Our comprehensive listing of all the
articles on Meaning.ca, listed alphabetically by title ("The"
is omitted in alphabetizing). Use the google search feature
at the bottom of this page or the last, if you only know author
name or keywords.
If you remember an article from the old
site, and can't find it here, please e-mail our webmaster
(webmaster@meaning.ca),
and he will do his best to find in in the old site files and
upload it.
The 12-Step Tsunami Trauma Survival
Guide
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.,
C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"The Asian tsunami trauma
is a different category of natural disaster in terms of scale
and impact. Unlike most natural disasters, which tend to be
one-time blows at a specific geographic location, the Asian
tsunami catastrophe is almost worldwide in its scale; and
its devastating impact on poor and highly populated nations
may last for a generation..."
(Full
Article)
The 31 Absolute
Best Resources for Self Improvement
David Riklan
Founder of http://www.SelfGrowth.com
Marlboro, NJ, U.S.A.
"Every
week, I hear from people with the same Self Improvement questions:
Where should I go for help? What should I do? Who should I
listen to? This article is designed to help you explore all
of the people, places and things available to help you improve
your life starting today..."
(Full
Article)
A Beautiful
Life: A model of Transcendence in the Life of Brother Lawrence
Tara D. Miller
Edmonton, Alberta
"Beauty is in the eyes of
the beholder". This timeless statement has inspired men and
women for countless days. Beauty breaks through every life's
boundaries and is redefined by each person. Beauty transcends..."
(Full
Article)
A Brief Manual for Meaning-Centered Counseling
Paul Wong
Ph.D, C.Psych
This manual grows out of MCC workshops I have given in the last ten years to psychologists, counselors, coaches, and other mental health professionals all over the world. The feedback I have received from attendees and alumni of these workshops confirm that MCC’s focus on positive motivation and the transformation through meaning has been very helpful for those devastated by the tsunami of life.
(Preface) (Chapter One) (Chapter Two)
A Bridge
Worth Walking Over
Alan D. Levy, MIR,
LLM
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
"Conflict
has always been part of our lives, and likely will remain
at least as prominent in the future as in the past. Human
resources practitioners confront conflict at many different
levels. The demanding senior executive assigns us to "fix"
the problem of low morale in the organization..."
(Full
Article)
A Brief Outline
of Meaning Centred Counselling and Therapy (MCCT)
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
"What is MCCT?
It
is based on integrating cognitive-behavioural therapy and
other counselling practices with the basic tenets of logotherapy.
It is holistic and oriented towards personal growth..."
(Full
Article)
A
Brief Overview of the Meaning of Love (Part 1)
Paul T. P. Wong
Graduate Program in Counseling Psychology
Trinity Western University
"Love can
be either the most powerful motivation for growth or the most
destructive force in your life -- it all depends on the kind
of love you have embraced..."
(Full
Article)
Abstinence approaches to addiction
treatment
Executive Director’s
Column
Geoff Thompson, MA,
CCC
The public in Canada and the
United States has been educated (or, perhaps more accurately,
‘trained’) to accept Hollywood’s version
as the addict’s reality. Professionals label this the
‘abstinence approach’, which sees the recovering
addict doomed to struggle throughout the lifespan...
(Full
Article)
Academic Integrity: A Letter
to My Students
William M. Taylor
Oakton Community College
Des Plaines, IL
"...would you want to
be operated on by a doctor who cheated his way through medical
school? Or would you feel comfortable on a bridge designed
by an engineer who cheated her way through engineering school?
Would you trust your tax return to an accountant who copied
his exam answers from his neighbor?..."
(Full
Article)
Accepting Disability: Deeper
Understanding for a New, Inclusive Paradigm
Judy K. C. Bentley
Texas State University
Wimberley, TX, U.S.A.
"Nearly 30 years ago,
Public Law 94-142 was created to ensure that students with
all types of disabilities would be admitted to U.S. public
schools, and educated in the "least restrictive environment,"
or "as much as possible" with their same-age, nondisabled
peers. Yet, in most of our schools, students with mental retardation
and developmental disabilities (such as cerebral palsy, spina
bifida, and autism) are segregated in "self-contained" classrooms
for at least 80% of the day..."
(Full
Article)
A Common Hero: The Resilience
of a Political Prisoner in East Germany
Derrick Klaassen,
M.A.
Trinity Western University
Langley, B.C. Canada
"The topic of resilience
has received a lot of research and clinical attention as of
late. These are dangerous times, not just for 'those people'
in far-off and foreign lands that endure the horrors of war,
but also for many people in the West..."
(Full
Article)
Addicted to Meaning
Sean M. Swaby
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
"It seems that we are
all addicts. Shopping, TV, the computer, technology, the internet,
food, coffee and even chocolate have become objects of our
addiction. It is hard to find something that we can enjoy
without the risk of becoming addicted. One might even wonder
if we are all destined to become addicts?..."
(Full
Article)
Addiction as a Substitute for
Meaningful Living
Executive Director's Column - Feb
2006
Geoff Thompson, Ma,
CCC
Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
"James Frey has been
justifiably given a rough time over his book, A Million Little
Pieces (2003), when it was confirmed that he embellished key
events in his memoir. Frey appeared uncomfortable as Larry
King grilled him on his 'facts'. And he was very uncomfortable
as Oprah confronted him, declared that she felt duped and
lied to, and expelled him from her book club..."
(Full
Article)
Advances in multicultural competency and international psychology
A book review of Case incidents in counseling for international transitions (2008) edited by Nancy Arthur and Paul Pedersen
Paul T. P. Wong
Ph.D, C.Psych
My immediate reaction after reading through this edited volume was: Wow, multicultural counseling has come a long way! It has moved beyond the confine of multicultural issues in America and advanced in at least two directions
(Full Article)
A Flexibility Manifesto: Guidelines
for Businesses in the Wireless World
"Toshiba and its partners
- the Institute of Management, HOP Associates and the National
Society for Clean Air have launched a "Flexibility Manifesto".
Subtitled "Guidelines for Businesses in the Wireless World",
the Manifesto urges businesses of all sizes to develop strategies
to adapt to a wireless, flexible world with changing models
of work..."
(Full
Article)
A Fragile China Doll
Caroline Fei-Yeng Kwok, B.A.,
B.E.D., M.Ed.
"I am a 51 year-old Chinese
woman, born in Hong Kong, who was given a formal diagnosis
of bipolar disorder at the age of 27. My manic episodes have
been triggered mainly by emotional ruptures in relationships,
both personal and familial- in particular my relationship
with my mother..."
(Full
Article)
A Little bit of Kindness Helps
the Medicine go Down
Daryl Busby, Ph.D.
President, Canadian Baptist Seminary
(ACTS Seminaries, TWU)
Langley, B.C., Canada
"Kindness: this is one
of the so-called "Fruits of the Spirit" that constantly eludes
me. I can do "kindness" for a while; but then, impatience,
weariness, exasperation and downright nastiness take over.
Unfortunately, these responses are not included in the list
of approved "Fruits of the Spirit"..."
(Full
Article)
A mentoring approach to management
education
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
"...The recent proliferation
of international Executive MBA programs recognize the need
to produce managers that are able to function in different
cultures. The present paper proposes that the mentoring approach
contributes to the development of cross-cultural competences
in managers. There is a substantial body of literature that
demonstrates the benefits of mentoring in higher education
and mentor..."
(Full
Article)
A New Year’s
Reflection:
In the Meantime
05/01/2006
President-Elect's Column
Bill Evans, Ph.D.
Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA
"I often remember how
a former professor of mine, the late Dr. Carlyle Marney, once
said in class, “most of life is lived in the meantime,
and unless one learns to live life in the meantime, one is
less than half alive!” What did Marney mean by that?..."
(Full
Article)
A Psychiatrist’s Approach
to Death
Orville S. Walters
Men have tiptoed around the
subject of death for centuries. They have avoided speaking
the word death by using many euphemisms. But in recent years
the taboo has been lessened by a great deal of writing that
deals explicitly with death. Research papers, magazine articles
and books have multiplied prodigiously. So much, in fact,
has been written that the Journal of the American Medical
Association recently carried an article titled “Dying
is Worked to Death.”
(Full
Article)
The Art of
Dying
An afternoon with Art Buchwald
and Dave Barry
Ridley Pearson
24 January 2007
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Last summer, I learned
how to die. Not that I want to practice everything I learn
(how often do you actually use that high school trig?). In
fact, I wouldn't mind waiting a while on that one, but it
was interesting to sit at the feet of a master..."
(Full
Article)
As in sport, so in life
Carolyn Cooke
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
"I spend rather a lot
of time thinking about endurance, and trying my best to cultivate
it whenever and wherever I can. The reason is simple enough
- I've come to the conclusion that I (and probably a lot of
other people) need a fair bit of endurance to do what I really
want to do in my life, like make it through to the end of
it with a shred of sanity intact..."
(Full
Article)
A Strange Land
Tony Broman
Surrey, B.C., Canada
"In recent months I have
journeyed once again through a strange land. A land of paradox.
A land of, seemingly, reverse logic. It is a place that is
often violently disruptive, causing turmoil that shakes me
to the very core of my being..."
(Full
Article)
Attachment Parenting ...the
solution to Aggression and Violence in Society?
Colin Knauf
"There are a number of
names for 'attachment parenting' - natural nurturing, baby
wearing, baby carrying, hands on nurturing, in-touch parenting.
Whatever you call it, the research and statistics are clear:
attachment parenting is one of the best ways to raise your
child to embrace a non-violent, non-aggressive future..."
(Full
Article)
Autonomy
and the Modern World
Rosemary I. Patterson,
Ph.D.
"Autonomy
or self-government, whether individual or collective, is perhaps
even more difficult to develop and maintain than last month's
topic, Character. For an individual may have developed sufficient
character but drift into the collective stream of his country's
policies by choosing to go with the flow of national interests..."
(Full
Article)
Balanced
Heart: Seeking equilibrium in intimacy
Tara D. Miller
Edmonton, Alberta
"When asked about a typical
day, the individual may give an answer something like this:
"Wake up much too early, workout, shower, eat breakfast, work
all day, break for lunch, finish work, drive back home, eat
supper, watch TV, go to bed much too late, to start it all
over again the next morning." Sound too familiar?..."
(Full
article)
The Basis of Genius
Cliff Havener
and Margaret Thorpe
Scandia, MN, USA
"Genius has a unique,
essential foundation. Without it, a person cannot become a
genius or have clear insights into the world in which he or
she lives..."
(Full
Article)
Beating the winter blues
Eddy Elmer
Burnaby, B.C.
"As the days get shorter
and we enter the thick of the winter season, there is no shortage
of advice for how to deal with the proverbial winter blues.
Turn on the TV, open any newspaper, or browse through any
magazine, and you'll be sure to find all sorts of 'quick,
useful strategies for lifting your spirits.'..."
(Full
Article)
Beyond Tolerance: Reflections
on violence, sacrifice and engaging the Other
Derrick Klaassen,
MD
Abbotsford, B.C., Canada
"January 25, 2005, marked
the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration
camps in Auschwitz (or Oswiecim in the original Polish). This
solemn reminder of the extreme forms of inhumanity and intolerance
towards the Jews in the 1940s, prompted me to look back very
briefly on the history of the practices of exclusion and violence..."
