This week provides an overview of the key theories, research, and practices of meaning in life.

Questions addressed: how to make maximum use of this training; what is meaning in life; what are wrong myths about meaning; what are the ten key questions that people can ask about meaning in life; who are the key researchers and practitioners on meaning in life; how can practitioners motivate clients to explore their meaning in life; which questionnaires could practitioners use for themselves and their clients to find out more about their personal meaning in life?    

Live session: lecture gives an overview of key ideas on meaning in life and meaning-centered practices; some individual reflective exercises will be done to examine our personal meanings;

Online: pre-recorded lecture of two hours on the science of meaning in life; voluntary home exercise; multiple-choice quiz;

Provided reading: chapter on research on meaning; chapter on the history of meaning-centered practices;

Additional non-required provided reading: a scientific article on the ten key questions about meaning in life.

This week describes the Meaning Sextet: six universal types of meaning in life. Research in more than 45.000 individuals in 49 countries have shown that people can find meaning in six types of meaning: materialistic, hedonistic, self-oriented, social, larger, and existential-philosophical types of meaning. The students will learn how they can find out which types are personally meaningful for them, and how they can help clients discover this. Students will learn how to use the Meaning Sextet Questionnaire.

Questions addressed: what are the six universal types of meaning in life; how can we find out what types are personally meaningful for us; which practical exercises can practitioners do to examine the types of meaning with clients; how can practitioners use the Meaning Sextet Questionnaire with their clients.

Live session: lecture explains the theory, research and practical use of the meaning sextet; some individual reflective exercises will be done to examine our personal types of meaning;

Online: pre-recorded lecture of two hours on philosophies of meaning in life; voluntary home exercise; multiple-choice quiz;

Provided reading: chapter on research on meaning; Meaning Sextet Questionnaire;

Additional non-required provided reading: a scientific article on the meaning sextet.

This week describes the three main ways how individuals can approach meaning in life, as global research has shown. A traditional approach (‘do as others tell you’) means that individuals find their meaning in life by following holy books, religion, or social expectations. The functionalistic approach to meaning (‘you can make anything, regardless of others and life’) is based on the post-modernist idea that an individual set their own random goals in life and can achieve anything they want in life, like a mathematical function: ‘do behaviour X and you will get Y’. The critical-intuitive or phenomenological approach means that individuals listen critically to what their intuition tells them what is meaningful in life. The functionalistic approach is common in western countries, and the traditional and critical-intuitive approaches are common in non-western countries. The critical-intuitive approach leads to better mental well-being and life satisfaction than the traditional and critical-intuitive approach.

Questions addressed: what are the three main approaches to life; how can we find out what approach we have; which practical exercises can practitioners do to examine their clients’ approach to meaning; how can an individual develop a critical-intuitive approach; how can practitioners use the Meaning Approach Scale with their clients.

Live session: lecture explains the theory, research and practical use of the three approaches to meaning; some personal exercises and exercises in dyads will be done to examine our personal approach to meaning;

Online: pre-recorded lecture on meaning-centered therapies; voluntary home exercise; multiple-choice quiz;

Provided reading: two chapters on the global history of meaning in life;

Additional non-required provided reading: a scientific article on the three approaches to meaning in life; four additional chapters with more details on the political and economic history of meaning in life.

Viktor Frankl wrote that there are three main pathways to meaning: via our experiences, our achievements and creativity, and our attitude. The first and second pathways are discussed in other weeks; this week focuses on attitudes, with the help of cognitive-behavioural therapy. Cognitive-behaviour therapy is one of the most popular psychological therapies. Cognitive and behavioural exercises can help clients develop a more rational, realistic, and helpful attitude about meaning in life. This attitude can help clients to explore their meaning in life in a more honest and fuller way.

Questions addressed: what are irrational and unhelpful attitudes towards meaning; what are rational and helpful attitudes; how can a practitioner identify whether attitudes are rational/irrational and helpful/unhelpful; how can a practitioner help clients develop a more rational and helpful attitude; how can students use questionnaires for themselves and their clients to find out their attitudes?

Live session: lecture explains the theory, research and practical use of attitudes and attitude change from a cognitive-behavioural perspective; exercises in dyads will be done to examine our attitudes towards meaning;

Online: pre-recorded lecture on key cognitive-behavioural theories and practices; voluntary home exercise; multiple-choice quiz;

Provided reading: a chapter on how to work with meaning in life in cognitive-behavioural therapy

This week describes how to assess the experiences and needs of clients regarding their meaning in life. This will include a step-by-step way to ask questions and get information from the clients. This assessment will be comprehensive and include all possibly relevant aspects. This assessment will form the foundations for the following meaning-centered interventions.

