Submitted by Chieh Hsu, Board Member for the Positive Living Newsletter (November 2017). Read the rest of the newsletter here.
Dialogue between PP 2.0 (P. Wong) and Chinese Indigenous Psychology (KK Huang) (National Kaohsiung University, Kaohsiung)
September and October 2017 have been busy yet rewarding months for Dr. Paul Wong, Dr. Lilian Wong, and myself as we flew from Canada/United States to Taiwan with a 12-hour time difference and travelled across four major cities with over 20 lectures, speeches, presentations, and workshops. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I introduced the INPM and the 2018 Meaning Conference in each event and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Attendees expressed being inspired and motivated by the meaning-centered approach on the delivered topics, including second wave positive psychology, positive education, play therapy and practices, case conceptualization and treatment planning, life review, and career development. Many showed interest in INPM membership and our 2018 conference in Vancouver, Canada.
Photos of the Play Therapy Workshop by Lilian Wong (Fo Guang University, Yilan)
Born and raised in Taiwan, I left my home country for post-undergraduate education in 2010 and have resided in the United States since. During this one-month-long visit, I was truly amazed by Taiwan’s resilience and growth throughout these years. I learned that Taiwan has established itself as a strong leader in life education across countries in East and Southeast Asia.
During the 20th International Conference on Life Education in Taipei, pertinent insights and future goals were explored and discussed, such as the strengths and weaknesses of different systemic approaches. Various theoretical frameworks on positive education, stand-alone or integrative educational models, numerous course designs, and collaboration work with the community were also shared.
With my mother-in-law and the Wongs at the International Life Education Conference (National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei)
Photo taken inside Still Though Hall (Tzu Chi University, Hualien)
As global citizens with environmental consciousness, people in Taiwan continue to practice daily and comprehensive recycling, including kitchen waste recycling, whenever a disposal is made. According to Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration, “after resource recovery was promoted in 1998 and garbage sorting in 2003, the resource recovery (including resources, kitchen waste and bulk waste) rate reached 55.23% in 2015.”
I also relearned people’s genuineness, compassion, generosity, respect, kindness, and modesty across settings, from local convenient stores, family-style restaurants, and transportation stations to various universities where our future generations learn to become better leaders and global citizens.
As a board member and the membership secretary, the summarizes my main contributions and achievements during this trip:
1. Promoted the INPM and the 2018 International Meaning Conference throughout over 20 events and built a positive relationship with event organizers for further collaboration. Several organizers and professors shared their interest in gathering students and coming to our 2018 conference.
2. Participated in the planning meeting for the Chinese Association for Meaning Education and Counseling (CAMEC) and expressed the INPM’s leaders’ enthusiastic support for this sister organization and future collaboration.
3. Performed translation tasks in assisting Dr. Paul Wong and Dr. Lilian Wong in delivering their presentations and facilitating cross-cultural understanding.
With my mother, Dr. Lin, after my presentation about career development and INPM (Nanhua University, Chiayi)
Photo taken with participants after my lecture using Dr. Wong’s PURE Model in case conceptualization and treatment planning (Fo Guang University, Yilan)