(Full
Article)
The Buddha on Compassion: An
Existential Approach
Chen Yu-Hsi,
Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Religious Studies
Fo Guang University, Taiwan
"Love and compassion
are the two key components of the Four Noble States of Mind
revealed by the Buddha. In their eagerness to live a moral
life, some Buddhists may regard love and compassion as a moral
or ethical norm to live up to, or as a lofty ideal to 'advocate.'..."
(Full
Article)
The Buddhist Perception of Humility
Chen Yu-Hsi,
Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Religious Studies
Fo Guang University, Taiwan
"Like other spiritual
traditions, Buddhism sees humility as a virtue. In the Buddhist
text on Maha-karuna (great compassion), humility is one of
the ten sacred qualities attributed to Avalokite Bodhisattva,
or Buddha of Compassion..."
(Full
Article)
"Business is just business"-Or
is it?
Eddy Elmer
Simon Fraser University
"There was a point in
my life when I had finally conceded to the often-heard maxim
that "business is just business". I thought, well, since so
many people seem to think that adopting this "just business"
philosophy is enough to quell the angst and conflict they
feel in the workplace, then surely I must be a either masochist
or a martyr to think otherwise..."
(Full
Article)
Can't Manic-Depressive be Treated
Normally?
Caroline Fei-Yeng Kwok, B.A.,
B.E.D., M.Ed.
"...Of course, my friends
are well meaning after all. But what some of them don't realize
is that I am a human being in spite of my illness that happens
to be a form of mental illness. Just like any of them, I am
a human being with all my strengths and shortcomings. I am
a woman in my mid-thirties, experiencing all the biological
and emotional changes that any normal woman would have at
this particular period of her life..."
(Full
Article)
Can something good come from
intolerable cruelty?
A study of meaning and purpose
Laura Carr
A movie review of Intolerable Cruelty
(2003)
(Full
Review)
Caught between two cultures
Caroline Fei-Yeng Kwok, B.A.,
B.E.D., M.Ed.
"...I feel as if I belong
to North America and, of course, to Canada in particular.
I work here as a teacher of English as a second language and
I have friends here. Really, if you ask me where I'm from,
I would say that I am from Canada. I am proud of the fact
that I am a Canadian. And above all, I'm proud of the fact
that I am a Canadian of Chinese origin..."
(Full
Article)
Character,
what is it? How is it Derived?
Rosemary I. Patterson,
Ph.D.
"...Whether
one becomes an honorable character or a dishonorable character
is likely due to one's reactions to the circumstances around
them. The old adage that we can not totally control what happens
to us but we can control our reaction to whatever occurs is
very true. Our reactions to life's events results over time
in either a person becoming an honorable character or a dishonorable
character..."
(Full
Article)
Charting
the Course of Research on Meaning Seeking
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
Director, Graduate Program in Counselling Psychology
Trinity Western University
"...Given
the pivotal role of personal meaning in adaptation and health
(Wong, 1992; Wong & Fry, in press), Frankl’s concepts should
have dominated the research literature of mainstream psychology.
But this has not happened. This paper examines some of the
reasons for this failure and proposes some solutions..."
(Full
Article)
Chinese Positive
Psychology:
What is the Ancient Chinese
Secret to Resilience and Happiness?
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D. C.Psych
The Chinese people might have
been through the process of natural selection, bred to adapt
to all kinds of extreme adversities over the past six-thousand
years. The collective history of having endured and survived
numerous natural disasters, oppressive regimes, and foreign
occupations has endowed Chinese people with the character
strengths of endurance and patience.
(Full
Article)
Christian
spirituality: The gift of love
Tara D. Miller
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
"Salvation is a gift
to all through Jesus Christ. It is a gift of love, a gift
of offering, a gift of hope, and a gift of humility. Yet,
this gift has transposed into a thorn piercing the heart of
spirituality..."
(Full
Article)
Commitment as an Aspect of the
Courage to be Resilient Under Stress
Salvatore R. Maddi,
Ph.D.
University of California, Irvine and the Hardiness Institute
"When your life gets
stressful, it is really important to stay involved with the
people and events going on around you, rather than attempting
to protect yourself by avoiding it all or striking out..."
(Full
Article)
The Common Sense of Moment-to-Moment
Happiness
Tara D. Miller
Edmonton, Alberta
"'Think happy thoughts.'
Happy thoughts will whisk you away to a land of magic, pirates,
lost boys and mermaids. A land of make believe. A land where
no one grows up, and each day holds one thousand laughing
voices. But somewhere along the line you did grow up, everyone
got really old, and grumpy, and too tired to go out on the
weekends..."
(Full
Article)
The Community Rule of the Dead
Sea Scrolls
Tara D. Miller
Edmonton, Alberta
"How do a group of individuals
become a harmonious and coherent community? Looking at our
present fragmented society, it is hard to know how to create
and maintain positive and productive communities. Perhaps,
we can learn some lessons from the societies of the past..."
(Full
Article)
Compassionate and Spiritual
Care: A Vision of Positive Holistic Medicine
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.,
C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"This paper presents
the case for a positive holistic medicine based on Viktor
Frankl's logotherapy and medical ministry (Frankl, 1984; Wong,
2002a). Frankl maintains that healing occurs at the spiritual
level and that the medical practice needs to address the vital
role of meaning and purpose in the midst of suffering..."
(Full
Article)
Contemplative Wisdom
Connie Burns, Ph.D.
North Vancouver, B.C., Canada
"...Christians are bi-axial
beings: we live along a physical axis of time, matter, space
and physical energy that is intersected by divine dimensions
of quality, meaning, compassion and surrender. Normally, this
physical or horizontal dimension "captures" our attention
and we think of it as the entirety of our reality..."
(Full
Article)
Contentment as the Way of Nature:
Insights from Taoism
Chen Yu-Hsi,
Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Religious Studies
Fo Guang University, Taiwan
"Mainstream psychology
is not concerned with greed, or excessive desires, as a morbidity
that can lead to emotive disorders and mental suffering. Instead,
it hypothesizes that the gratification of desires and wants
is a necessary condition for mental health and happiness..."
(Full
Article)
Contentment isn't a reward so
much as a balancing act
Carolyn Cooke
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
"Most people think of
contentment as an end product - something that comes along
after all the work is done, or as a reward for living a good
life. How often do people equate the notion of contentment
with a lack of action? Nearly always, I'd say. The very word
connotes a state of relaxation or idle happiness for a lot
of people..."
(Full
Article)
Control in the uncontrollable
- the case of cancer
Isla Carboon
PhD candidate
University of Melbourne, Australia
"A sense of control is
fundamental to our wellbeing. An awareness of our agency and
efficacy underpins the motivation for much of our behavior
- without a belief that we can successfully act upon our environment
to fulfill our needs, we no longer have a foundation upon
which to proceed..."
(Full
Article)
Counselling by Osmosis
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
"What makes counselling
effective? Clinical skills certain play a key role. The therapist-client
relationship is also important. But ultimately the quality
of the counsellor as a person matters the most..."
(Full
Article)
Counter-Therapeutic Myths that
Prevent People From Forgiving
Kenneth E. Hart, Ph.D.
Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology
University of Windsor
"...There is tremendous controversy
among behavioral scientists about what 'authentic' forgiveness
is. However, everyone agrees on one thing. It's a shift away
from angry interpersonal emotions and related aggression and
desire to do harm. This essay discusses the various meanings
that have been attached to the term 'forgiveness.'..."
(Full
Article)
Course outlines on Death and Dying
Another series of lectures given given by Dr Wong at Tyndale University College. This course provides contemporary perspectives and research findings on death, dying and grieving. It is designed for both students and mental health professional. Feel free to download these lecture outlines for personal use, but you need to get Wong’s permission to use the materials for professional and teaching purposes.
(Syllabus) (Lecture 1)
Course outlines
on Meaning-Centered Counseling and Therapy
Dr. Paul Wong has given workshops and courses on Meaning-Centered
Counseling around the world. We are happy to post the course
syllabus and lecture notes of the Meaning-Centered Course
given by Dr. Paul Wong at Tyndale University College; these
lecture notes will be posted in installments on this webside.
The course explores Dr. Yalom's existential psychotherapy,
Dr. Viktor Frankl's logotherapy and Wong's integrative meaning-centered
counselling. If you have any questions regarding the course,
please contact
pwong@tyndale.ca
(Syllabus)
(First
Article) (Second
Article) (Third
Article) (Fourth
Article) (Fifth
Article) (Sixth
Article) (Seventh
Article) (Eighth
Article) (Ninth
Article) (Tenth
Article) (Eleventh
Article) (Twelfth
Article)
Creating
Meaning out of Conflict and Tragedy
Cathy Patterson-Sterling
MA, RCC
British Columbia, Canada
"There
is no doubt that times of tragedy as well as conflict in our
lives are extremely painful on an emotional level. The gift
of these moments, however, is that through tragedy we can
achieve a greater sense of clarity into our own character
as well as value system. During tragedy and conflict, we have
the opportunity to test our strength in character and utilise
our abilities..."
(Full
Article)
Death has claimed a truly original
scientist
A eulogy in honor of David Chi-Hsian
Wong, Ph.D.
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D. C.Psych
Toronto, Ontario
Death happens to us all. What
makes the difference is what we do with our lives. Many die
from unlived lives. Some die from living life to the full.
My brother David belongs to the latter.
(Full
Article)
Death, the Ultimate Loss - How
to help a friend in their grief
Julie Ireland
Denver, CO, USA
"I remember returning
to work after my mother died. Suddenly every door to my coworker's
offices was tightly shut. Hardly anyone mumbled a word to
me. There was no card. There were no flowers. No hugs. There
wasn't even a kind word from 95% of them..."
(Full
Article)
Developing Faith and Trust in
a College Setting
Professor Christine Bruun
Department of Psychology at Rockford
College
Rockford, IL
"As a professor in a
small liberal arts college, I spend much of my time with college
students, a delightful group. Fortunately, most students are
open and willing to talk about their thoughts and feelings,
and conversations often lead to their general concerns..."
(Full
Article)
Developing Intuition
Steve Gillman
"Developing intuition
starts by realizing you have it already. If you've ever had
a hunch about something, that was intuition. Intuition is
just your mind using more than what you are consciously aware
of. But can you trust your intuition? How do you improve it?..."
(Full
Article)
Developing Relationships that
Promote Well Being
W.David Hoisington, Ph.D.
"Throughout the course
of human history and across cultures, there have been gifted
individuals who have helped people on their paths toward improved
well being. These people have been called by a wide variety
of names -- healers, shamans, therapists, doctors, nurses
and mystics..."
(Full
Article)
Dialectics in Duality
Hong Seock Lee. M.D.,
Ph.D.
Seoul, Korea
"Some people see only
the trees, some the whole forest, and others see a simple
pattern shared by all the trees. Once people can see the simple
pattern, they can listen to the music the pattern has created..."
(Full
Article)
Discovering the Difference between
Kindness and Empathy
Carolyn Cooke
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
"Empathy has always come
easily to me, and while it is closely related to kindness,
I can see the differences quite clearly in my life at this
time..."
(Full
Article)
Discovering the soul and the
symphony within the void
Jane E. Nelson MA
Student at the Edward De Bono
Institute
Malta, Europe
"...At first I listened
carefully but time passed and I began to get used to the quiet.