Questions addressed: what needs to be in assessment; how to use the Comprehensive Evidence-Based Meaning-Centered Assessment Form; how to conduct an assessment; how to use the assessment to make a plan for the client;

Live session: lecture explains the theory, research and practical use of comprehensive evidence-based meaning-centered assessment; exercises in dyads to try out the assessment;

Online: pre-recorded lecture on assessment; voluntary home exercise; multiple-choice quiz;

Provided reading: chapter on evidence-based meaning-centered assessment; example assessment session

This week describes a range of exercises and tools to speak with your client about their meaning in life, and to systematically examine their meaning in life.

Questions addressed: how can a practitioner start a conversation about meaning; which exercises can a practitioner use to explicitly explore the client’s meaning in life;

Live session: lecture explains the theory, research and practical use of meaning-centered skills; exercises in dyads to try out specific meaning-centered exercises;

Online: pre-recorded lecture on meaning-centered skills; voluntary home exercise; multiple-choice quiz;

Provided reading: chapter on evidence-based meaning-centered skills; example sessions of how to address meaning in life with clients

Research has shown that a deep, meaningful, and critical therapeutic relationship stimulates clients to explore their experiences at a deep, meaningful, and critical level. Therefore, in this week, we will examine how a practitioner can develop a good practitioner-client relationship. This week will also explore how clients can develop meaningful and fulfilling relationships in their social life, at work and in public space.

Questions addressed: how can a practitioner develop a good relationship with the client; what can a practitioner do if there is a rupture in the relationship; how can the practitioner and client use questionnaires to examine the quality of their relationship; how can clients develop meaningful and fulfilling relationships in life?

Live session: lecture explains the theory, research and practical use of relational skills; exercises in dyads to try out specific relational exercises;

Online: pre-recorded lecture on practitioner-client relational skills; voluntary home exercise; multiple-choice quiz;

Provided reading: chapter on practitioner-client relational skills; article on relational skills; example sessions of how to address meaning in life with clients

It can be helpful for clients to talk theoretically about meaning in life, for example to help them develop self-insight and make conscious decisions. However, abstract reflections can hide what an individual is actually feeling. To learn how to live a meaningful life, clients will need to explore their experiences and feelings, and make changes in their actual daily life. In this session, we will examine how practitioners can examine and use the clients’ experiences.

Questions addressed: what can our experiences and feelings tell about meaning in life; how can we use our experiences to live a meaningful life; which specific experiential exercises can therapist do to help clients live a meaningful life;

Live session: lecture explains the theory, research and practical use of experiential skills; exercises in dyads to try out specific experiential exercises;

Online: pre-recorded lecture on experiential skills; voluntary home exercise; multiple-choice quiz;

Provided reading: chapter on experiential skills; article on focusing; article on mindfulness; example sessions of how to address meaning in life with clients

It is inevitable that we face struggles, challenges, and stressful periods in life. That is part of being-human. We share some of our main struggles in life, such as having to face our mortality, freedom, and loneliness. Usually we muddle through these periods, but sometimes we feel stuck and in a crisis. How can practitioners help clients in an existential crisis (‘existential’ comes from he word ‘existence’, which means ‘life’)? How can practitioners help clients to cope in a meaningful way with crisis, trauma and physical disease? For example, how can individuals cope in a meaningful way with the existential threats of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Questions addressed: what are existential questions; what is an existential crisis; what existential skills can a practitioner use to help clients with existential questions and an existential crisis; how can meaning help to overcome traumatic life experiences; how can meaning help to cope with a chronic or life-threatening physical disease?

Live session: lecture explains the theory, research and practical use of existential skills; exercises in dyads to try out specific existential exercises;

Online: pre-recorded lecture on key ideas in existential therapy; brief pre-recorded videos on existential topics; voluntary home exercise; multiple-choice quiz;

Provided reading: chapter on existential skills; chapter on meaning in life in chronic or life-threatening physical disease; example sessions of how to address meaning in life with clients with a chronic or life-threatening physical disease.

All of us develop our personal meaning in life in interaction with our society. Our upbringing, education and for example adverts on TV consciously and unconsciously influence what we think is meaningful in life. In this last session, we will examine how society can influence our personal meaning, and how we can learn to set unwanted social influences aside and independently develop our personal meaning. We will also examine how practitioners can work with victims from social injustice, and how a sense of meaning can empower individuals and create social justice.

