NEW! Dr. Paul T. P. Wong’s FREE e-book:

Made for Resilience and Happiness: Effective Coping With the COVID-19 According to Viktor E. Frankl and Paul T. P. Wong

This book is a response to the enormous threat to our mental health posed by COVID-19. The pandemic has exposed both the inadequacy of our present mental health system and the inherent limitations of human beings. The traditional way of facing disruptions with individual strengths is no longer adequate in overcoming this global disaster, which calls for a collective and transformative way of coping.

Copyright © 2020 Paul T. P. Wong, all rights reserved, published by INPM Press, Toronto, Ontario, 2020. Made for Resilience and Happiness: Effective Coping with COVID-19 According to Viktor E. Frankl and Paul T. P. Wong  is assigned ISBN 978-1-7987695-2-3. 

No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner. Book Design by Tim Yu

Meaning Therapy

Learn about the meaning-centered approach — based on the evidence-based and integrative existential positive psychology —and its applications in counselling and therapy, management, education, and more.

Positive Psychology

Discover the second wave of positive psychology — a more nuanced, balanced, and inclusive development of the movement — which focuses on how the dark side of human existence leads to healing and flourishing.

Existential Psychology

Explore humanistic and existential psychology in general and logotherapy in particular, with topics spanning meaning-seeking and meaning-making, death acceptance, spirituality, self-transcendence, and more.

Book & Film Reviews

Read Dr. Wong’s reviews of books and films related to positive psychology, existential psychology, cross-cultural psychology, meaning in life, stress and health, trauma recovery, and more.

Meaning Therapy

Learn about the meaning-centered approach — based on the evidence-based and integrative existential positive psychology —and its applications in counselling and therapy, management, education, and more.

Positive Psychology

Discover the second wave of positive psychology — a more nuanced, balanced, and inclusive development of the movement — which focuses on how the dark side of human existence leads to healing and flourishing.

Existential Psychology

Explore humanistic and existential psychology in general and logotherapy in particular, with topics spanning meaning-seeking and meaning-making, death acceptance, spirituality, self-transcendence, and more.

Book & Film Reviews

Read Dr. Wong’s reviews of books and films related to positive psychology, existential psychology, cross-cultural psychology, meaning in life, stress and health, trauma recovery, and more.

International Network on Personal Meaning

Dr. Wong is Founder and President of the INPM and its International Meaning Conferences, as well as pioneer of existential positive psychology, also known as second wave positive psychology (PP 2.0).

The mission of the INPM is to advance the vision of Dr. Frankl and Dr. Wong through meaning research, meaning-centered practice, and meaningful living groups.

The INPM advocates the big-tent approach of extending existential psychology — particularly logotherapy — by integrating it with positive psychology research through collaborative efforts.

Meaning-Centered Counselling Institute

Dr. Wong is Co-Founder and President of the MCCI as well as the originator of Meaning Therapy. He is also a practicing clinical psychologist registered in Ontario (Reg. No. 819).

The MCCI offers therapy, supervision, consultation, and training from a meaning-centered approach. It operates out of Toronto, Canada and provides its services internationally.

The MCCI is home of meaning therapy,  an evidence-based, integrative existential positive psychotherapy. Its motto? “Meaning is all we have; relationship is all we need.”

Autobiography

Any well-lived life is worth telling and retelling as it can help others who feel overwhelmed and defeated.” (from the Prologue)

Dr. Wong’s story is one of transformation and triumph despite tragedy, from his origins as a melancholic child in China, an impoverished refugee in Hong Kong, a fervent convert to Christianity, and a mistreated minister in Toronto — all the way to an influential professor and psychologist on the world stage who has spoken in multiple cities across four continents.

What are the secrets of his survival and success in this harsh and turbulent world? Dr. Wong’s answer may be surprisingly simple and yet complicated — the pursuit of meaning!

“There is no other motivation more powerful and more transformative. All my life, day in and day out, sunshine or storm, paid or unpaid, healthy or sick, and even now in my old age, I have struggled in my quest for meaning, with little reward or recognition. What has sustained me is the deep conviction that I can bring meaning and thus happiness to the suffering masses.” (from the Prologue)

Prologue
Any well-lived life is worth telling and retelling because it can help others who feel overwhelmed and defeated by life. However, it is never easy to write a memoir. The writing of my life story has been almost 15 years in the making!