But it wasn't quiet, the air was full of sound. I began to
turn my attention to what I came to call, the music of the
day or indeed the music of the moment. ..."
(Full
Article)
Does Terri Schiavo's life have
meaning?
Micheal Levy
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.
"Does a person who has
suffered brain damage and can no longer feed themselves deserve
to live, or should they be starved to death?"
(Full
Article)
The double standard of love:
"What's love got to do with it?"
Eddy Elmer
Simon Fraser University
"Psychologists of all
stripes continue to question the notion of "love". Is it "real"?
Does it "exist"? Can we define it? If we can't define itlet
alone see ithow can we possibly study it? Well, we can
feel it, right? But then what is a "feeling"? And can we trust
our feelings to help us define something?..."
(Full
Article)
The drug experience: Satisfying
the yearning for meaning and spirituality
Executive Director's Column
- March 2006
Geoff Thompson, Ma,
CCC
Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
"I work at the Maple
Ridge Treatment Centre, a large residential facility for men
suffering from substance addictions. My clients and their
families come to us looking for answers, and perhaps their
most common question is: Why would anyone use alcohol and
drugs if they lead to severe suffering?..."
(Full
Article)
Elizabeth Smart and Stockholm
syndrome
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
Trinity Western University,
BC, Canada
"Since Elizabeth Smart's
safe return home, one of the most asked questions is: Why
didn't she run for help when she had the chance? Why did she
refuse to reveal her true identity when she was first approached
by the police who arrested her captors?..."
(Full
Article)
Embrace Change
Lori Radun,
CEC
Aurora, IL, USA
"Last
Sunday I was sitting in on a class we conduct for newcomers
at our church. One of our pastors said, "If we don't change,
we aren't growing, and if we aren't growing, we are dying".
Isn't that so true?.."
(Full
Article)
The Enduring
Influence of Logotherapy
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
Trinity Western University, BC, Canada
"A giant has quietly
passed away, amid unprecedented outpourings of public grief
over the deaths of Princess Diana and Mother Theresa. Yet,
I firmly believe that when the tides of history have buried
most mortals, Dr. Frankl will stand tall, along with other
giants from Vienna - Freud, Jung and Adler..."
(Full
Article)
Existentialism and ABC
Connecting Theory to Programming:
Using Existentialism and Adventure Based Counseling with Adolescents
J. Scott Glass
East Carolina University
Jeanna Jackson
East Carolina University
Adventure based counseling programs have been used with adolescents in a variety of settings. Typically, adventure based counseling programs are group oriented and help participants take responsibility for their own actions, increase self-awareness and connect with others. One potential limitation of adventure based counseling programs is that they are rarely identified with any established counseling theory.
(Full Article)
Existentialism and ACT
Exposition in existential terms of a case of “Negative Schizophrenia” approached by means of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Marino Pérez-Álvarez
Universidad de Oviedo
José M. García-Montes
Universidad de Almería
The present work attempts to show, through a case study, the possibilities of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) applied from existential thought. First of all we describe the symptoms referred to by a patient diagnosed as suffering from “negative schizophrenia”. These symptoms are then analyzed in existential terms, with special emphasis on the notion of “personal identity”.
(Full Article)
Exploring learning styles:
developing a flexible teaching approach:
reflections on Pedagogy Saturday VI
Rebecca Rischin
"If only one size did
fit all.... If only teaching were as easy as one plus one
equals two--a mathematical problem with a single solution.
But teaching involves people, not numbers, and while numbers
can be plugged into formulae to yield predictable equations,
people cannot. They are not perfect squares; they come in
many shapes and sizes; they act and react in such a way that
similar problems must frequently be approached from different
angles..."
(Full
Article)
Exploring the World of Meaning
of ESL Students
Lilian C. J. Wong
F. Ishu Ishiyama
Department of Counseling Psychology
The University of British Columbia
Paul T. P. Wong
Graduate Program in Counseling Psychology
Trinity Western University
Paper presented at the XIVth
International Congress of the
International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP)
July, 1998
"This chapter argues
that there is a need to consider cultural context and acculturation
in counseling and assessing children from different ethnic
backgrounds. It describes two assessment tools used to explore
the world of personal meaning of English as a second language
(ESL) students: Ishiyama’s Validationgram and Wong’s Personal
Meaning Profile. Three cases of Chinese immigrants’ children
were chosen to illustrate how these instruments enabled us
to look beneath the surface meanings of behavioral problems
and uncover the deeper meanings of ESL children’s frustrated
needs and acculturative stress..."
(Full
Article)
Family Loyalty
Rev. Mark Connoly
Spirituality For Today
"At this time I would
like to share a few thoughts with you on the subject of your
family. All of us know there are many attacks and many assaults
being waged against our family value system especially our
religious value system..."
(Full
Article)
Family Makes us Happy
Micah Stipech
Houghton, Michigan, U.S.A.
"Americans have always
had this notion of the right to be happy. The founding tenants
of the Declaration of Independence are the rights to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. British author C.S.
Lewis liked to poke fun by saying "the right to happiness
is much like the right to be six feet tall or have a picnic
without rain."..."
(Full
Article)
Finding Meaningful Work in a
Digital Era
Warren Ralston, B.Sc.
with Jamie
Leggatt, B.A.
White Rock, BC, Canada
"I grew up in the prairies
in a small agricultural community and had the opportunity
to understand the value work held for the farmers in our close
knit community..."
(Full
Article)
Finding Meaning Through Intuition
Cathy Patterson-Sterling
MA, RCC
British Columbia, Canada
"Sometimes
people are able to recognize their higher purpose or potential
for having greater meaning in their lives because they feel
moved by their own intuition. Individuals experience their
intuition when they have a deeper sense of inner wisdom as
to what actions they should be doing..."
(Full
Article)
The First
Precept: Reverence for Life
Thich Nhat Hanh
"The First Precept is
born from the awareness that lives everywhere are being destroyed.
We see the suffering caused by the destruction of life, and
we undertake to cultivate compassion and use it as a source
of energy for the protection of people, animals, plants, and
minerals..."
(Full
Article)
The Fluid
Center: An Awe-based Challenge to Humanity
Kirk J. Schneider,
Ph.D.
San Francisco, CA, USA
"The
blow to American prestige, innocence, and conviction on September
11th, 2001 raises key questions for humanistic psychology
and the humanistic movement. If some people were skeptical
of humanistic psychology's social and global relevance before
September 11th, they may now have cause to be dismissive..."
(Full
Article)
From Anger Management to Anger
Transformation
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
" 'I am very angry. God
knows that I try, but I can't help it - I have every reason
to be mad.' If this sentiment sounds familiar, it is because
all of us have experienced similar inner struggles with respect
to anger..."
(Full
Article)
From Death Anxiety to Death
Acceptance:
A meaning management model
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
"All human drama is,
to a great extent, a story of how human beings cope with the
terror of death, and how they overcome death anxiety through
a great variety of conscious efforts and unconscious defence
mechanisms..."
(Full
Article)
From Responsibility to Values-Oriented
Leadership
Dr. Thomas Mengel, PMP
Winlaw, B.C., Canada
"Life is full of challenges
and opportunities. Hence, we are called to respond according
to our personal situation and possibilities. Based on Frankl's
Existential Analysis (1984) and some enhancements to his work,
the following 6 theses are presented to inspire a valuable
discussion on meaning and values in our personal and corporate
life..."
(Full
Article)
Gender, family, and flexibility—why
they're important in the academic workplace
Jeanne E. Miller, Carol Hollenshead
"Changes in family structure,
modes of work, and the composition of the workforce, particularly
women's participation, have had a dramatic effect on employers
over the past 30 years. Academia, like other sectors, faces
a new kind of workforce and can no longer base policies on
assumptions about employees and families that existed when
academic cultures first developed in the United States..."
(Full
Article)
Generosity is a two-way street
Carolyn Cooke
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
"The most interesting
thing about generosity - and one thing I am just now learning
- is that there is a generosity at work in receiving as well
as giving..."
(Full
Article)
The God Behind the Couch
Shirley Busby
Langley, B.C., Canada
It began as always when I
heard harsh low voices growling in the living room. I knew
these voices would soon become louder and louder as tempers
flared. Once again, my parents were caught up in a never-ending
battle of wills. The trigger issue was irrelevant and changed
with each fight..."
(Full
Article)
God's Sorry, He Has Made a Few
Mistakes and Will Make Amends Soon
Micheal Levy
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.
"I awoke one morning
from a pleasant night sleep and before my eyes focused clearly,
the phone rang. The caller ID only read, celestial being,
so I was not going to answer it. Well, you never know if it
is the devil on the phone or God..."
(Full
Article)
Grieving the troops killed in
Iraq and Afghanistan
How we can support the bereaved
families and friends
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D. C.Psych
Toronto, Ontario
"We can never fully understand
the horror of their tragic loss, nor the depth of the pain
they have to endure. To lose a loved one so young is probably
the worst thing that can happen to any family..."
(Full
Article)
Hate, Individualism, and the
Social Bond
Kathryn M. Frost and Frank C. Richardson
Austin, Texas, USA
"... I have come to see
that the limited perspective of social psychology so narrows
the field of vision that it crops out portions of the human
landscape that imbue values with meaning. I have since widened
my scope to incorporate rich ideas from social and political
theory (and other disciplines), and through this interdisciplinary
inquiry on hatred hope that a broadened perspective will enrich
our understanding of social values..."
(Full
Article)
The Have-Nots
and the Have-Everythings
John Robbins
Santa Cruz, California, USA
"For
many people today, poverty takes a terrible toll on health.
Although there are more millionaires than ever today, there
are also far more people who are having difficulty meeting
even the most basic human needs..."
(Full
Article)
Have an Interesting Life
Michael Levy
Boca Raton, FL, U.S.A.
"Let me begin by asking
you a question; "What ingredient is in every movie you have
ever seen? Think about it for a few moments...Now, have you
ever watched a movie that did not have some sort of conflict
in it?..."
(Full
Article)
Hope can change the world
Jamie Leggatt
"At INPM's 2005 Summer
Institute, Dr. Paul Wong started the Saturday lecture with
a poignant photo of a homeless man. "How can we help this
man?" he asked. "What is needed to change a homeless person's
way of life?" Silence greeted this seemingly impossible question..."
(Full
Article)
How best to pursue 'happiness'?
Tales from the therapist's couch
Eddy Elmer
Simon Fraser University
"How best to pursue "happiness"?
As contemporary philosopher Mark Kingwell aptly puts it in
Better Living: In Pursuit of Happiness from Plato to Prozac,
"We all think that we know what happiness is, or at least
that we would like more of it. But the pursuit of happiness
may be at once the simplest and most vexing of human endeavours."..."
(Full
Article)
How to prepare for the oral
defense of your thesis/dissertation
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D. C.Psych
"Use the following steps
when preparing for the oral defense of your thesis/dissertation..."
(Full
Article)
How to react to—and manage—change
Debbie Schachter
Information Outlook, May, 2005
"In previous columns,
I have written about many important and practical management
skills, from project management to performance planning. One
important underlying skill for the successful management of
all such activities is the ability to manage change in your
library..."
(Full
Article)
How To Stop Terrorism
Rev. John Dear
New Mexico, U.S.A.
