RESILIENCE - A THEORETICAL APPROACH A UNIQUE PSYCHOLOGICAL AFTERMATH OF THE HOLOCAUST
RESILIENCE - A THEORETICAL APPROACH A UNIQUE PSYCHOLOGICAL AFTERMATH OF THE HOLOCAUST

Summary/Abstract: Throughout his existence, the individual is confronted with an unpremeditated reality which brings him face to face to certain traumatic events. Resilience appears as an inner adaptive trait of individuals who are facing adversities, a characteristic that allows them to bounce back and surmount these kinds of experiences. This article aims to approach resilience from a theoretical perspective, with a focus on Victor Emil Frankl's findings, through his autobiographical insights, residing from his experience as a Holocaust survivor and reinforced by his scientific background, as a psychiatrist. Resilience is being theoretically approached from the perspective of logotherapy, a form of psychotherapy developed by Frankl, through which the individual is conjured to find his own meaning in life, in order to thrive in face of adversities. This scientific endeavour seeks to bring a humanistic standpoint based on several confessions of a few Holocaust survivors, as Edith Eva Eger, Gisella Pearl and Henry Krystal, who evoked their trauma through a complex emotional itinerary. Offering an updated perspective upon the psychological challenges of the 21st century, this article embeds ideas such as: existential vacuum, creating meaning and noölogical dimension, significant in dealing with the adversities of human existence. Resilience is, therefore, seen as a reservoir of life, which helps individuals to thrive among fundamental existential issues.

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