Author: Paul Wong

Summer Institute 2017

Summer Institute 2017

Posted by | Jun 7, 2017 | , , |

Dr. Paul Wong will be leading a two-day intensive workshop on integrative meaning therapy at the INPM’s Summer Institute 2017: “How to Harness the Power of Meaning” on July 22-23, 2017 in Toronto. The workshop will also be available via an online interactive livestream. It is suitable for all mental health professionals or mature lay people preparing to lead Meaningful Living Meetups. Participants receive a certificate of completion as well as an optional 12.0 CPA-approved CE credits. See details below or visit the Summer Institute site. SUMMER INSTITUTE 2017 July 22-23 | Toronto, Canada | Online Interactive Livestream | 12.0...

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How to Measure Existential Meaning

How to Measure Existential Meaning

Posted by | Jun 6, 2017 | , , , |

Note This is a manuscript review of the paper published as George, L. S., & Park, C. L. (2016). The Multidimensional Existential Meaning Scale: A tripartite approach to measuring meaning in life. The Journal of Positive Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/17439760.2016.1209546 Introduction I was favourably inclined towards this manuscript because of its title. I was very pleased that positive psychology (PP) researchers are now interested in tackling a fundamental concept in existential psychology—“What is the meaning of life?” or “What is the meaning of human existence?” Such questions have been most frequently asked, according to a simple Google search, because...

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International Conference on Health, Harmony, and Wellbeing (Lahore College for Women University, Pakistan)

International Conference on Health, Harmony, and Wellbeing (Lahore College for Women University, Pakistan)

Posted by | May 31, 2017 | , |

To delegates of the International Conference on Health, Harmony, and Wellbeing, I feel honored to be invited by Dr. Amina Obaid Khawaja to keynote at the International Conference on Health, Harmony and Wellbeing. I want to congratulate the organizers and the Lahore College for Women University for putting together an international event centering on such an important theme! Even though I am not able to attend due to a variety of factors, I do want to pass on the following message to the conference attendees. Wellbeing is central to both individual and national development. Is life worth living without...

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Five Perspectives on the Meaning of Meaning in the Context of Clinical Practices

Five Perspectives on the Meaning of Meaning in the Context of Clinical Practices

Posted by | May 30, 2017 | , , |

Authors Joel Vos* and Mick Cooper, Dept. of Psychology, University of Roehampton, United KingdomClara E. Hill, Dept. of Psychology, University of Maryland, United StatesRobert A. Neimeyer, Dept. of Psychology, University of Memphis, United StatesKirk J. Schneider, Saybrook University & Teachers College, Columbia University, United StatesPaul T. P. Wong, Trent University, Trinity Western University & Saybrook University, Canada *Corresponding author: Dr Joel Vos (Joel.Vos@roehampton.ac.uk) Abstract What is meaningful in life? This is a question that many individuals ask at least once in their lifetime. Many researchers have also asked this question, and a large body of literature seems to answer what...

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The Deep-and-Wide Hypothesis in Giftedness and Creativity

The Deep-and-Wide Hypothesis in Giftedness and Creativity

Posted by | May 17, 2017 | , , |

Abstract This paper provides empirical findings from four different sources that lend credence to the deep-and-wide (DAW) hypothesis (Wong, 2012) in accounting for giftedness and creativity. The DAW hypothesis posits that difficult experiences and negative emotions motivate individuals to dig deeper into their inner resources and explore wider their external resources to find a creative solution to their distressing problems. To the extent that these endeavors are reinforced in these individuals’ early developmental stages, they will develop the predisposition of persistence, resourcefulness, and creativity. Therefore, there are two potential contributing factors resulting from negative experiences: a history of reinforcement...

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Courage, Faith, Meaning, and Mature Happiness in Dangerous Times

Courage, Faith, Meaning, and Mature Happiness in Dangerous Times

Posted by | May 16, 2017 | , , , , , |

President’s Report for the Positive Living Newsletter (May 2017). Read the rest of the newsletter here. “The wound is the place where light enters you.” — Rumi The current tense political climate at home and abroad has the same feeling as the dreadful days after 9/11, which injected a tragic sense of life into the American psyche. Perhaps we have never truly recovered from that national trauma, and today’s malaise indicates that “a sizable chunk of the country is in a sour mood. Our politics are unusually disheartening. There’s still a hole in the American heart” (Weber, 2016). In a similar...

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Meaning as a Unifying Philosophy: How an Addiction Program Successfully Integrated PTSD Treatment Thanks to Its Meaning-Centred Model

Meaning as a Unifying Philosophy: How an Addiction Program Successfully Integrated PTSD Treatment Thanks to Its Meaning-Centred Model

Posted by | May 15, 2017 | |

Submitted by Daniel Jordan for the Positive Living Newsletter (May 2017). Read the rest of the newsletter here. As director of a residential addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment facility, Sunshine Coast Health Center, I am often asked why our program adopted a meaning-centred approach. The meaning-centred model is powerful, not just in how it fully engages clients in therapy, but also how it accommodates multiple disorders and allows therapists to incorporate multiple evidence-based treatment modalities. Consider our experience at Sunshine Coast when the Canadian military began referring soldiers and veterans with PTSD. At Sunshine Coast, addiction is posited as...

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Minimum Viable Belief: Exploring the Role of Transcendent Meaning in Individual Motivation and Organizational Culture

Minimum Viable Belief: Exploring the Role of Transcendent Meaning in Individual Motivation and Organizational Culture

Posted by | May 9, 2017 | |

Submitted by Ken Howard, M.Div., M.Ed., for the Positive Living Newsletter (May 2017). Read the rest of the newsletter here. In both my first career in human and organizational development, and my second career in ordained ministry and the formation of faith-based communities and organizations, a large part of my work has centered on the role that transcendent meaning plays in individual motivation and the development of organizational culture. In the late 1980s, I published an article in Adult Education Quarterly, entitled “A Comprehensive Model of Expectancy Motivation.” The intent of this article was to provide a more complete understanding of...

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Frankl’s Self-Transcendence Model and Virtue Ethics

Frankl’s Self-Transcendence Model and Virtue Ethics

Posted by | May 2, 2017 | , , |

Authors Co-authored with Timothy Reilly, Ph.D., Dept. of Psychology, University of Notre Dame Abstract This presentation will conclude my research project on Viktor Frankl’s self-transcendence (ST) model as a framework of applying virtue ethics. My focus in this presentation is to explain why Frankl’s ST model provides a useful ethical framework for living and behaving well and how it is consistent with the Aristotelian and Thomistic moral theory of virtue ethics in important ways. Virtue is an important topic for psychology, philosophy, and business management because it is concerned with moral excellence and ethical behaviours that are crucial for the...

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