"Like many, I was upset
about the horrific terrorist attacks on London on July 7th.
I spent a few days in London just this past Christmas. I know
my way around the Tube. It gave me flashbacks of my days working
at Ground Zero right after the September 11th attacks, and
the thousands of grieving people I met in the months afterwards
as a Red Cross coordinator of chaplains at the New York Family
Assistance Center..."
(Full
Article)
How to Write
a Research Proposal
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D. C.Psych
"Most
students and beginning researchers do not fully understand
what a research proposal means, nor do they understand its
importance. To put it bluntly, one's research is only as a
good as one's proposal..."
(Full
Article)
Humility
in Duality: Tough but Tender
Steve Wilson
"How are we to define
humility? I have little faith in dictionary definitions. I
think it is fun to see how quickly following the trail of
definitions from word to word I can come upon opposite meanings.
For example, I read that being humble is not being proud but
pride may be defined as magnificent, and magnificent as impressive
to the mind or spirit, which is what a virtue is and humility
is a virtue..."
(Full
Article)
The Importance of Empathy
Christine Bruun
Professor, Department of Psychology
at Rockford College
Rockford, IL
"The value of empathy
is widely recognized. Both anecdotal sources and empirical
research provide evidence for its positive effects. The renowned
Viennese psychiatrist, Alfred Adler, noted that to have empathy
is "to see with the eyes of another, to hear with the ears
of another, to feel with the heart of another." This description
is markedly different from "sympathy," in which there is distance
between the observer and the experiencer..."
(Full
Article)
Improvisation Theatre and Personal
Freedom
Teresa Steinfort
MA, CCC, Dramatherapist
"Improvisation theatre
is a type of contemporary, interactive, nonscript theatre
(Fox, 1994). It is mostly performance-oriented. Spontaneity
and creativity are the nuclei found in all forms of improvisation
theatre. During improvisation training, rehearsal, and performance,
activities/theatre games help free individuals from their
fear of not knowing..."
(Full
Article)
In search of answers after final
verdict in Andrea Yates trial
Jamie Leggatt, BA
Langley, BC, Canada
"After forty minutes
of deliberating on Friday, March 15, 2002, a jury of eight
women and four men sentenced Andrea Yates to life in prison
after finding her guilty the previous Monday of the capital
murder of three of her five children that she admitted drowning
in June 2001..."
(Full
Article)
Inspiring Hope, Spirituality
and World Peace
Report on the 2000 Meaning Conference
Lorne Pierce
Conference Manager
"The International Conference
on Searching for Meaning in the New Millennium took place
this past summer from July 13 to 16. Many faculty, staff,
students, and alumni from the Counselling Psychology program
acted as organizers, presenters and volunteers to help make
the conference a great success..."
(Full
Article)
Integrity
and Honesty
Célia Maria Leal da Costa
Săo Paulo - Brazil
"Those two words - integrity
and honesty - remind me first of all of my grand-father: A
jurisconsult, father of 14 children, throughout his life he
has always emphasized honesty and character strength..."
(Full
Article)
Intellectual Diseases
Micheal Levy
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.
"If we take a look at
all the past mayhem and destruction, we will find it all emanates
from the minds of human beings that used their intellectual
brain to the detriment of humanity..."
(Full
Article)
Italian Funerals:
My experience of the death of my Nonno
Cynthia Logiudice
My Nonno (grandfather) was
a great man in my sight. He lived his life making sure that
everyone in his family was provided for, because he loved
them so much. As my Nonno got older he began to show symptoms
of senility. A year ago he was medically diagnosed with dementia.
(Full
Article)
James Frey's A Million Little
Pieces
Executive Director's Column - Jan 2006
Geoff Thompson, Ma,
CCC
Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
"I didn't find Frey's
account particularly insightful; though, reading between the
lines, it did confirm certain dynamics of addiction and recovery
that I had already discovered in the works of Eugene O'Neill,
Malcolm Lowry, William S. Burroughs, and other addict-writers.
And it's a bit melodramatic for me; addicts tend to live life
at the level of a soap opera."
(Full
Article)
Just when I thought I was free
of my family
Eddy Elmer
Burnaby, B.C., Canada
"Family" isn't a topic
I generally like writing about. It seems forever associated
in my mind with sickly sweet metaphors and tired, overdone
platitudes about its "increasing importance in these rapidly
changing times..."
(Full
Article)
Kindness is Love in Action
Tara D. Miller
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
"The essence of kindness
is love. When one's heart stirs toward someone else, or some
cause, and one builds a desire to show love. Kindness is an
outward action that shows the deep emotion of the heart. Kindness
is 'love in action.'..."
(Full
Article)
Kin selection as the key to
altruism: its rise and fall
Edward O. Wilson
Harvard University
"One of the enduring
unsettled issues of evolutionary biology is the paradox of
collateral altruistic behavior--that is, when some individuals
subordinate their own interests and those of their immediate
offspring in order to serve the interests of a larger group
beyond offspring..."
(Full
Article)
A Less Traveled Road to Happiness
Paul T. P. Wong
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Toronto, ON, Canada
"I have been wrestling with this question for some time: Where do people find comfort and hope in the darkest hour of their lives, if they believe that material is the only thing that matters, and God is nothing more than a convenient social construction? Could they find ultimate meaning and unwavering faith on their death-beds without believing in a supernatural and transcendental reality?"
(Full Article)
Lessons from
the Enron Debacle: Corporate Culture Matters!
Paul T. P. Wong,
PhD, C.Psych.
Trinity Western University
Langley, BC, Canada
"The recent Enron collapse
has sent shockwaves all over the financial world and raised
serious questions regarding corporate governance: How could
America's seventh largest corporation suddenly descend to
bankruptcy?"
(Full
Article)
Life is about
letting go
Paul T. P. Wong
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Toronto, ON, Canada
"Surrounded
by mountains of boxes piling from floor to ceiling, I feel
like being confined in a prison of my own making. I am now
paying dearly for having accumulated so much earthly goods."
(Full
Article)
LIFE TIPS:
The stages of life. What we all go through!
World Peace Newsletter
Reprinted with permission
"Although
each of us is unique in thousands of ways, we all share the
human experience of being born, living and dying. It is helpful
to realize that we are not alone when it comes to dealing
with life's challenges and setbacks..."
(Full
Article)
Living with Dignity and Palliative
Counseling
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
President, INPM
and
Catherine Stiller
"Euthanasia and assisted
suicide continue to spark strong emotional reactions and heated
debates. Proponents on both sides of the controversy have
presented compelling arguments based on individual rights,
compassion, medical ethics and societal responsibility..."
(Full
Article)
Locus of Control in Our Daily
Lives: How the Concept of Control Impacts the Social World
Michael Wise
Miami University, Florida, U.S.A.
"Locus of control is
defined as an individual’s generalized expectancies regarding
the forces that determine rewards and punishments. Individuals
with an internal locus of control view events as resulting
from their own actions. Persons with an external locus of
control view events as being under the control of external
factors such as luck..."
(Full
Article)
Logotherapy
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
"Dr. Viktor Frankl (1905-1997)
of Vienna developed logotherapy and existential analysis in
the 1930s, because of his dissatisfaction with both Freud
and Adler. Logotherapy is also known as the “Third Viennese
School of Psychotherapy”..."
(Full
Article)
Looking at
Addictions Family Therapy through an Existential Lens
Cathy Patterson-Sterling
MA, RCC
British Columbia, Canada
"The
idea of treating family members and loved ones who have been
impacted by other people's addictions is a relatively new
concept. Family members only started receiving help with the
creation of Al-anon (originally known as the A.A. Auxilary)
in 1951..."
(Full
Article)
Making peace
with myself
Eddy Elmer
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C.
"When
I think back on the year I've had, "peace" is the last word
that comes to mind. Perhaps there were more than the usual
number of full moons, but for most of the preceding 300 days
or so, I've been at war with myself. While most other people
have been trying to figure out how to appease warring factions
in India, Bosnia, and the Middle East, I've been trying to
appease the warring factions within myself..."
(Full
Article)
Meaning, Boredom, and Depression
Does a lack of meaning in life cause boredom and depression?
Shelley A. Fahlman, Shiran Sabari, and John D. Eastwood
York University,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
"Existential theories consider one’s sense of meaning in life to be an important concept in understanding human suffering and well-being. Experiences of boredom and depression play a central role in existential theories of life meaning..."
(Full Article
Meaning-Centred
Counselling Workshop
Paul T. P. Wong
Presented at
the International Conference on Searching for Meaning in the
New Millennium
July 13, 2000, Richmond, B.C.
"When a
client walks into your office, what do you see in your client?
What would you focus on? If you are a cognitive therapist,
you will focus on her irrational or dysfunctional thoughts,
but she is much more than her thoughts. If you are a behavioural
therapist, you will focus on her self-handicapping behaviours,
but she is more than her behaviour..."
(Full
Article)
Meaning-Centred
Intimacy: Beyond the "Pleasure" Principles
Marvin McDonald,
Ph.D., R.Psych.
& Esther Groenhof,
M.A., R.C.C.
Trinity Western University
Langley, BC, Canada
"A father holds his newborn
child in his arms for the first time and weeps for joy. A
woman gently holds a grieving friend who has just lost her
mother to cancer. A charismatic preacher leads a successful
evangelism crusade supported by many different churches. A
church leader resigns in disgrace after a long-term affair
comes to light. The laughter of a young child breaks the tension
at Thanksgiving dinner..."
(Full
Article)
Meaningful
Reflections on Peace
Monika Pant
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
"Peace.
It is not merely the releasing of doves into the open air.
It is the fragrance of the open air itself and the blue sky
beyond. It may ensure the exercise of individual rights in
society and harmony in the universe, but it is something beyond
that too..."
(Full
Article)
The Meaning of Depression:
A reassessment of my own condition
Book Review - Against
Depression
Eddy Elmer
Burnaby, B. C., Canada
http://www.eddyelmer.com
"Kramer dispels any doubt
that clinical depression is either less or more than a disorder,
a sign of disease and pathology. He draws on his extensive
experience with depressed patients to show not so much what
depression is (the symptoms are well-known, as evidenced by
the painstakingly detailed confessionals) but what it means
to us. He aims, in other words, to explore how people understand
depression..."
(Full
Article)
The Meaning
of Indigenous People's Suffering
Rosemary I. Patterson,
Ph.D.
"...During
my research I have been struck by the suffering inflicted
on Indigenous people by their technologically powerful but
incredibly Ethnocentric Monocultural colonizers. Once these
colonizers managed a foothold on foreign lands they set about
to impose their value systems composed of Christianity, Democracy
and Capitalism upon the occupants of the colonized lands..."
(Full
Article)
Meaning of Life, a course
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
President, INPM
"This course will start
you on the path to finding the meaning of your life. It is
written in four parts, for easier loading and reading."
(Part
1)(Part
2)(Part
3)(Part
4)
Meaning of Life and Meaning
of Death in Successful Aging
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
President, INPM
"I can never forget the
angry reaction from a number of seniors right after the key-
note address on successful aging at a major gerontological
society convention. The speaker was a prominent authority
on the topic, yet his message was met with disapproval and
even anger from a small group of seniors standing close to
me..."
