The Human Development Library
“The Human Development Library is a growing collection of ideas, conversations, books, frameworks and perspectives, all connected to the deeper questions explored through Logos Coaching. Questions around meaning, identity, responsibility, relationships, leadership, technology and culture. We believe the human experience cannot be explained well by a single framework. So a library felt like the most meaningful place to create.”
MEANING & EXISTENCE
Questions around meaning, freedom, suffering, and what makes a life worth living.
LEADERSHIP & CULTURE
Perspectives on leadership, culture, ethics, communication, and trust.
COACHING & DEVELOPMENT
Coaching psychology, reflective practice, adult development, and transformational growth.
Explore the Library
IDENTITY & NARRATIVE
The stories people inherit, construct, resist, and revise across the course of a life.
PSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIOUR
Ideas exploring motivation, emotion, behaviour, adaptation, and human development.
HEALTH & WELLBEING
Movement, sleep, stress, embodiment, nervous system regulation, and human flourishing.
RELATIONSHIPS & CONNECTION
Exploring attachment, belonging, loneliness, trust, intimacy, and human connection.
MODERN LIFE & TECHNOLOGY
Digital life, attention, AI, social comparison, distraction, and modern psychological life.
QUESTIONS & REFLECTIONS
Open questions exploring meaning, responsibility, success, identity, and how people live.
Meaning & Existence
“Questions around meaning, suffering, responsibility, freedom, uncertainty, and what makes life feel worth living have existed long before modern coaching or psychology. This section simply notes and explores some of the thinkers, ideas, and perspectives that continue to shape the philosophical foundations behind Logos Coaching.”
PHILOSOPHY
VIKTOR FRANKL
Founder of logotherapy and one of the strongest influences behind meaning centred psychology. Frankl explored suffering, responsibility, freedom of attitude, and the human search for meaning under extreme conditions. His work continues to shape many conversations around resilience, purpose, and what it means to live meaningfully even when life becomes difficult.
Suggested Resources:
• Man’s Search for Meaning
• The Doctor and the Soul
• The Will to Meaning
Related Themes:
Logotherapy • Meaning • Responsibility • Self Transcendence
Related Blogs:
• Paradoxical Intention, Fear and Meaning
• Coaching for Goals vs Coaching for Meaning
• The Sunday Scaries and the Search for Meaning
EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY
ROLLO MAY
Rollo May explored courage, identity, anxiety, creativity, modern emptiness, and the emotional consequences of living without meaning or direction. His work often sits between psychology and philosophy, asking not only how people function, but what kind of life they are actually moving towards.
Suggested Resources:
• The Courage to Create
• Love and Will
• Man’s Search for Himself
Related Themes:
Existential Psychology • Courage • Identity • Creativity
Related Blogs:
• The Existential Vacuum and Modern Meaning
• The Mind That Shapes the Story
• What if Being Lost is Part of the Way?
PHILOSOPHY
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
Nietzsche explored suffering, values, self overcoming, identity, meaning, and the psychological consequences of nihilism. His work questioned inherited morality and challenged people to think carefully about who they were becoming through the way they lived.
Suggested Resources:
• Thus Spoke Zarathustra
• Beyond Good and Evil
• The Gay Science
Related Themes:
Meaning • Nihilism • Values • Self Overcoming
Related Blogs:
• The False Summit
• Coaching for Goals vs Coaching for Meaning
• What if Becoming Who You Are Means Grieving Who You’ve Been?
RELATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
MARTIN BUBER
Martin Buber is best known for his exploration of dialogue, presence, and the difference between treating people as objects versus genuinely encountering them as human beings. His work continues to influence relational coaching, leadership, psychotherapy, and conversations around authentic connection.
Suggested Resources:
• I and Thou
• Between Man and Man
Related Themes:
Dialogue • Presence • Human Connection • Relationship
Related Blogs:
• The Loneliness Epidemic and Modern Connection
• Love Without Agenda
• Relationships and Human Connection
PHILOSOPHY
SIMONE WEIL
Simone Weil wrote deeply about attention, suffering, care, obligation, and what it means to truly see another person. Her work often feels emotionally and spiritually demanding in a culture built around distraction and performance.
Suggested Resources:
• Gravity and Grace
• Waiting for God
• The Need for Roots
Related Themes:
Attention • Compassion • Suffering • Responsibility
Related Blogs:
• Digital Distraction and the Inner Life
• The Courage to Be Kind
• Meaning and Responsibility
EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY
IRVIN D. YALOM
Yalom explored death anxiety, isolation, meaning, freedom, and the emotional realities people often avoid confronting directly. His work helped bring existential psychology into modern psychotherapy and remains deeply influential in coaching and therapeutic practice.
Suggested Resources:
• Existential Psychotherapy
• Staring at the Sun
• The Gift of Therapy
Related Themes:
Mortality • Meaning • Isolation • Freedom
Related Blogs:
• The Existential Vacuum and Modern Meaning
• The Sunday Scaries and the Search for Meaning
• What if Being Lost is Part of the Way?
