Ideas on Mental Health & Meaning

The Last of the Human Freedoms

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. If I were to sum up the entirety of Dr. Viktor Frankl’s works, as I have come to understand them, and...

read more

Are You Ready for Ketamine?

Over two decades ago, when I first started in the industry working in adolescent substance abuse treatment, Ketamine was only a street-drug to me.  A substance used in the medical field, that addicts would find illegally - often stealing in it from physicians and...

read more

The Meaning of Work: Labor Day 2024

In this episode, Dr. Dan discusses the meaning of work and how it relates to finding purpose and fulfillment in life. He explores the ideas of Viktor Frankl and Joseph Fabry, both pioneers in logotherapy, and highlights the importance of finding meaning in creative...

read more

Leaving the Prison of Our Own Thinking

In this episode, Mark Delaney shares his journey of finding purpose and helping others do the same. He emphasizes the importance of living with purpose, freedom, and love, and how these three things can simplify and enrich our lives. Mark believes that purpose must be...

read more

The Existential Question : What Now?

Is it just me, or is everyone experiencing a bit of existential crisis these days? I know it's part of my work, and what I do.  But it feels like 'everyone' is feeling it these days.  I know that was a big part of our small group discussion in class yesterday: What...

read more

Choose Meaningfully

35,000 decisions each day.  That is the current estimate from research at Cornell University.  That is a lot of opportunity to choose Meaning.  Or not.  Here are a few of Dr. Frankl's thougths from Man's Search for Menaing. “Everything can be taken from a man but one...

read more

The Malaise of Our Time

Although my phone says I used it 2 hours less this week, I think I've been spending too much time in media - social and otherwise.  Maybe it's having the Olympics on, or maybe it's coming back to the "real world" after vacation.  But are you feeling "THAT"?  I'm not...

read more

The Humanity of Love and of Humor

Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief...

read more

The Psychology of The Concentration Camp

Last week, I visited a concentration camp.  It was not the first time I had visited this particular one.  But it was the first time I visited it after studying Viktor Frankl, Logotherapy, and Man's Search for Meaning. In that concentration camp, I was reminded of...

read more

What I’m Reading

This is always a great time of year for reading - then again, I guess, personally, I think it is ALWAYS a great time for reading.  And, for me, what I read almost always finds it's way into my work and even into my personal life.  So, I thought I would share with you...

read more