(Full
Article)
The Meaning of Motherhood: A
Personal Reflection
Jamie Leggatt
"When my husband and
I made the momentous decision to have a child, we honestly
had no idea what to expect. Now, a full year after the birth
of our beautiful daughter, we realize that we will spend a
lifetime discovering just exactly what we got ourselves into..."
(Full
Article)
The Meaning of Motherhood: Every
parent's fears of children's safety in an evil world
Jamie Leggatt
"The day I first heard
my daughter's heartbeat inside of me was the day I realized
what a scary world we live in. Suddenly it seemed as though
pedophiles were lurking at every playground, kidnappers were
poised to snatch kids from grocery stores, nannies were constantly
shaking babies and even schoolteachers couldn't be trusted..."
(Full
Article)
Meaning Management Theory and
Death Acceptance
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D. C.Psych
"Imagine yourself on
board a train, which is out of control and doomed to end in
a fatal crash. Nothing can be done to slow it down or to change
the track. Worse still, there is no exit – no one can
get out of the train. As a passenger, how would you cope?
What would ease your death anxiety?..."
(Full
Article)
The Meanings
and Blessings of Thanksgiving:
Helpful Exercises of Gratitude
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.,
C.Psych.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
"On the Thanksgiving
Weekend in Canada, my thoughts naturally turned to its meanings
and blessings. This piece is based on what I jotted down at
our church’s Thanksgiving Service. Some of the ideas
presented here were inspired by the sermon......"
(Full
Article)
The Mental Health of Immigrant
Women & Their Rights
Caroline Fei-Yeng Kwok
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
"It is the contention
of my presentation today that the mental health of immigrant
women are often affected by their lack of language skills,
coping skills in Canada, information about medications and
their understanding of their rights within the mental health
institutions..."
(Full
Article)
Missing Meaning in Myanmar
Chris Schryer
Toronto, Ontario
I sat down 3 weeks ago to
write. I was angry, in disbelief, and needed to vent. The
news out of Myanmar was bad. A bloody crack-down on a pro-democracy
up-rising. A curfew imposed. An internet blockade. There were
people dead, people missing, and a nation in terror.
(Full
Article)
Movie Review:
Pay It Forward
Scott Bulloch
Toronto, Ontario
"In her film Pay it Forward,
director Mimi Leder captured a variety of the hardships that
people encounter throughout their lives. She blows the audience
away with a child’s idea of hope for himself and the
world at large. With the help of superb actors, three basic
angles, and a complex but coherent plot, Leder created a film
to be remembered."
(Full
Review)
Moving Beyond Tolerance
Marie Amos
Chilliwack BC
"Tolerance is an interesting
concept. One definition of "tolerate" is to be "willing
to allow beliefs and action of which one does not approve"
(Gage Canadian Dictionary)..."
(Full
Article)
Not just about of the blues
Jamie Leggatt
"When I hit puberty,
my body betrayed me. Before long I couldn’t remember what
it was like to feel healthy and normal..."
(Full
Article)
On "The Average Joe"
Losers are the Big Winners
Micah Stipech
Houghton, Michigan
"Other than the all sports
channels, I don't really watch TV, and neither do many of
my friends. Lately, however, the highlight of my Monday nights
has been the anticipation of the latest 60-minute episode
of NBC's Average Joe. The format is a simple bachelorette
plot. One girl narrows down a field of guys that vie for her
heart week-by-week..."
(Full
Article)
One of the aids to meditation
is Contemplation
Nikhil Gangoli
"Osho Rajneesh in one
of his books tells the story of contemplation regarding the
Buddha. It is a famous story and very meaningful. The Buddha
was born a prince and he was so brought up that he had no
conception of the suffering that exists in this world..."
(Full
Article)
One Small Step Backwards For
Humankind
Micheal Levy
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.
"Neil Armstrong walked
on the moon and declared - One small step for man, one giant
leap for mankind. The first human foot print was placed on
the moon and will forever be a monument to the ingenuity of
the human race..."
(Full
Article)
Origin of Reverence for Life
Lawrence Gussman
"The founding of societies
to protect animals, which was actively promoted during my
youth, made a great impression on me. People actually dared
to announce publicly that compassion toward animals was a
natural thing, a sign of true humanity and that one must not
hide one's feelings about it. I believed that a light was
beginning to shine in the darkness of ideas, and that it would
glow with ever greater brilliance..."
(Full
Article)
Overcoming
Adversity
Cathy Patterson-Sterling
MA, RCC
British Columbia, Canada
"When
faced with overwhelming life challenges do you cave in with
defeat or do you reach down somewhere into the depths of your
soul and find strength to overcome the very obstacle that
lies before you? Sometimes it may feel easier to take a long
nap, ignore your immediate troubles, or wish for some pill
or drug that helps dissolve all the stress like ice melting
into pools of water..."
(Full
Article)
Passion
and Ecstasy in Recovery from Addiction
Geoff Thompson, M.A.,
CCC
Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada
"Our conference on Addiction,
Meaning & Spirituality is coming up on July 20-23, 2006.
George Vaillant and Jaak Panksepp are the latest experts who
have graciously accepted our invitation to share their wisdom...."
(Full
Article)
Peace in Mind, Peace on Earth
- A Buddhist View
Chen Yu-Hsi,
Ph.D. Professor
Department of Religious Studies
Fo Guang University, Taiwan
"When the Western media
talks about "peace," it most likely it refers to the opposite
of war. In all spiritual literatures, however, "peace" points
inwardly to mean peace in mind..."
(Full
Article)
Peace psychology: reducing violence,
building peace
Ervin Staub, Ph.D.
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Peace psychology is a new
field. It is not yet a well-defined field, and not yet an
academic discipline. There are no established definitions
of peace psychology as yet..."
(Full
Article)
Personal growth through Acceptance
and Surrender
Nikhil Gangoli
"One of the most useful
concepts to grow spiritually and becoming happier is the method
of acceptance and surrender..."
(Full
Article)
Personal Meaning and the Arts
Director of the Vancouver Arts Network
Vancouver, British Columbia
"Any quest for personal
meaning will ultimately find itself engaged on some level
with the arts. Whether they are viewed as the deposit of a
culture's heritage, or as a tool for exploring and interpreting
meaning on a personal level, the arts have always provided
essential clues as to who we are..."
(Full
Article)
Playing the respect card: What's
the real motivation?
Eddy Elmer
Burnaby, B.C.
"The word "respect" has
become very fashionable over the last several years. Much
like the terms "self esteem", "assertiveness", and "sensitivity",
it is used give the impression of psychological savvy. And
so naturally it is bandied about and invoked at the slightest
disagreement between persons..."
(Full
Article)
Pope Benedict's Easter Message
Philip Pullella
"Pope Benedict began
the first Easter of his pontificate on Saturday, urging Catholics
to let the risen Christ help them transform a world of violence
and corruption..."
(Full
Article)
Pope John Paul II on the Meaning
of Life and the Dignity of Suffering
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.,
C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Pope John Paul II died
on April 2, 2005. A sea of pilgrims are descending on Rome
to pay their last respect to their long-serving, long-suffering
spiritual leader. The world is united in celebrating his lifetime
extraordinary achievements. Accolades and tributes continue
to pour in from all over the world, and significantly, from
prominent leaders of other faith traditions..."
(Full
Article)
Positive Psychology: An Alternative
Vision
Derrick Klaassen
Trinity Western University
"The inherent paradox
of revolutions, whether political or ideological, is that
they must, if successful, inherit the power once loathed,
and thus ultimately face the challenge of practicing an alternative
vision that does not replicate the oppressive hegemony of
its precedents..."
(Full
Articles)
Positive Psychology of POW Survival
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.,
C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"The faces of American
POWs paraded on TV are both haunting and disturbing. That
they are in the hands of Saddam's atrocious fedayeen is enough
to make one fearful for the POWs..."
(Full
Article)
Practicing Transcendence: What
I have learned from extreme sports
Micah Stipech
Houghton, Michigan
"We talk about transcendence,
but what is it that we actually transcend? Yes, our circumstances
or our limitations, but deeper still is our common adversary,
fear - fear of death and injury, fear of abandonment and fear
of embarrassment. Our fears are fluid and take on infinite
shapes..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
October 2007 - Listening to Your Life
William F. Evans, PhD
INPM President
As another anniversary of
9-11 arrived, I found myself contemplating how fragile the
world seems sometimes. It is difficult to understand the meaning
of life in times of tragedy and suffering.
(Full
Article)
President's Column
March 2007 - What makes a great worker?
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
C.Psych
Toronto, ON, Canada
"If your future employer
were to ask you: “Are you a great worker?” What
would your answer be? Chances are, you would say something
like: “Well, I think I am, because I am very good in
what I do and I am passionate about my work.”
(Full
Article)
President's Column
March 2007 - Take This Job and Love It!
Bill Evans, Ph.D.
"There it was, projecting
up at me from the top of an advertisement page in a weekly
news magazine: “take this job and love it!” Why
did this phrase capture my attention? Besides the fact that
it was an obvious take off on an old country music hit, “take
this job and shove it, I ain’t working here no more,”
I also think it was the audacity of someone thinking that
work could be fun!"
(Full
Article)
President's Column
January 2007 - What has Christmas to do with authentic happiness?
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Toronto, ON, Canada
"It was a gloomy day
with darkish sky. A chilly wind drove shoppers into the stores
and coffee shops. The holiday-weary faces and the retro song
“Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer”
reminded me of poor Charlie Brown and his sad gang. Good grief,
this can be a season of depression and misery for many people!..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
June 2006 - The best kept secret for survival and success
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
Often intuition is the deciding
factor between failure and success. Even though we don’t
know precisely what intuition is, at the gut level we all
know that it is there and that it can be summoned to our aid
whenever we feel overwhelmed.
(Full
Article)
President's Column
April 2006 - Does reverence matter in today's secular society?
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
We are in the grip of a crisis
of international proportions. Is it terrorism? Is it ethnopolitical
conflict? I suggest that the underlying problem may be the
loss of reverence for life.
In a diverse multicultural society, respect for others is
touted as the highest virtue while reverence for life is relegated
to the dustbin of history. There is something incongruent
and self-contradictory in these two social trends.
(Full
Article)
President's Column
February 2006 - The Positive Psychology of Persistence
and Flexibility
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
What are the most valuable
life strategies essential for survival and resilience? What
are the most common traits shared by successful athletes and
CEOs? More importantly, what are the virtues most important
in living the good life?
(Full
Article)(.pdf File)
President's Column
January 2006 - How to humanize higher education and reduce
human suffering
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
Across the land, away from
the spotlight, a different kind of suffering goes on unnoticed
- in homes, workplaces, schools, and universities. I am talking
about intentional cruelty against other human beings, such
as physical and emotional abuse, bullying, oppression and
exploitation.
(Full
Article)
President's Column
December 2005 - The Positive Psychology of Self-Sacrifice
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
There is a tragic
ring to the term self-sacrifice. It conjures up images of
Christ crucified, soldiers killed on battle fields or suicide-bombers
blown to pieces along with their innocent victims. How can
self-sacrifice be positive? Is self-sacrifice the highest
expression of virtue or the worst form of human folly? Who
benefits from self-obliteration? How can one reconcile self-sacrifice
with self-actualization? During my recent trip to Hong Kong
and China, I began to gain some insight to these puzzling
questions.
