With the press of clinical work, broader intellectual needs of mental health clinicians can go wanting. But clinical fields are hardly the only—one could easily argue not even the strongest—avenue to understanding lives. Many scientific and scholarly disciplines study, and shed light on, human nature, suffering and well-being, and conditions that make for better and worse lives. This study group explores the work of such disciplines. This is not a book club. We will devote to each topic we addre …