>>> 4. the absence of any obvious meaning or sense to life

Whenever I see stuff like this, I have to ask: If there is no meaning or sense to life, why spend so much time and energy and tears and effort on therapy.
IMO Yalom is just voicing his own pain, he admits it in several of his books. I think it's sad, he thinks of himself as one who can lead others, but has no idea where he is going. How is it that in dealing so intimately with so many kinds of people over so many years, he's still stuck here. I'm sure glad he's not MY therapist

After the trauma is discovery of life, of social interconnectedness, of human love, sometimes of forgiveness - and if one can understand that being given the chance to discover all that is a blessing, one might look to see where the blessing comes from, and that is to discover real peace.