PHILOSOPHY
CARL JUNG
Kierkegaard explored anxiety, uncertainty, individuality, faith, freedom, and the psychological weight of choice. Much of his work feels surprisingly modern because it speaks directly to the tension between safety and authenticity, certainty and becoming.
Suggested Resources:
• The Concept of Anxiety
• Fear and Trembling
• Either/Or
Related Themes:
Shadow Work • Individuation • Symbolism • Identity
Related Blogs:
• The Mind That Shapes the Story
• The False Summit
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY
JAMES HOLLIS
James Hollis writes about transition, psychological maturity, meaning, identity, and the emotional demands of becoming more conscious over time. His work often focuses on the tension between social expectation and a life that feels internally honest.
Suggested Resources:
• The Middle Passage
• Living an Examined Life
• Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life
Related Themes:
Mortality • Meaning • Isolation • Freedom
Related Blogs:
• The Existential Vacuum and Modern Meaning
• The Sunday Scaries and the Search for Meaning
• What if Being Lost is Part of the Way?
PHILOSOPHY
SØREN KIERKEGAARD
Kierkegaard explored anxiety, uncertainty, individuality, faith, freedom, and the psychological weight of choice. Much of his work feels surprisingly modern because it speaks directly to the tension between safety and authenticity, certainty and becoming.
Suggested Resources:
• The Concept of Anxiety
• Fear and Trembling
• Either/Or
Related Themes:
Existentialism • Anxiety • Choice • Authenticity
Related Blogs:
• Kierkegaard, Freedom, Anxiety and Choice
• The False Summit
• Coaching for Goals vs Coaching for Meaning
Identity & Narrative
“Human beings do not only live lives. They interpret them, remember them, revise them, defend them, and attempt to build coherence through them. This section explores identity, story, self perception, transition, memory, development, and the narratives people construct across the course of a life. Not fixed identities. Ongoing becoming.”
NARRATIVE IDENTITY
DAN MCADAMS
Dan McAdams is best known for his work on narrative identity and the idea that human beings create meaning through the stories they tell about themselves and their lives. His work explores how memory, interpretation, values, and personal narrative shape identity across time.
Suggested Resources:
• The Stories We Live By
• The Redemptive Self
• The Person
Related Themes:
Narrative Identity • Memory • Meaning • Life Story
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• The Mind That Shapes the Story
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
ADULT DEVELOPMENT THEORY
ROBERT KEGAN
Robert Kegan explored how human beings construct meaning through increasingly complex ways of understanding themselves, relationships, and the world around them. His work remains hugely influential in coaching, leadership, and adult development theory.
Suggested Resources:
• Immunity to Change
• In Over Our Heads
• The Evolving Self
Related Themes:
Adult Development • Self Authorship • Meaning
Related Blogs:
• Coaching for Meaning vs Performance
• Leadership With Humanity
• The False Summit
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
ERIK ERIKSON
Erikson explored identity formation across the lifespan, particularly the psychological tensions and developmental crises people navigate while growing into adulthood and later life.
Suggested Resources:
• Identity and the Life Cycle
• Childhood and Society
Related Themes:
Identity Formation • Development • Transition • Life Stages
Related Blogs:
• What if Becoming Who You Are Means Grieving Who You’ve Been?
• Identity and Transition
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
IDENTITY THEORY
JAMES MARCIA
James Marcia expanded on Erikson’s work through identity status theory, exploring how commitment, exploration, uncertainty, and foreclosure shape the development of identity.
Suggested Resources:
• Ego Identity
• Development and Validation of Ego Identity Status
Related Themes:
Identity Foreclosure • Exploration • Commitment • Development
Related Blogs:
• The False Summit
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• The Mind That Shapes the Story
NARRATIVE THERAPY
MICHAEL WHITE
Michael White helped pioneer narrative therapy, exploring how people can separate themselves from limiting stories and re-author the meanings attached to their lives and experiences.
Suggested Resources:
• Maps of Narrative Practice
• Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends
Related Themes:
Narrative Therapy • Re Authoring • Identity • Story
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• The Mind That Shapes the Story
• Coaching and Identity
NARRATIVE THERAPY
DAVID EPSTON
David Epston co-developed narrative therapy alongside Michael White and explored how language, story, meaning, and social context influence identity and psychological life.
Suggested Resources:
• Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends
• Playful Approaches to Serious Problems
Related Themes:
Story • Language • Narrative • Identity
Related Blogs:
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Coaching and Identity
SELF DETERMINATION THEORY
EDWARD DECI & RICHARD RYAN
Deci and Ryan explored motivation, autonomy, competence, and relatedness through Self Determination Theory, helping reshape modern understanding of human motivation and psychological wellbeing.
