A one-day course with Tatjana Schnell and Peter la Cour, learning how to use the Sources of Meaning Card method to explore meaning in life.
In an age of rapid change and uncertainty, more and more people find themselves asking: What gives my life meaning? For some, this question arises from a general sense of emptiness; for others, it emerges in specific areas such as work, relationships, or personal goals. Research shows that a strong sense of meaning is linked to better health, greater well-being, stronger social connections, and higher engagement in life.
This seminar builds on Tatjana Schnell’s meaning model and Peter la Cour’s concept of existential health. Participants will be instructed in the application of the Sources of Meaning Card Method (SoMCaM; la Cour & Schnell), a practical, guided, one-hour process for identifying and exploring personal sources of meaning.
Schnell considers meaning in life a multidimensional phenomenon encompassing various experiences, such as meaningfulness, crisis of meaning, and existential indifference, and identifies a large number of sources people draw on to orient themselves meaningfully. The seminar will bring these dimensions to life through accounts of lived experience in contemporary society.
A central feature of the seminar is the Sources of Meaning Card Method. Used in therapy, counseling, coaching, pastoral and palliative care, and staff development across many countries, the SoMCaM offers a powerful, structured way to explore and clarify what gives a person’s life depth and direction.
Participants will gain:
• An introduction to Schnell’s meaning model and its practical relevance
• In-depth perspectives on existential health from Peter la Cour
• Hands-on experience with the authors’ SoMCaM tool
• Insights into the role of meaning for health and well-being
• Tools to translate these insights into professional and personal contexts
Join us to deepen your understanding of meaning in life—and discover new ways to unfold it for yourself and others.
Upon completion, participants will receive a certificate confirming their training in the SoMCaM method.
Tickets
Participant: 1000,- (including registration fee and lunch)
Student: 400,- (including registration fee and lunch)
MF student: Free without lunch.
Sign up by 10 October kl. 17.00.
Note: the seminar is held in English.
Program
10.00 – 10.45 What is meaning? Experiences and sources of meaning (T. Schnell)
11.00 – 11.45 Experiences and sources of meaning cont. (T. Schnell)
LUNCH
12.45 – 13.30 The four-dimensional model of health. Introducing the concept of existential health (P. la Cour)
13.45 – 14.30 Introduction to the Sources of Meaning Card Method (P. la Cour)
14.45 – 15.45 Exercise (with coffee): Working with the SoMCaM (P. la Cour)
15.45 – 16.00 Evaluation, final questions, summing up (P. la Cour & T. Schnell)
Course leaders
Dr. Tatjana Schnell is professor of Existential Psychology at MF vitenskapelig høyskole, Oslo and a Fellow at the Humanistic University Berlin. She heads the Existential Psychology Lab where they work on existential issues such as meaning in life, suffering, extremism, or religious/spiritual/secular worldviews and their practical significance for individuals, organisations, society and the environment. Former co-editor for the Journal of Happiness Studies; numerous international publications, collaborations, functions, talks. Latest book: "The Psychology of Meaning in Life, 2nd ed." (Routledge, 2025)
Dr. Peter la Cour is Danish, professor adjunct in psychology of religion at MF vitenskapelig høyskole, and authorized specialist in health psychology. He has worked clinically with integration of existential themes in client relations for long. His current interest concerns the introduction of the term existential health in modern health thinking and application of existential perspectives into modern understanding of health and healthcare. Latest book: “Introducing existential health: A four-dimensional model for integrated health understanding» (Routledge, 2025)
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