This course explores how meaning and purpose shape mental health and overall quality of life. We will begin with a brief history of psychiatry and psychotherapy, including Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and The Doctor and the Soul, and examine the shift from purpose-driven and relational approaches to pharmaceutical solutions in modern healthcare. Together, we will consider the forces that drive meaninglessness and social disconnection today, as well as the many forms grief can take—loss of people, relationships, roles, or environments. In the second part of the course, participants will be introduced to resources and get to practice tools for navigating grief, reconstructing meaning, and rediscovering purpose in the 21st century.
Optional Reading: Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl and The Doctor and the Soul, Viktor Frankl