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 it—let alone see it—how 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
São 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)