What do you do when you don't know what to do? How do you keep going, when you don't feel like going on? How do you pick yourself up after you fall down? What happens when you feel like giving up? I. Don't. Know. At least, I sure didn't feel like I did. I was feeling pretty low - so I went to my favorite Logotherapist and said, "help me out here." And he did. And that is what we talk about in this episode of the podcast. Hopefully you find it as meaningful as I did. To contact Dr. Dan go to www....
Jan 29, 2024•33 min
Shiraz Siddique is the author of Well Done: A Passionate Pursuit of Purpose and the founder of CBHN - the Christian Business Harvest Network - but he's also just a fun man to chat with. And with you chat with you, you can hear that passion and feel that he has found his purpose. In this episode, we discuss Shiraz's life changing book, Well Done, as well as his ideas on discerning your Purpose in life. To get your copy of his book - and I highly recommend you do - go to https://amzn.to/496lXVf To...
Jan 22, 2024•49 min
The University of Michigan just won the National Championship in football behind their start quarterback, JJ McCarthy. JJ is a great football player in a world of great football players - 100's of them playing in the NCAA. But what set him apart recently, was his focus and ritual - a ritual where he sits an meditates on the field of play, in front of all the tv cameras and fans, unapologetically. He credits this ritual, among others, with helping him along the path to winning. So why don't MORE ...
Jan 15, 2024•42 min
I've been reading a lot lately about the history of alcohol, cannabis, and other drugs - like the psychedelics ergot, psylocibin, & LSD - and their impact on the formation of modern civilization and the religions of today. Interesting, but heavy stuff. But not so heavy, that it doesn't impact the meaning of the moment in modern times. Alcohol continues to be a problem for many - and many others are working on a "Dry January". Marijuana laws continue to be complex and perplexing. AND we are l...
Jan 08, 2024•45 min
Happy New Year!! New Year, NEW YOU, Right?!?! WRONG!!! You know we don't subscribe to that nonsense here at The Meaning Project or at The Viktor Frankl Meaning Academy. What about, new year, TRUE YOU? Or, there are a multitude of ways to use the beginning of a new year as a launch pad for self improvement. Not that you have to wait for 1.1.24; and you certainly aren't "too late", if you go past 1.1.24. But it seems our culture does take the beginning of a new year as an imperative to start worki...
Jan 01, 2024•14 min
I was thinking about this the other day - what if we took "Merry Christmas" with us into the new year? What if we saw people's genuine kindness and well-wishing in those words, rather than being offended they did not know our exact preference? What if we had more GRACE for each other in 2024. I walk my way through these ideas and more in this podcast. And, if you are listening to it on the day it is released - MERRY CHRISTMAS!! In fact, if you AREN'T listening to it on the day it is released (De...
Dec 25, 2023•26 min
Why do we do what we do during the holiday season? How do we choose where to spend our time and energy - what do we do with the resources we are given? Dr. Frankl wrote on the idea of 'traditions' - suggesting that traditions are diminishing and leaving us to feel meaningless. In this episode, Dr. B. and I discuss the importance of holiday traditions, and how to discern which ones are important, and which ones might need to change. Enjoy! To contact Dr. Dan go to www.DanielAFranz.com or email me...
Dec 18, 2023•45 min
What is the Meaning behind different celebrations during this time of year? Why do we celebrate different Christmas or Chanukkah traditions? What about other spiritual or cultural traditions today, or throughout history? In this episode, my good friend Dr. Baruch "B" HaLevi and I explore the Meaning of The Season - and what you can do to enjoy this "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" meaningfully. Enjoy! To contact Dr. Dan go to www.DanielAFranz.com or email me directly at DrDan@DanielAFranz.com T...
Dec 11, 2023•39 min
Your Search for Meaning is the flagship course from The Viktor Frankl Meaning Academy scheduled to start in January 2024. This will be a 6-month program, working with the team of logo-philosophers from The Meaning Academy, to work through your personal journey to discover meaning in your life. In this episode, B. and I take a deep dive into the program, what it will look like, what the different components are, and why we think it will be an awesome journey for YOU to invest in youself. To conta...
Dec 04, 2023•39 min
For the past 10-15 years, every year that I have been in private practice; I have written or recorded a "Holiday Gift Guide" on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Back when I started, I don't even think it was called "Cyber Monday" yet. In the beginning, it was a few ideas of what I thought people would find helpful in their lives, or maybe what I had been reading. Then, as Amazon began to take over the world, I would include "affiliate links" that would pay me a shiny nickel each time a person boug...