(Full
Article)(.pdf
File)
President's Column
October 2005 - Touchstones of Character Strengths
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
Human achievements
cannot be measured simply in terms of wealth, power or fame.
Such accomplishments belong to a small group of elites who
are blessed with special talents and good fortunes. Basking
in the glory of success and wielding immense influence, they
are idolized, envied or feared, but not trusted.
(Full
Article)
President's Column
September 2005 - In the
Eye of the Hurricane: Finding Peace amidst Terror, Violence
and War
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"...But
the New Orleans I knew isn't there any more. It is hard to
cling to good memories, when harsh reality pummels you like
angry waves. Now, the motto of New Orleans "Let the good times
roll" seems so distant and so incongruent with the horrors
that are still unfolding before our eyes..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
August 2005 - Life Isn't
Fair: What can we do about it?
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Disturbing
and grotesque images of children dying of starvation on the
evening news seem surreal in our comfortable living rooms.
These tiny children look more like skeletons wrapped in black
skins. Too weak to move and too tired to protest, they let
the black flies feed on their listless faces..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
July 2005 - Rediscover
the Wonder and Awe in Everyday Living
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Life could
change for the better, when it is lived on a higher plane.
Visualize yourself at the bottom of a grimy pit. If you look
down, all you can see is muddy ground. But the moment you
lift up your eyes towards the sky, your world suddenly opens
up and brightens with new possibilities. A perspective shift
can dramatically transform your view of life..."
(Full
Artilce)
President's Column
June 2005 - Practical Wisdoms for Flourishing in Difficult
Situations
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
" We all
have experienced complex and difficult situations, which baffle
the mind and defy rational solutions. All the scientific knowledge
and technology in the world are of little help in the face
of an urgent but ill-defined problem. Even the well-established
principles in psychology and ethics fail to show us the right
path..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
May 2005 - The Promises
and Perils of Family
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"As a social
institution, family matters for the individual as well as
the nation. It is frightening to realize that as the family
goes, so goes the civilization. We really need to take stock
and find out where our families are heading..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
April 2005 - Rules for
Positive Spontaneous Living
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Play is
essential to a child's learning and well-being; it is also
a child's full-time occupation. Life is a continuous flow,
interrupted only by sleep and parental intrusions. What an
exuberant display of energy and joy. There is no agenda, no
ulterior motive, just the sheer pleasure of fun and games..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
March 2005 - The power
of determination and commitment
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"No other
human power can match that of determination. It has the potential
to create heaven or hell not just for oneself, but also for
the world. It is the ultimate terminator, unstoppable and
invincible; nothing can stand in its way - not obstacles,
not dangers, not even death..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
January 2005 - Coping
with the tsunami and its aftermath: A challenge to religious
faith and the quest for meaning and hope
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Faith is
the divine spark planted in the human soul, igniting our deepest
longings and highest aspirations. It is an eternal flame,
which cannot be extinguished. No matter how dimly it glimmers,
it will survive the worst storm..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
December 2004 - The healing
power of forgiveness
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"The sentiment
of hurt and anger flows forever through the veins of planet
earth, seething like hot lava, ready to erupt with a vengeance,
spitting fire and deadly ashes. Revenge knows no boundary,
no time limits. Not even death can cancel the blood debt,
which often passes on from one generation to another..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
November 2004 - Respect
and moral values
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"You feel
the sting, the hurt, whenever others insult or trivialize
you. How should you react when people are rude or disrespectful?
Should you get angry and react in kind, or should you try
to rationalize and rise above the insult? Are you being too
sensitive or expecting too much from people?..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
October 2004 - The Loyalty Factor: Key to the Good Life
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"It is inconceivable
to attain the good life in the absence of good relationships.
Our joy is multiplied and sorrow divided a thousand times,
when we share our feelings with family and friends. In the
final analysis, all of one's strengths and achievements would
not mean very much, when one has to grow old and die alone,
without a single friend or loved one..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
September 2004 - Restoration of Integrity in the Cheating
Culture
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Devastated
and traumatized, Tim buries his head in his hands. The harsh
words of the Vice-President still ring in his ears: "We are
going to fire you for insubordination!" Replaying the scenes
leading up to this dramatic encounter, Tim knows that he would
not have done it differently..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
August 2004 - The Meaning of Responsibility and the Statue
of Liberty
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"On a picturesque
Hawaiian island, at long last I am able to shed all my burdens
and responsibilities as easily as I shed my clothes. Lying
on the sandy beach, looking into the wide open sky, listening
to the rhythms of the surf, and feeling the gentle caress
of the ocean breeze, I have a surreal sense of being in a
different world - the pristine world of aboriginals..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
July 2004 - Good Grief: The Gift of Healing
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"The river
of sorrow runs deep and it never ends. How many painful memories
does it contain? How many tears has it collected since the
beginning of time?..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
June 2004 - The positive psychology of self-control
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"It is a
picture-perfect summer evening. The setting sun bathes the
parkland in a gentle glow. The towering pine trees, in their
dark green uniform, stand on guard, watching over the children
playing. Some young couples walk leisurely along the glistening
lake, pushing a stroller or holding the leash of a dog..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
May 2004 - The power of endurance
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Darkness
fills your soul and pain pierces through your heart. Betrayed,
bruised and battered, you can feel the suffering of Christ
crucified. Your weary body shivers in the wind like an autumn
leave. Life, in its tragic brevity and absurdity, is more
than you can bear..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
April 2004 - Generosity: The Positive Psychology of Giving
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"This brief
article represents my humble attempt to explore the blessings
of generosity. My effort would be worth it, even if it opens
the eyes of one single person to the enduring, fulfilling
abundance that comes from giving..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
March 2004 - Creating a kinder and gentler world: The positive
psychology of empathy
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Just imagine
that we live in a kinder and gentler world, where people seek
to understand rather than to be understood, show sensitivity
to other people's feelings, routinely engage in acts of kindness
, and strive to make this world a better place for everyone..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
February 2004 - The Wisdom of Positive Acceptance
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"We are
constantly torn between the pull of reality and the push towards
ever rising expectations. The art of living often revolves
around how to manage this eternal conflict. Our well-being
depends on our capacity to achieve a proper balance between
these two opposing forces..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
January 2004 - Simple abundance and rich poverty: The positive
psychology of contentment
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Positive
psychology researchers have made great strides in recent years,
especially in happiness studies, yet "contentment" remains
a misunderstood phenomenon and an under-valued virtue. All
the available scientific tools seem to come short, when we
try to understand its true nature..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
December 2003 - Do's and Don'ts in Peace Making
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"How wonderful
and pleasant life would be, if people could live together
in peace! When peace reigns, everything seems possible. With
all the resources and creative energies channeled into peacetime
projects, we could turn weapons of mass destruction into machines
for food production..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
November 2003 - I'm glad that I'm a nobody: A positive psychology
of humility
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Everyone
aspires to be somebody, and no one wants to be a nobody. From
the depth of our souls, there is a persistent cry for personal
significance. This universal search for meaning manifests
itself in a variety of ways, from self-seeking to self-sacrifice..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
October 2003 - Building positive communities
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Community
is a good thing. Who does not yearn for love and belonging?
Who is immune to the existential anxiety of separation and
alienation? Who can survive long as an island onto oneself?..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
September 2003 - Spirituality and Meaning at Work
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"A healthy
dosage of spirituality and meaning at the workplace is good
for business, because it improves morale and productivity.
This view is gaining currency among management consultants,
human resources professionals and mainstream business schools..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
August 2003 - Finding happiness through suffering
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Happiness,
how sweet the sound! It's an inalienable right, a worthy life
goal, and the yearning of every soul, yet oftentimes it leads
to pain and ruin. Like moths flinging themselves into a flaming
fire, many have ruined their lives in hot pursuit of happiness..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
July 2003 - The transcendental life: An impossible dream?
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Any discourse
on the transcendental life is likely to conjure up the image
of a Zen Master on a misty mountain top or a Trappist Monk
in a remote desert retreat. A widely held notion is that only
the esoteric mystics, who have given up earthly affairs in
their single-minded spiritual pursuit, can ever realize self-transcendence..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
June 2003 - The Positive Psychology of Love
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"There is
no ill that love cannot heal, no problem love cannot solve,
and no evil love cannot overcome. If hope is the oxygen that
sustains life, then love is the sunshine that nurtures it.
Love is the fountain of well-being, the cardinal principle
of spirituality, and the touchstone of true religion..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
May 2003 - Pathways to posttraumatic growth
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"On the
fateful night of April 19, 1989, a young woman known as the
Central Park Jogger was raped, beaten, and left to die. After
a 14-year silence, she finally revealed her identity as Trisha
Meili. She has appeared at Larry King Live and other talk
shows. She also tells her story in her book entitled 'I Am
the Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibilities'..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
April 2003 - Humor and laughter in wartime
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"War is
no laughing matter. In the midst of the "shock and awe" campaign,
with images of historical explosions and destructions in front
of us everyday, it is hard for me to write about humor and
laughter. It feels sacrilegious to make fun of the Iraqi war,
because war is always deadly serious..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
March 2003 - The Magic of Gratitude
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"What is
the worth of saying "Thank you?" My answer is that it is priceless,
when it is said in sincerity. The magic power of a simple
expression of gratitude has almost limitless potentials..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
February 2003 - The Power of Courage
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"The courageous
voice of a true champion is contagious. It can turn despair
to hope, and defeat to victory. For instance, the reassuring,
roaring voice of Winston Churchill in the darkest days of
England during World War II is widely credited as playing
a major role in changing the fortunes of the war in Europe..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
January 2003 - Promises of Renewal
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Despite
tight security and threats of terror, the world became a gigantic
party to ring in 2003. As the clock struck mid-night, the
skies around the globe came alive with spectacular fireworks,
and throngs of revellers burst into cheers. At that magic
moment, euphoria and optimism filled the air - anything seemed
possible and hope once again sprang from the depth of our
souls..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
December 2002 - You can hope again
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Most people
take oxygen for granted, until they have problem breathing.
Similarly, we don't realize the importance of hope, until
it is shattered or taken away from us. Without the magic of
hope, all life withers away..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
November 2002 - The Power of Purpose
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
" What makes
one life rich in poverty and another unfulfilling in abundance?