Suggested Resources:
• Self Determination Theory
• Intrinsic Motivation and Self Determination in Human Behaviour
Related Themes:
Motivation • Autonomy • Human Needs • Development
Related Blogs:
• The Web of Needs and Human Development
• Positive Psychology and Meaning
• Coaching for Meaning vs Performance
POSSIBLE SELVES THEORY
HAZEL MARKUS
Hazel Markus explored self schemas, identity, motivation, and the idea of “possible selves” The imagined futures people move toward or away from psychologically.
Suggested Resources:
• Possible Selves
• Culture and the Self
Related Themes:
Future Self • Identity • Motivation • Self Perception
Related Blogs:
• The Mind That Shapes the Story
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• The False Summit
IDENTITY & CULTURE
JEROME BRUNER
Jerome Bruner explored narrative construction, meaning making, education, culture, and how human beings organise experience through story and interpretation.
Suggested Resources:
• Acts of Meaning
• Making Stories
Related Themes:
Narrative • Culture • Meaning • Interpretation
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• Coaching and Identity
FLOW & HUMAN EXPERIENCE
MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI
Csikszentmihalyi explored flow states and the relationship between attention, engagement, mastery, and meaningful psychological absorption.
Suggested Resources:
• Flow
• Finding Flow
Related Themes:
Flow States • Attention • Engagement • Meaning
Related Blogs:
• Flow and Human Development
• Digital Distraction and the Inner Life
• Positive Psychology and Meaning
Relationships & Human Connection
“Human beings develop through relationship. Through attachment, dialogue, trust, conflict, belonging, rupture, repair, intimacy, and the experience of being recognised by another person. This section explores some of the psychological, philosophical, and relational ideas connected to human connection and emotional life. Not perfect relationships. Human ones.”
IDENTITY & CULTURE
JEROME BRUNER
Jerome Bruner explored narrative construction, meaning making, education, culture, and how human beings organise experience through story and interpretation.
Suggested Resources:
• Acts of Meaning
• Making Stories
Related Themes:
Narrative • Culture • Meaning • Interpretation
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• Coaching and Identity
IDENTITY & CULTURE
JEROME BRUNER
Jerome Bruner explored narrative construction, meaning making, education, culture, and how human beings organise experience through story and interpretation.
Suggested Resources:
• Acts of Meaning
• Making Stories
Related Themes:
Narrative • Culture • Meaning • Interpretation
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• Coaching and Identity
IDENTITY & CULTURE
JEROME BRUNER
Jerome Bruner explored narrative construction, meaning making, education, culture, and how human beings organise experience through story and interpretation.
Suggested Resources:
• Acts of Meaning
• Making Stories
Related Themes:
Narrative • Culture • Meaning • Interpretation
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• Coaching and Identity
IDENTITY & CULTURE
JEROME BRUNER
Jerome Bruner explored narrative construction, meaning making, education, culture, and how human beings organise experience through story and interpretation.
Suggested Resources:
• Acts of Meaning
• Making Stories
Related Themes:
Narrative • Culture • Meaning • Interpretation
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• Coaching and Identity
IDENTITY & CULTURE
JEROME BRUNER
Jerome Bruner explored narrative construction, meaning making, education, culture, and how human beings organise experience through story and interpretation.
Suggested Resources:
• Acts of Meaning
• Making Stories
Related Themes:
Narrative • Culture • Meaning • Interpretation
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• Coaching and Identity
IDENTITY & CULTURE
JEROME BRUNER
Jerome Bruner explored narrative construction, meaning making, education, culture, and how human beings organise experience through story and interpretation.
Suggested Resources:
• Acts of Meaning
• Making Stories
Related Themes:
Narrative • Culture • Meaning • Interpretation
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• Coaching and Identity
IDENTITY & CULTURE
JEROME BRUNER
Jerome Bruner explored narrative construction, meaning making, education, culture, and how human beings organise experience through story and interpretation.
Suggested Resources:
• Acts of Meaning
• Making Stories
Related Themes:
Narrative • Culture • Meaning • Interpretation
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• Coaching and Identity
IDENTITY & CULTURE
JEROME BRUNER
Jerome Bruner explored narrative construction, meaning making, education, culture, and how human beings organise experience through story and interpretation.
Suggested Resources:
• Acts of Meaning
• Making Stories
Related Themes:
Narrative • Culture • Meaning • Interpretation
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• Coaching and Identity
IDENTITY & CULTURE
JEROME BRUNER
Jerome Bruner explored narrative construction, meaning making, education, culture, and how human beings organise experience through story and interpretation.
Suggested Resources:
• Acts of Meaning
• Making Stories
Related Themes:
Narrative • Culture • Meaning • Interpretation
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• Coaching and Identity
IDENTITY & CULTURE
JEROME BRUNER
Jerome Bruner explored narrative construction, meaning making, education, culture, and how human beings organise experience through story and interpretation.
Suggested Resources:
• Acts of Meaning
• Making Stories
Related Themes:
Narrative • Culture • Meaning • Interpretation
Related Blogs:
• You’re Not Just Living a Life. You’re Narrating It
• Narrative Identity and Human Development
• Coaching and Identity