UT School of Nursing dean earns
lifetime achievement award
HOUSTON – (July 7, 2009) – The Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy recently awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award to Patricia L. Starck, DSN, RN, FAAN, dean of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing. Starck, the John P. McGovern Distinguished Professor, is only the third recipient in the institute’s 32-year history to receive the prestigious award.
Patricia L. Starck, DSN, RN, FAAN, dean of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing, was presented the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the institute’s recent 17th World Congress in Dallas. With her is Alexander Vessely, grandson of the late Viennese psychiatrist who founded logotherapy.
The award, presented during the institute’s World Congress XVII last month in Dallas, recognizes Starck’s lifetime of distinguished contributions and sterling leadership in promoting the philosophical and therapeutic concepts of the late Frankl, M.D., Ph.D., a prominent neurologist and psychiatrist. Frankl’s concept of logotherapy is based on the premise that the primary motivational force of an individual – the human spirit - is to find a meaning in life. Much of his therapy consisted of bringing forth “the dynamic power of the human spirit.”
As a doctoral student at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Starck became interested in Frankl’s existential, humanistic theory. She wanted to know what causes some patients with spinal cord injuries to remain motivated while others with similar injuries seem to give up.
At the time, logotherapy had only been used with patients who were undergoing psychological or psychiatric care. Starck decided to test out a nursing intervention that incorporated logotherapy in patients with physical disabilities. She discovered that patients benefitted. As Starck’s career as a nursing educator and administrator progressed, she discovered logotherapy also was helpful for students who are struggling academically. Starck, who celebrated her 25th anniversary as the dean of UT Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing this year, found it was even useful as an underlying philosophy for administration.
“Dr. Starck is such a deserving recipient of this award,” said Robert C. Barnes, Ph.D., president of the International Board of Directors of the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy. “Her beautiful mind, firm leadership and stellar contributions through research, publications and presentations have helped establish and nuture the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy, where we teach involving the body, mind and spirit in the healing process which Frankl called medical ministry.”
Starck, who serves as treasurer on the board’s executive council, worked with Frankl over a 20-year period and trained as a diplomate in logotherapy. Frankl acknowledged Starck as the first to use logotherapy with patients with disabilities and quoted from her case studies in his lectures and publications. In 1987, Starck invited Frankl, known as the father of the Third School of Viennese Psychiatry and also author of Man’s Search for Meaning, to the UT Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing to give a presentation titled “The Re-Humanization of Psychotherapy.” The lecture, available on DVD at the school, is still used for educational purposes.
For information about Frankl and the institute, visit www.viktorfranklinstitute.org.