Why do some organizations thrive in difficult times, while
others languish in prosperity? One may also ask: What turns
an average student into an outstanding success and a gifted
student into a failure?..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
October 2002 - Existential Psychology and Therapy
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Now that
the 2nd Biannual Meaning Conference is behind us, it is time
to look ahead: What will be the direction for INPM in the
next few years? Is there a blueprint for the future? I will
use this Column to share with you some of the new developments
and projects..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
September 2002 - Transformative narrative therapy
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"All psychotherapy
is concerned with change. However, each school of therapy
differs in terms of the kind of change it prescribes. Some
focus on cognitive-behavioral modification; others emphasize
changes in family dynamics; still others stress the importance
of re-authoring one's life story..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
August 2002 - A Corridor of Life
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
" 'It is
a festival, a celebration,' exclaimed Teresa, Coordinator
of Volunteers, at the end of the Meaning Conference. Indeed,
the Conference was a festival of meaning, a celebration of
life, very much as the late Dr. Joe Fabry and I had envisioned
during my last visit to Joe at his Berkeley home..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
July 2002 - My vision for a positive revolution
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"At our
first International Conference on Personal Meaning in July
2000, my vision was that the Conference would serve as a springboard
for a positive revolution in the new millennium..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
June 2002 - The Positive Psychology of Weaknesses
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"To the
Western mind, weaknesses are seldom associated with positive
outcomes. Just ask any positive psychologists in North America
and they would likely consider positive weaknesses as a contradiction
in terms..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
May 2002 - The positive psychology of synergy
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Anything
could happen when synergism occurs. In bedrooms and boardrooms,
from sport's arenas to battlefields, on factory floors as
well as on capital hills, synergy is the key to optimal performance..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
April 2002 - The Meaning of Easter: A message for positive
psychology
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Easter
never fails us. Even in the worst of times, amidst destruction,
death and despair, Easter arrives as surely as daybreak, boldly
proclaiming the message of renewal and hope..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
March 2002 - The mustard seed principle: The story of INPM
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"A tiny
seed was planted a few years ago and it has been growing steadily
ever since. That is the story of the International Network
on Personal Meaning (INPM)..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
February 2002 - Triumph over Terror: Lessons from Logotherapy
and Positive Psychology
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"September
11 has changed everything: the unthinkable has happened; the
unimaginable has become a reality. We have been suddenly awakened
to a new sense of vulnerability..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
January 2002 - Discovering Meaning and Personal Significance
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"What is
your aspiration for the New Year? Will this be a break-through
year for you? Do you still dream of wealth, fame and power?
Do you plan to achieve greater success? Or do you yearn for
meaning and personal significance in a chaotic and uncertain
world?..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
December 2001 - A New Algebra for Positive Psychology
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
All through the
Positive Psychology Summit in Washington, DC, October 5-8,
2001, there was a constant undercurrent, tugging at the participants
for an effective response to September 11. Indeed, many speakers
did acknowledge the challenge posted by this national tragedy
to positive psychology, but their responses tended to focus
on "happiness" and "the good life" and
minimize the negative..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
November 2001 - Another milestone: Erecting the Twin Towers
of Courage and Faith
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Good things
are happening. Many have written us, saying that they have
found help and inspiration from our website. Many more have
complimented us for the rich and relevant information. Comments
found in our Guest Book provide just a glimpse of the positive
impact of our website..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
September 2001 - When
terror hits home: A case for tragic optimism
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
What is un-imaginable
has happened. The evil of mass destruction has descended on
American soil. The terrorists have just stuck, with such deadly
force and accuracy, the center of commerce and the nerves-center
of the military – symbols of American wealth and might. The
world’s only superpower is under attack, and she seems so
vulnerable.
(Full
Article)
President's Column
August 2001 - The Positive Psychology of “Climate Management”
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"Every organization
wants to see its members perform at an optimal level and enjoy
a high level of personal satisfaction and well-being. But
how can they achieve this ideal?..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
July 2001 - Freedom, Responsibility and Justice: The Cornerstones
of the Good Life
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"The theme
chosen for the second bi-annual Meaning Conference is: Freedom,
Responsibility, and Justice. To the extent that these
are the cornerstones of the good life and a civil society,
they are pivotal issues of positive psychology..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
June 2001 - A Very Unique Vision
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"From its
inception, INPM has always aspired to promote the positive
psychology of meaning research, meaning applications, and
meaningful living. It is intended to be multidisciplinary
and international..."
(Full
Article)
President's Column
January 2001 - The Las Vegas Challenge
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"A number
of people have asked me: 'Why go to Las Vegas for a Planning
Retreat for the International Network on Personal Meaning
(INPM)? Don’t you think that Las Vegas is the wrong place
to look for meaning?'..."
(Full
Article)
Profile of INPM from Psychology
International of the American Psychological Association, Spring
2002 Issue
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.,
C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"The events on September11
and the ensuing war on terrorism in Afghanistan underscore
the importance of the mission of the International Network
on Personal Meaning (INPM). Inspired by Dr. Viktor Frankl,
father of Logotherapy, the INPM was founded by the author
in 1998 to promote health, spirituality and peace through
meaning..."
(Full
Article)
Purpose and the difficult road
to peace
Micah Stipech, B.A.
Langley, British Columbia
"The gray January damp
made Shankill road more intimidating than I had imagined.
The former middleclass Belfast neighborhood's main street
that once housed shops and restaurants, was now lined with
iron pronged fences topped with razor wire, boarded windows,
litter and paramilitary murals..."
(Full
Article)
The Pursuit of Fairness
Terry H Anderson
Texas A & M University
"Affirmative action been
a public policy for four decades, since President John F.
Kennedy first used the term in an executive order, President
Lyndon Johnson expanded its meaning to include women, and
since President Richard Nixon established "goals and timetables"
to force contractors to comply and hire women and especially
minorities. The original aim was to help African Americans..."
(Full
Article)
The quest for the meaning and
fulfillment of life:
A review of Long Journey Home
Jennifer Hughes
Meaning of life. That is a
well-worn phrase. It is heard by everyone at least once in
their lives. At some point or another, everyone contemplates
why they are here on this earth. Is there a way to find the
answer? Os Guinness (2001) in his book, Long Journey Home,
talks about the journey that everyone takes in discovering
their meaning in life.
(Full
Article)
Radical Positive Psychology
A Manifesto
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D. C.Psych
Toronto, Ontario
We at the International Network
on Personal Meaning believe that the world needs a positive
psychology which seeks to transform negatives to positives.
Radical positive psychology dares to embrace the unworthy,
challenge the tyrants, and bring heaven to hell.
(Full
Article)
Radical positive psychology
for radical times
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D. C.Psych
"International terrorism,
radical fundamentalism, natural disasters, AIDS, ethno-geographical
wars, oppressive regimes, devastating poverty and the widening
gap between the haves and have-nots indicate that the state
of the world is not well. Radical positive psychology is needed
for the radical times of 21st century..."
(Full
Article)
Raised In
A Cult
Lyca Shan
"...Settled into my chair.
Everyone faced Pavel. He looked stern today. He had grown
out his white beard and mustache, and wore his tall Russian
cap with a visor. He had a confident, serious look on his
face. His lectures were his power, and he took full advantage
of the captive audience..."
(Full
Article)
Random Thought: Hardwired to
Connect
Louis Schmier,
Ph.D.
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia
I just finished going through
a recent report called "Hardwired To Connect." You should
read it. It's more than interesting; it's thought-provoking.
I first heard of it in a George Will Column. The report is
the result a mixture of neuroscience, developmental psychology,
the psychology and sociology of religion, social theory, moral
and political philosophy..."
(Full
Article)
Research on Humility for Existential
Psychologists in the 21st Century
Kenneth E. Hart, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, University
of Windsor
Windsor, ON Canada
"There is tremendous
confusion about what humility is and what it is not. For example,
in contrast to popular belief, it does not connote "humiliation"
or "embarrassment." In fact, its true meaning lies in the
exact opposite: ego-transcendence and self-detachment..."
(Full
Article)
Respect: A Psychosocial, Moral,
and Spiritual Reflection
Naji Abi-Hashem,
Ph.D.
Seattle, Washington, USA
"When you hear of the
term respect, what does immediately come to your mind? Perhaps
it is the thought of how people should relate to each other
or treat each other. Well that is true, because respect is
manifested in showing courtesy, reverence, appreciation, and
dignity. It is the act of esteeming and honoring the other
person or party. It implies regard and favor..."
(Full
Article)
Responsibility
Karen Schultz,
author, MA IO-psychology, and Lieutenant Colonel
Vordingborg, Denmark
"When I was practically
finished with my BA in psychology and had to take a six-month
internship as part of my masters degree, I realized what responsibility
means from an existential perspective. The memory is still
so crystal clear that I can put a date to that day when I
fully realized what existential thoughts are..."
(Full
Article)
Responsibility is more than
a burden
Carolyn Cooke
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
"For how long now has
it been the norm for us, particularly those of us anywhere
in North America, to think of responsibility as a chore, an
unwelcome burden or even as a death knell to joy and fun?
It's easy enough to trace back our cultural history to see
where this came from, and that's been done elsewhere..."
(Full
Article)
Reverence for Life
Albert Schweitzer
"I am life which wills
to live, in the midst of life which wills to live. As in my
own will-to-live there is a longing for wider life and pleasure,
with dread of annihilation and pain; so is it also in the
will-to-live all around me, whether it can express itself
before me or remains dumb..."
(Full
Article)
Reverence of Nature and a Higher
Power in Indigenous Peoples' Cultures
Rosemary I. Patterson,
Ph.D.
"For thousands of years
Indigenous people around the world have demonstrated in their
cultures and rituals a kinship with nature, gratitude for
the bounty of natures' provisions and reverence to a higher
power credited with setting this in motion..."
(Full
Article)
Rocky Balboa: An Existential
Warrior - Movie Review
Scott Bulloch
Spanning three decades (1976-2006),
Sylvester Stallone finally brings to completion the character,
story and life meaning of Rocky Balboa. In Chartoff-Winkler
Productions (2006) film Rocky Balboa, Stallone wrestles with
the questions life has thrown at him, all in the hope that
generations of viewers will benefit
(Full
Article)
Science And The Humanities In
The Understanding Of Human Nature
Robert Young
London, England
"It
is an odd sensation giving an inaugural lecture four months
before one's retirement. One consequence is that insofar as
such lectures are promissory notes I trust you will agree
that it would be prudent not promise to achieve much in the
remainder of my tenure..."
(Full
Article)
The Search for Meaning at Work
Alex Pattakos, Ph.D.
Santa Fe, New Mexico USA
"When one considers the
amount of time that most people spend "at work" during their
lifetime, it is no wonder that the search for meaning in a
work context is so vitally important. However, when the question
of personal meaning arises-and it seems to do so more and
more in the so-called post-modern era-work and the
workplace still are viewed only infrequently as legitimate
sources of reply..."
(Full
Article)
Seizing Opportunity
Kamie McConnel, M.A.
Assistant Director, School of Graduate
Studies
Trinity Western University, BC, Canada
"Sometimes life offers
opportunities in disguise - opportunities that we might otherwise
run away from as we look at the required effort they demand.
I can honestly say that the INPM Conference last year fit
this description for me..."
(Full
Article)
Self-Absorbed America May Not
Be Ready to Sacrifice - citizens making sacrifices to save
others
Mark Lacter
" 'SACRIFICE' is a word
that's popped up a lot in the wake of what happened on Sept.
11 -- starting when several passengers on board a United Airlines
flight heroically prevented terrorists from crashing into
the Capitol building or goodness knows what..."
(Full
Article)
Self-efficacy
and Weight Loss
Ben Schultz
Trinity Western University, BC
"In
a recent article, Bandura and Locke (2003) state that: "Among
the mechanisms of human agency, none is more central or pervasive
than beliefs of personal efficacy. Whatever other factors
serve as guides and motivators, they are rooted in the core
belief that one has the power to produce desired effects;
otherwise one has little incentive to act or to persevere
in the face of difficulties"..."
(Full
Article)
Servant leadership and positive
management
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.,
C.Psych.
Toronto, Ontario
Much has been written about
organizational leadership and management. Numerous MBA and
Leadership programs continue to improve their curriculum.
But are the graduates from these programs adequately prepared
for today’s turbulent and volatile world? Are we raising
the right kind of leaders for a complex and uncertain future?
