Season 1
Episode 1: Finding Meaning in Life & Genetics
Nerine Gregersen, MD
Episode Summary
In this episode, Nerine Gregersen, MD, a former pediatrician, clinical geneticist, and logotherapist, discusses how learning genetic information about oneself can have profound emotional and existential impacts.
She talks about how logotherapy, a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes finding meaning as people’s primary motivation, can help support people navigating difficult diagnoses or profound life shifts triggered by genetic discoveries.
KEY TOPICS
Introduction to Nerine Gregersen, MD & logotherapy
What drew you to genetics?
What led you to the practice of logotherapy?
Was there a specific case that really pointed to your desire to serve patients differently in your genetics practice?
How did logotherapy change your genetics practice?
Uniqueness, genetic difference, and identity
How do you think logotherapy might have helped me process my own genetic risks?
How can difficult diagnoses or unexpected events serve as crucibles for discovering meaning?
What relationship do you see in the meaning we make of our genetic programming and the meaning we discover in our lives?
Paradigm within Western medicine that values all information as valuable and useful
Approaches: delivering information v. being in service to a patient
Empathy as a skillset
How should genetic counselors and therapists collaborate?
About Nerine Gregersen’s practice, Grateful Living & wrap-up
Resources
Viktor Frankl. Man's Search for Meaning. Beacon Press; 2006.
Brené Brown's Dare to Lead hub