I was finally able to overcome my years of resistance to completing my memoir when I came to the difficult decision that some of the people who had caused me great harm needed to be named, the reason being so that they or people like them could not continue to inflict pain on innocent people with impunity. An even more compelling reason was that my story of overcoming would encourage others to move forward with courage, grit, and faith rather than wallowing in self-pity as victims…

Read more →

Chapter 1: Is There Life After 80?
The final time I visited my father in Hong Kong, he was in his 80s. He said to me, with downcast eyes and great sadness, “My life is hopeless. I am just sitting here waiting to die.” This image has haunted me for years—is there life after 80? Can there still be hope and meaning even in our advanced years?

When I started doing research more than 30 years ago, the literature seemed to suggest that everything about the human body began to fall apart after 80. Now that this dreaded age will soon be upon me, I am very surprised to discover that, apart from the daily aches and pains, I am actually enjoying my most productive years. In many ways, I am having a second childhood. Free from any obligatory work and financial worries, I have the luxury of sleeping in and doing as much or as little as I wish…

Read more →

Chapter 2: My Country, My People, My Identity
In order to make sense of who I am and what drives me, I need to return to my roots—to go back to the time and place where I was born. Such “home going” is both painful and illuminating. Perhaps my lifelong struggle with melancholy and the dark side of life can be traced back to the fateful year of 1937, when I was born in Tianjin, China, on February 20 according to the lunar calendar.

1937 was an unforgettable and dreadful year in Chinese history. In that year, Japan launched a full scale invasion of China and committed the Nanjing (Nanking) massacre—the forgotten holocaust of World War II…

Read more →

Chapter 3: The Good and Bad of My Family of Origin
My life can be best understood from the intersection of three larger stories.

First, the larger drama of the contemporary Chinese history of wars and the Chinese Diaspora. My adult life represents the fears and hopes of millions of overseas Chinese struggling to survive and take root in a foreign land amid discrimination and prejudice. Second, the long history of my family of origin and ancestors. I carry not only their genes, but also hundreds of family stories, told and retold through many generations. Third, the big story of God invading human history and intervening in individual lives. My spiritual quest for meaning, first through Chinese folk religion, then Christianity, has always been the undercurrent of my life…

Read more →

Chapter 4: My Father — Unsinkable...
I dare say that very few people have lived as fully, passionately, and productively as my father. Very few people could survive the highs and lows of his life without his resilience. I am most grateful to my father for teaching me by example important lessons of resilience.

By all worldly standards and measures, his life was very successful in terms of possessions, positions, and the achievements of all his children. He was able to enjoy all the fine things money could buy and indulge all his sexual fantasies. Many people would think that such a life is worth dying for.

Ironically, after living vicariously through his dream and observing the shallowness of his life and that of his rich friends, I developed an allergic reaction to the mindless pursuit of personal success and happiness. Even in my primary school, I knew intuitively that there was something missing in my father’s life…

Read more →

Chapter 5: My Mother — Self-Transcendence...
Mother died in 1999, but I have never shed any tears over her death. Even at her funeral, I felt the worst pangs of sorrow and my tears welled up, but I did not cry. I still grieve the loss, but I have never been able to cross the emotional threshold of letting my tears freely flow. I still don’t quite understand why.

Perhaps it is because my sorrow has transformed into something transcendental and spiritual. Or it is because I had lived overseas most of my adult life. However, the most likely explanation is that I have never formed an emotional attachment with her. I cannot remember a single occasion of being hugged by my mother, because she was not a cuddly person and had to manage a household of eight children…

Read more →

About Dr. Wong

Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D., C.Psych. is Professor Emeritus of Trent University and Adjunct Professor at Saybrook University. He is a Fellow of APA and CPA and President of the International Network on Personal Meaning (www.meaning.ca) and the Meaning-Centered Counselling Institute.

Editor of the InternationalJournal of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy, he has also edited two influential volumes on The Human Quest for Meaning. A prolific writer, he is one of the most cited existential and positive psychologists. The originator of Meaning Therapy and International Meaning Conferences, he has been invited to give keynotes and meaning therapy workshops worldwide.

He is the recent recipient of the Carl Rogers Award from the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Div. 32 of the APA) and a member of a research group on Virtue, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life, which is funded by a major research grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

Testimonials

“Dr. Paul Wong is a very wise person – speaking with him is a throwback to a time when people cared about philosophy, qualities of a good life, finding purpose and exploring existential meaning. He is an expert in the field of meaning-centered counselling.” — Ryan W.

“Dr Wong has been amazing to work with. His approach to therapy is unlike any other. He is very caring and pulls the very best out of people. I am very thankful for his guidance, wisdom and support.” — Durham P.

“Professor Paul is one of the best professors I’ve ever had in my life. He is an example of how to live a meaningful life.” — Andy B.

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