Table of Contents
School of Nursing Dean
Honors Noted Psychiatrist-Holocaust Survivor
Have you ever asked yourself "Why am I here?" or "What is my purpose in life?" If so, you have participated in a form of Logotherapy, whether or not you are familiar with the late Viktor Frankl, M.D., Ph.D., founder of Logotherapy.
Patricia Starck, D.S.N, dean of the UT School of Nursing at Houston, shows Jennifer Palermo, a University of Houston Clear Lake clinical psychology graduate student, some Austrian money she has saved since Victor Frankl, M.D., Ph.D., tried to pay for her cab fare. That day she spent her own money, thinking that the money he'd given her was indeed a treasure to be saved. Photo by Erika E. Durham
One form or another of Logotherapy, from the Greek word Logos, which means purpose or meaning, is often used, yet less likely to be linked to its originator. But on March 13, approximately 60 people had a chance to learn more about Logotherapy and the psychiatrist behind it.
Patricia Starck, D.S.N., the John P. McGovern Distinguished Professor and dean of The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston, spoke at the Holocaust Museum - Houston about Logotherapy and Frankl, with whom she worked for more than 20 years.
The author of Man's Search for Meaning, along with 31 other books, Frankl is known as the father of the Third School of Viennese Psychiatry after Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler. He was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. He was liberated by a group of American soldiers from Austin.
In 1987, Starck and John P. McGovern, M.D., president of the McGovern Foundation, brought Frankl to Houston, where he gave a lecture in the Texas Medical Center and was interviewed by Starck. Videotapes of this lecture and interview are located at the School of Nursing.
Starck spoke candidly about her introduction to Frankl through her desire to use his form of psychotherapy on spinal cord injury patients. Starck is honored to be the first person to apply Frankl's work to the physically disabled and was cited by Frankl in a variety of his publications and speeches.
Starck also shared with the audience their continual friendship until his death in 1997. Frankl would have been 100 this year.
Robert C. Barnes, Ph.D., president of the international board of directors of the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy, joined Starck in leading the lecture.
By Erika E. Durham, Public Affairs