Summary

Chapter 20 is titled “The Dance of Freedom.” Dr. Eger begins Part IV, and this chapter, with a summing up of her relationship with Viktor Frankl, their friendship and respect for each other. She describes attending a conference with him and, on the last night, dancing with him. “There we were,” she says, “two aging dancers. Two people enjoying the sacred present. Two survivors who had learned to thrive and be free” (237). She then describes learning from Frankl that “painful experiences aren’t a liability – they’re a gift” (237), offering opportunities for compassion and growth. She describes coming to terms with the balance of those two sides of an experience as “the dance of freedom” (237).

Dr. Eger then describes navigating this dance within three therapeutic relationships. The first is with Jason, whom she taught how to...