Nov 27, 2023•23 min
This was definitely not a topic I ever intended to cover. However, when a good friend calls and says he needs your opinion for a paper he is writing - well, I decided to hit the record button to see where it went. And, in my opinion, it went pretty well. In this podcast, my good friend, Retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Joseph O. Paul and I discuss the mental health industry's responsibility in gun control and gun violence, and my personal/professional opinions on what we can and should do. Of co...
Nov 20, 2023•53 min
The 12-Step industry says FEAR is "False Emotion Appearing Real". However, for many of us FEAR, and the related emotion ANXIETY, can feel VERY REAL. Sometimes, they can be debilitating. In this episode of the podacst, Dr. B. and I discuss the modern manifestion of fear and anxiety, and what you can do to turn them into motivating emotions. To contact Dr. Dan go to www.DanielAFranz.com or email me directly at DrDan@DanielAFranz.com To find out more about what we have going on over at The Meaning ...
Nov 13, 2023•44 min
It's that time of the year again! The time when many of us clinicians get early morning calls to reschedule or cancel appointments due to "cold", "flu", or "feeling terrible", and we graciously accept so that we may keep those particular ailments out of our offices. Although, I feel like the steady flow of a variety of viral infections has helped to innoculate me over the years, that's a story for another podcast... This is also the time of year we start to discuss the prevention of Seasonal Aff...
Nov 06, 2023•21 min
With everything growing so quickly at The Meaning Academy, Dr. B. & Dr. D. crossed paths and calendars this week, and somehow missed each other's schedule. So, after many weeks, I return to share a solo podcast!! I thought some recent research into Frank's "The Will to Meaning" really related to what I was seeing in my clinical office, and perhaps to what you might be going through lately. In this podcast, I illuminate The Three Pillars of Logotherapy, and discuss how they might help our mod...
Oct 30, 2023•34 min
We say it at the end of the Viktor Frankl Meaning Academy podcast every week, "now go live your life with Meaning, Purpose, & Resilience." But how do you do that? We've probably discussed it different ways at different times, in brief. So, in this episode, we decided to tackle all three together. And, I've got to tell you, B. came up with a beautiful metaphor for the combination! Enjoy! To contact Dr. Dan go to www.DanielAFranz.com or email me directly at DrDan@DanielAFranz.com To find out m...
Oct 23, 2023•46 min
In 'Man's Search for Meaning', Dr. Frankl writes; “There are two races of men in this world, but only these two -- the "race" of the decent man and the "race" of the indecent man. Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society. No group consists entirely of decent or indecent people.” Our world has seen much indecency; it has seen the face of evil recently. Evil that has had a significant on B., and therefore the team at The Meaning Academy. Therefore, we took some time to ...
Oct 16, 2023•45 min
What does it mean to "be a good human"? I had the opportunity to take a good friend and business owner out to dinner recently. The hope, other than some good chicken wings, was in to pick his brain about his business success for a new project I am working on helping family businesses. The main point of our discussion - he has build a successful family business in under a decade on a very simple principle - just be a good human. Now, that manifested itself in several different ways, but in the en...
Oct 09, 2023•36 min
Life is full of transitions - and many of us struggle through them. Whether it is the struggle from one season to the next, from summer to fall to winter; or it is the struggle from youth to middle age, we all have our hiccups along the path of life. Psychologist Carl Jung writes about "the transition from the morning of life to the afternoon of life", and how, often, we are not prepared for the transition. In this episode, B. and I take on the question of "A college for 40 year olds", and what ...
Oct 02, 2023•38 min
Go to your local bookstore - if you still have one within a hundred miles - or run a quick online search on the topic, and you can find endless information on parenting. How to raise the perfect child, or even simpler, how not to 'break' your child in the first 18 years, are topics many of us have looked up in our parenting journey It seems "Coach Prime" - Deion Sanders - formerlly of NFL fame, now front and center of current events in college football, has some interesting ideas on training you...
Sep 25, 2023•38 min
How do men grow from "Prince" to "King"? (And hopefully bypass "Toad") At one time, we lived in a culture full of male initiation rites. But that has changed in the past few decades. So how can men grow from adolescent to adult in a healthy and positive way? What does it look like to be a "King"? In this episode, my good friend, Dr. Baruch "B" HaLevi and I discuss that more, from a variety of perspectives. To contact Dr. Dan go to www.DanielAFranz.com or email me directly at DrDan@DanielAFranz.c...
