shaped by the thesis that meaning can be discovered even in the most tragic of human circumstances, and through a human's will-to-meaning, that individuals have both freedom and responsibility to discover meanings in the moment and ultimate meanings from their unique standpoints and life stories. The authors submit that as the genetic counseling profession straddles the givens of science and disease alongside the openness of human choices, logotherapy is a particularly effective and potent framework for its practitioners. Logotherapy holds space for the painful experiences of guilt, death, and suffering alongside genetic conditions and the responsibility to make decisions about what to do and how to live. Attention to the emerging psychological concerns and possibilities for meaningfulness in these spaces of tension can enhance the core goals of genetic counseling, including informed decision-making and healthy adaptation. This paper aims to demonstrate the efficacy of meaning-centered counseling skills to actively empower a patient's narrative and capacities as essential and alongside other health care needs and concerns. This paper focuses on the general approach of logotherapy and highlights two specific techniques: Socratic Dialogue and Dereflection. From the authors' own multiplicity of practice and teaching perspectives in the genetic counseling field, the paper argues that logotherapy is highly applicable to the profession, highly compatible with short-term counseling interventions and across varied specialties, offering counselors and their diverse patient populations a more meaning-rich experience of care, respect, and decisional empowerment.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Exploring the principles of logotherapy in genetic counseling: Enhancing decision-making, adaptation, and justice
- Creators
- Nour Chanouha - University of IowaAnna Chassevent - Kennedy Krieger InstituteEllen F Macnamara - National Human Genome Research InstituteKendra Schaa - University of IowaRenata Thoeny - University of IowaJaneta Tansey - University of Iowa, Neurosurgery
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of genetic counseling, Vol.35(1), e70165
- DOI
- 10.1002/jgc4.70165
- PMID
- 41492223
- NLM abbreviation
- J Genet Couns
- ISSN
- 1059-7700
- eISSN
- 1573-3599
- Publisher
- Wiley; HOBOKEN
- Grant note
- INtramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The first authors would like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Janeta Tansey, the senior author and faculty with the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy, for her invaluable guidance and mentorship. This research was supported, in part, by the INtramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The contributions of the NIH author are considered Works of the United States Government. The findings and conclusions presented in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NIH or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/2026
- Academic Unit
- Obstetrics and Gynecology; Neurosurgery
- Record Identifier
- 9985137448602771
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