(Full
Article)
Servant Leadership: An Opponent-Process
Model and the Revised Servant Leadership Profile
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.,
C.Psych.
and
Don Page,
Ph.D
"This paper attempts
to resolve the paradox of servant leadership. It first seeks
to remove the concern that one has to give up power in order
to practice servant leadership (SL) by recognizing the legitimate
use of various bases of social power. It then describes a
multidimensional model of servant leadership and the Servant
Leadership Profile..."
(Full
Article)
Sex and Prostate Cancer
Paul Wong, Ph.D, C.Psych
Toronto, Ontario
According to Canadian Cancer Society’s 2008 statistics, prostate cancer ranks No.1 in incidence rate among men, accounting for 28.4 % of the new cancer cases. According to American Cancer Society, one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their life time. African Americans have even a higher risk: one in four. Such statistics demand attention and action.
(Full Article)
Short Legs and Dim Wits: Ontological
Reflections on Self-Acceptance
Steve Wilson
Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, USA
"Step one in the development
of self-acceptance begins with a positive affirmation of being.
Our concern is more ontological than psychological. Let's
keep it simple. The positive affirmation required may be as
straightforward and as simple as saying, "It is good to Be."
However, where a fate of oblivion or non-being is to be desired,
that is where the negation of being is to be preferred over
the affirmation of Being and self-acceptance is not going
to get off the ground..."
(Full
Article)
The Significance of Money
Micheal Levy
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.
"I doubt if there is
anyone who would dispute the fact that money is the most important
commodity in any persons' life. It is right up there with
gravity, light and water as necessities for survival and comfort
in a modern day life on earth..."
(Full
Article)
Spiritual
vision and the Meaning of Life: A Reflection
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.,
C.Psych.
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
"...What
makes Salvation Army such a great and enduring organization?
One of the secrets of their success is their spiritual vision
- They firmly believe it is not enough to "take people out
of the slums," but we must also "take the slums out of people,"
as their founder General William Booth used to say..."
(Full
Article)
Spontaneity
Adam Blatner,
MD
"A number of scholars
have noted the prevalence of play elements in culture and
also, if one looks at it afresh, the necessity for spontaneity
in most aspects of learning and creative development..."
(Full
Article)
The Stages In-and-Out's of Life
Michael Levy
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.
"...each stage in everyone's
life there is always a fork in the thoroughfare and the path
they pursue will have a dramatic effect on how they act out
their roles. In early child hood there is little choice for
most children, as they have to follow their parent's beliefs
and traditions..."
(Full
Article)
Struggling Towards Meaning
A Look at the Celebrity Lifestyle
Scott Bulloch
Toronto, Ontario
As glamorous as the celebrity lifestyle appears it is actually quite the opposite. Almost everyday in the paper there is someone famous being charged for a crime, getting a divorce, getting remarried for the third time, or telling their story of healing from a past drug addiction...
(Full Article
Taking Ownership of Life
Tara D. Miller
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
"Sometimes it is difficult
to see our own potential. It is strange to wonder how we get
to the place we are at in life, and why it is us, and not
someone else. What is it that drives one individual to become
successful, and limits another individual?..."
(Full
Article)
The Ten Essential Requirements
For Asset Management
Micheal Levy
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.
"How good are you at
managing your assets? Over the past few years, I have received
a few invitations to attend seminars at high-class restaurants.
Naturally, I have attend a few and enjoyed a nice meal and
at the same time listened to expert financial managers teach
me how to take care of my assets..."
(Full
Article)
To hell and back and what I have learned about happiness
Paul Wong
Ph.D, C.Psych
For several days, I was writhing in pain and could not find a single spot or position that could grant me temporary relief. My world was turned into a torture chamber, a hell hole. I was reduced to a bundle of exposed raw nerves.
(Full Article)
To Make A Difference
Arlene Taylor,
PhD
Napa Valley, California, USA
"It was my first night
shift on the obstetrical unit, my first hands-on experience
outside of clinical labs. As a nursing student I’d recently
finished the OB/GYN course work, which made me eligible to
work as a nurse’s aide. Such a deal, and I needed the money!.."
(Full
Article)
Towards an Integrative Model
of Meaning-Centered Counseling and Therapy (MCCT)
Paul T. P. Wong, PhD.
C.Psych.
Trinity Western University
Langley, BC, Canada
"Existential therapy
in general or logotherapy in particular has been generally
regarded as a philosophical approach rather than a separate
school of counseling.3 There is the possibility that logotherapy
may go the way of Gestalt therapy - disappearing as a distinct
therapy after its basic concepts have been absorbed by eclectic
therapists and other theoretical models..."
(Full
Article)
Transcending the black dog:
Living with depression
Eddy Elmer
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C.
"In the midst of my deepest
and darkest depression, the last thing I wanted to hear from
anyone was that I had to "transcend" my difficulties. When
I stayed awake late at night sobbing and questioning my will
to live, I was in no mood to picture myself sitting alone
near Walden Pond, transcending the world around me by making
friends with a tall, lonely oak tree..."
(Full
Article)
Transformation of Grief through
Meaning-management
Paul T. P. Wong, PhD.
C.Psych.
Trinity Western University
Langley, BC, Canada
"Grief is an inevitable,
universal experience, more commonly experienced than death.
So much of life is about loss. Going through life is to endure
a series of losses, which include the loss of health, roles,
identity, homeland, and loved ones through betrayal or death.
Grief is the normal emotional response to loss..."
(Full
Article)
Transpersonal Psychology and
Spiritual Wisdom Traditions
John Davis,
Ph.D.
Naropa University
Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
"Some thirty years after
its birth as a field of study, transpersonal psychology is
moving into a new level of maturity and possibility. Its central
interests are becoming both more well-defined and more broad-ranging.
Its applications in clinical and counseling psychology, health
care, social services, education, business settings, and community
development are growing in number and depth..."
(Full
Article)
True; yet Blue
Marie Amos
Chilliwack, B.C., Canada
"When I was a child,
my mother said that in order to have a friend one must first
be a friend to others. This adage has proven to be selectively
true over the years. With every rule there are exceptions,
and one can be a friend to others without receiving friendship
in return..."
(Full
Article)
The true meanings of self-discipline
Steve Wilson
Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, USA
"Taken alone the word
discipline is often synonymous with punishment. All too often
self-discipline is the internalization of some authority exercising
raw power. Consequently, we learn to discipline ourselves
by beating ourselves up..."
(Full
Article)
The Use of Intuition in Indigenous
People’s Rituals
Rosemary I. Patterson,
Ph.D.
"Intuition or the small,
still voice within that provides the solution to problems,
advises on needed action or decisions, and even results in
correctly prophesizing the future is likely connected to a
higher source than the human brain. Such intuitive communication
is implicit in many rituals used and still utilized by Indigenous
people throughout the world..."
(Full
Article)
The Value of Forgiveness
Marie Amos
Chilliwack, B.C., Canada
"As I watched my friend
walk away from me I was filled with anger. The fury boiled,
churning within me. It was delicious, this sense of being
wronged, and I enjoyed the hot searing sensation of righteous
indignation. How dare that person behave in such a way, how
dare they ignore their obvious transgression and not fall
prostrate at my feet in apology!.."
(Full
Article)
Viktor Frankl:
Prophet of Hope and Herald of Positive Psychology
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D. C.Psych
"The legacy of Viktor
Frankl was assessed in terms of his prophet voice of hope
and his contribution to positive psychology. Viktor Frankl’s
(1985) tragic optimism (TO) posits that one can remain optimistic
in spite of tragic experiences..."
(Full
Article)
What drove Cho Seung-Hui to
Virginia Tech Mass Killing?
A psychological profile of
the lone gunman
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D. C.Psych
The world remains in shock.
People from all over the world remain in mourning. Korean
communities everywhere feel a collective shame and fear for
backlash. The aftermath will reverberate for a long, long
time.
(Full
Article)
What has Christmas to do with
authentic happiness?
President's Column
02/01/2006
Paul T. P. Wong,
Ph.D. C.Psych
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
"It was a gloomy day
with darkish sky. A chilly wind drove shoppers into the stores
and coffee shops. The holiday-weary faces and the retro song
“Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer”
reminded me of poor Charlie Brown and his sad gang..."
(Full
Article)
What History Tells Us about
Addiction and Treatment
Executive Director’s
Column
Geoff Thompson, MA,
CCC
In my last article, I pointed
out a handful of conflicting practices that we find in the
current map of addiction and recovery. In this article, I’ll
describe how we can begin to make sense of what, on the surface,
seems merely a patchwork of approaches.
(Full
Article)
What is it We Mean by Shared
Leadership?
Colleen Mac Dougall,
Ph.D.
Leadership for Life Institute
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
"As a counselling and
organizational psychologist who has been providing therapeutic
service for 12 years to "parts" of organizational systems,
I have come to the same tiresome/challenging conclusion as
many - that dealing with the parts will have limited impact
on the whole, but that permission to gain entry to the realm
and trustworthiness of the whole is in itself a transformative
step..."
(Full
Article)
What is the psychological impact
of 9/11?
Paul T. P. Wong
Ph.D., C.Psych.
Toronto, ON, Canada
11/09/2006
"Five years after the
catastrophe on 9/11, its impact is still being felt. It continues
to dominate the news and American consciousness. The recent
release of the docudrama World Trade Center, the escalating
war on terror, and the rising casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan
all conspire to remind people that we are living in a post-9/11
era. The world has changed in fundamental ways - politically,
culturally and psychologically..."
(Full
Article)
What makes therapy therapeutic?
George Kunz
Seattle
University
Seattle, WA
What makes therapy therapeutic?
Is it transference and counter transference? Is it the therapeutic
alliance? Is it unconditional positive regard? Yes! All these
are therapeutic. However, we need to ask deeper philosophical
questions about the nature of this relationship, this unique
face-to-face encounter between client and therapist.
(Full
Article)
When Humility Sings
Daryl & Shirley Busby
Langley, B.C., Canada
When country singer Mac Davis
was at the top of his craft, he thrilled to play at one of
the most prestigious hotels on the music circuit. One morning
he woke up in his "star" suite, looked in the mirror and admitted
to himself the irony of his life: he had everything he ever
wanted, but still felt miserable..."
(Full
Article)
Where has my Contentment Gone?
Tara D. Miller
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
"If life is a question
of contentment, then the answer will be defined by our life's
meaning. Too often our hearts, which were once content to
find passion in our work, our family, our love, somehow begin
to question the meaning of it all..."
(Full
Article)
Wisdom and Knowledge - Leadership
in Balance
Dr. Thomas Mengel,
Integral Consulting
Passmore, B.C., Canada
"We perceive ourselves
to live in a knowledge society which requires us to acquire
knowledge in order to be able to solve the problems ahead
of us. We learn how and when to use which tools and how to
apply them to given problems. However, we still seem to fail
at an astonishing rate, given the increasing amount of knowledge
that has been collected..."
(Full
Article)
Your Own Do-It-Yourself Kabbalah
Kit
Micheal Levy
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.
"It probably hasn't escaped
your notice that Kabbalah has become all the rage in Hollywood
over the past few years. It also has taken hold of the pop
icons such as Madonna, Britney, Dolly and many more..."
(Full
Article) |