Sep 18, 2023•34 min
Take three Logotherapists and put them together in a room to discuss the importance and impact of logotherapy in modern times. That's what this podcast is all about - I welcome my peers from the Meaning Academy, Dr. Baruch "B" HaLevi and Dr. Alise Cortez to discuss our combined work and our hopes for it's impact. Enjoy! To contact Dr. Dan go to www.DanielAFranz.com or email me directly at DrDan@DanielAFranz.com To find out more about what we have going on over at The Meaning Academy, go to: http...
Sep 11, 2023•42 min
You may have noticed there was no Meaning Project Podcast or Viktor Frankl Meaning Academy podcast last week. That's my fault - well, sort of. Life got a little crazy - yes, life goes awry even for a logotherapist. I talk about all the bits and pieces of it in the podcast. Interestingly, I hear these stories fairly often. Life can seem to pile up on us and cause us to take our eye off the ball - or wake up Monday morning realizing, "wow, I didn't even send out the weekly email"... It's what we D...
Aug 28, 2023•45 min
What does it mean "to be worthy of our suffering"? Dr. Viktor Frankl writes in 'Man's Search for Meaning': “Dostoevski said once, "There is only one thing I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings." These words frequently came to my mind after I became acquainted with those martyrs whose behavior in camp, whose suffering and death, bore witness to the fact that the last inner freedom cannot be lost. It can be said that they were worthy of the their sufferings; the way they bore their suffering ...
Aug 14, 2023•43 min
You may have heard or read about the latest project I've been working on - The Meaning Academy. Our goal is to continue to share the ideas and applications of Dr. Frankl, logotherapy, and all the work that has gone into this field in the past 50+ years. So we have banded together as logotherapists and fans of Frankl to grow a tribe of "Meaning Seekers". One of the ways we have been doing this for the past few months is in hosting Meaning Masterminds every Thursday afternoon at 3pm EST. This is a...
Aug 07, 2023•1 hr 6 min
What is meaningful about taking a vacation? Why is it important that we "vacate" our day-to-day lives on occasion to experience new things? How can we take what we learn on vacation, and incorporate it into everyday life? In this episode, B. and I discuss these ideas from a logotherapeutic and psychological perspective. To contact Dr. Dan go to www.DanielAFranz.com or email me directly at DrDan@DanielAFranz.com To find out more about what we have going on over at The Meaning Academy, go to: http...
Jul 31, 2023•39 min
It's that time again - time for The Meaning Project to take a little break. But before I go, I wanted to share some of my favorite ideas in logotherapy, how I live them, and what you might be able to do to bring them into your life. Enjoy! To contact Dr. Dan go to www.DanielAFranz.com or email me directly at DrDan@DanielAFranz.com To find out more about what we have going on over at The Meaning Academy, go to: https://www.themeaningacademy.com/ To support your favorite podcast on Mental Health &...
Jul 17, 2023•25 min
Dr. Sarah Musavi befriended both B. and I at different times over the past few years. She is a dynamic helper, working to guide parents in Canada through difficult modern times raises teens and young adults. If you remember, I was on her show back in the fall of '22 - and now in this episode, Rabbi B. and I get to talk about Resilience from a Logo-philosophical perspective. Enjoy! To contact Dr. Dan go to www.DanielAFranz.com or email me directly at DrDan@DanielAFranz.com To find out more about ...
Jul 10, 2023•1 hr 5 min
I've always had a reaction to the word "reductionism" since I first read it during my early studies of Dr. Frankl's work. The idea that we reduce each other to a single word, or thought, or label - it still makes me cringe. I am reminded of how each prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps was stripped of their humanity and reduced to a number - Dr. Viktor Frankl, neurologist, psychologist, husband, and expecting father was reduced to prisoner #119104. You would think we learned something from t...
Jul 03, 2023•38 min
There is an idea in psychology that "Radical Honesty" with one's self and those around you is an important key to health and happiness. Not just an idea, but a book and series of workshops on the idea, if you are interested. Serendipitously, Rabbi B. found this idea during a week where several of the clients I work with struggled with "honesty" in critical ways - and not just "lying", the lack of honesty, but in some ways, TOO MUCH honesty. So, B. and I decided to pepper this idea around and com...
Jun 26, 2023•43 min
Michael Laidler was born and raised in Miami, Florida, by a single mother and his grandmother. With no father around, he had to learn how to lead himself before he learned how to lead others. He had to learn how to survive his surroundings, moving every year just to stay above water. At the age of 19 years old, he entered the law enforcement industry as a police officer in Tallahassee, Florida. During his time, he became a Field Training Officer (FTO) and earned the Life Savings Award. At 23 yea...
Jun 12, 2023•37 min