Questions addressed: how does society influence our meaning in life; how can we develop our personal meaning independent from social influences; how can practitioners work with diversity and victims of social injustice; how can meaning empower individuals; how can practitioners contribute to a more just society; how can we develop a meaning-oriented society.  

Live session: lecture explains the theory, research and practical aspects of working with diversity and social justice; individual and group reflections on what we have learned during this training.

Online: pre-recorded lecture on key ideas in existential therapy; brief pre-recorded videos on existential topics; voluntary home exercise; multiple-choice quiz;

Provided reading: chapter on meaning and society; example sessions of how to address meaning in life with clients.

Non-required provided reading: four chapters on how we can create a meaning-oriented society.

The live sessions will be from 18:00 to 20:00 UK-time on Monday evenings: 23, 30 May, 6, 13, 20, 37 June, 4, 11, 18, 25 July 2022. (subject to change)

Click on the link below, and follow the instructions.

There is a temporary discount until 1 May 2022. Sign up now, not to miss this unique 50% discount!

Yes, you can! For each person that signs up for the training, you get a discount of 50GBP (with a maximum of 50% of the total price, and the total discount can never be more than the maximum price). If another student signs up thanks to you, you need to ask them to send an email with your name to [email protected] As a suggestion: to get others sign up for this course, share the link on Facebook or Twitter, or send an email to your friends, colleagues and family.

We know how hard financial struggles can be. Therefore, we offer an extra 10% discount for individuals who can prove that they have no salary (e.g. benefit papers, retirement card); after paying for your course, send an email with the evidence to [email protected] If you cannot afford to pay for the course but you believe that you need this training to get out of long-term unemployment, you can apply for a further discount by writing an email to [email protected]. There is only a limited number of discount places available; priority will be given for paying students if the maximum number of students is reached.  

Be quick to sign up for this training! There is a maximum of 20 students, and this course is likely to fill-up quickly. The course has a minimum of six students; if there are less than six, we may unfortunately need to postpone the course.

Absolutely! We strongly recommend combining this training with other training courses offered by IMEC. To develop the best toolkit as a practitioner, you may also want to follow the Evidence-based Existential Practitioner (EEP) Certificate. Practitioners who intend to help clients with meaning in life, are recommended to also follow a personal training course to discover their personal meaning in life; this will help them develop their own sense of meaning in lift, to experience how it is like to be a client, and to understand how evidence-based meaning-centered practice looks like in practice. Other IMEC courses offer professional training on other topics, and there will be no or minimum overlap with this training.

There are ten sessions of each 2.5 hours (25 hours total). The videos in the online learning platform are approximately 10 hours in total. The required reading will cost maximum 10 hours. The home exercise and final assignment will take maximum 10 hours.

A week before the start of the course, you will get access to the online learning platform via a link in your email. You will keep access to the online platform until three months after the last session of the training. You can download the reading and videos during the course, for your own use. You are not allowed to share these with others (there is copyright on this material).

No. You do not need to do the suggested home exercise, quizzes, and final assignment. However, for the best learning experience we recommend you to do the home exercise and quizzes. If you want to get the certificate and CPD credits, you will need to successfully complete all 10 weekly quizzes, and you will need to submit the final assignment

No. You can find all answers to the multiple-choice quizzes in the live session; you will find the same answers also in the reading material and/or videos in the online learning platform. You can redo each quiz as often as you want. All students have past the multiple-choice quizzes in the past.

For the final assignment you will get very specific instructions during the live sessions. You will need to write a text of minimum 500 and maximum 800 words on three questions: what new insights have you learned about your personal meaning in life during this training (e.g. what types of meaning do you experience in your life; how do you usually approach meaning); how have you discovered these new insights (e.g. by reading a specific text, doing exercises); what do want to do with what you have learned in your personal life and, if relevant, in your professional life (e.g. what are your goals, and what steps do you intend to do to achieve these goals)? You will need to submit the final assignment within two months after the last live session to [email protected] You will receive an email with individual feedback on how you have done the assignment, and with suggestions for your further personal and professional development. All students have passed the assignment in the past.

At the start of each live session, students get time to share their experiences and questions about the reading and the home exercise. During each session, students try-out some individual exercises or exercises with fellow-students. Students will get feedback from each other and from the trainer. The student will receive brief feedback on the assignment.  

The course will be fully in English: all live sessions, website, readings, and videos. Most pre-recorded videos have subtitles which the student can switch on. The live sessions have unfortunately no subtitles.

The lectures in the live sessions may be recorded for use in future training. The trainer will say when the recording starts and when the recording stops. Only the speakers and the slides will be recorded. If students prefer, they can change their name in Zoom to ‘Anonymous’ or a pseudonym, and they can switch off their camera.  

Students are requested not to share any personal information about any of the students outside of this training. The trainer will not share any information of any of the students with anyone outside of this training. The website saves the answers to the quizzes until three months after the last live session, and after his the answers will be deleted. The trainer will not share the personal assignment and any personal emails with others. Three months after the end of the course, the personal assignment will be permanently deleted. The certificate and name of the student will be saved on a password-protected website until 10 years after the end of the course; if needed, the student can request a copy of the certificate until the end of 10 years, for an admin fee of 50GBP. An exception of confidentiality are legal requirements to share information with authorities, for example when an individual threatens to harm themselves or others.   

If the sole and only aim for the student is to find their personal meaning in life, and they are not interested in learning how to help others, they are recommended to follow one of the other training opportunities of IMEC. Most students benefit personally from this training, by developing more insight into their personal meaning in life. The home exercise and exercises in the sessions will give opportunities to work on personal examples if students want. However, during the live sessions, the time needs to be shared between all students, and therefore each student only has limited time to share their personal experiences and questions; students may be asked by the trainer to shorten their contributions to sessions, and it cannot be guaranteed that each student can get much time in each session. Participation in this training cannot replace mental health treatment by a professional. In case of mental health emergency, please contact your family doctor, go to the nearest Accident and Emergency Department, call 111/112/999/911, contact www.samaritans.org Free or low-cost mental health services may be available via https://easewellbeing.co.uk/ or https://www.metanoia.ac.uk/therapy/metanoia-counselling-and-psychotherapy-service/

Yes. You are not required to share any personal information in the sessions, or to do the personal exercises in the sessions. You can give a pseudonym in the Zoom sessions. However, to get the certificate and CPD credits you still need to write the final assignment, preferably about yourself, but you could also write the assignment about a client or a person who you know well; if you want to write this about someone else, write an email to [email protected] for detailed instructions how to do this.

The IMEC motto is: ‘Because everyone deserves to live a meaningful life’. Everyone is welcome in this training, as long as you are able to read and have conversations at a level of GCSE/A/Further education or beyond. The live sessions will not have subtitles and will not offer sign language to people who arre deaf or hard of hearing; if you are deaf or hard of hearing and want to access the online materials only, send an email to [email protected] for a tailored course. The live sessions will have a brief break of maximum 10 minutes in the middle. The texts will be provided in the standard print format that the texts have been published, and unfortunately, we cannot change the print format. Students who struggle with dyslexia could make a video recording instead of the written final assignment, and send this to [email protected] We expect students to treat each other with respect. Discrimination or unequal treatment in any form will not be tolerated. Students are expected to have read and follow the IMEC Safe Space Policy which will we use in this course. In case that students refuse to follow the Safe Space Policy, for example when they repeatedly treat others without respect despite at least two warnings from the trainer, they may be asked to leave the training without a refund.

The online learning portal will give all the required reading for the course. However, students are strongly recommended to buy the handbook that this course has been built upon: ‘Meaning in life: an evidence-based handbook for practitioners’ by Dr Joel Vos, 2017, MacMillan. The fifty most important findings of this book have been translated into an accessible self-help book with self-reflective questions: ‘Fifty pictures of living a meaningful life’ by Dr Joel Vos, Independent Publishing. Those interested in the role of meaning in society can be recommended to read the book: ‘The economics of meaning in life’ by Dr Joel Vos, University Professors’ Press. For an introduction into critical modern mental health care, students may want to read ‘Mental health in crisis’ by Joel Vos, Ron Roberts, and James Davies, 2019, SAGE. If students want to learn more about the psychology of COVID-19, and more in particular about to cope in a meaningful way with the self-isolation and existential threat of the pandemic, they could read: ‘The psychology of COVID-19’ by Joel Vos, 2020, SAGE. All books can be found via Amazon and larger bookstores.

You will get the digital certificate via email. A paper copy with hand-written signature can be sent via mail for an additional fee of 30GBP for administration costs; postal costs for addresses in the UK are free, for non-UK destinations an additional fee may apply.

Do not hesitate to contact us via [email protected] You can also contact the trainer, Dr Joel Vos, via [email protected]