Existential Positive Psychology (PP2.0), Meaning-Focused Therapy, Positive Living Newsletter

Announcing the Certificate Program for Existential Positive Psychology (PP2.0) and Meaning Therapy

Breaking News!

The long awaited certificate program for existential positive psychology and meaning therapy will soon be offered jointly by the International Network on Personal Meaning (INPM) and the Meaning-Centered Counselling Institute. Dr. Paul Wong, a pioneer in the emerging field of existential positive psychology (aka positive psychology 2.0, or PP 2.0) states that, “Over the years many positive psychology coaches and master of applied positive psychology (MAPP) students have told me that my existential positive psychology (PP 2.0) approach, as a special brand of positive psychology, has changed their lives and practices for the better.”

That is why we want to invite more positive psychology students, researchers, and practitioners to enroll in this newly-available certificate program, which is on the cutting edge of both applied positive psychology and existential psychotherapy.

We are witnessing rising suicide rates in young people (Nationwide Children’s, 2023) and increasing number of people asking for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID; Paperny, 2022). Meaning therapy is designed to address these personal existential crises and other global existential threats such as climate change, the pandemic and the power of Artificial Intelligence.

What is the New Science of Flourishing Through Suffering?

A new science of flourishing through suffering has emerged to find solutions for the existential challenges of the 21st century (see Wong et al., 2021, 2022). Specifically, this new paradigm for wellbeing consists of the following shifts:

  • The new positivity is to see the light, be the light, and to kindle a light of meaning even in one’s darkest hours.
  • When life gets difficult, go deeper by sinking one’s roots deeper into the dark, rich soil of suffering through resilience and levels of processing.
  • Aim high and aspire to grow tall and flourish by faith and the discipline of self-sacrifice and daily self-improvement.
  • Learn to integrate polarity through dialectical Yin-Yang interactions and non-duality.
  • Learn to overcome and transcend inherent limitations and inescapable suffering through self-transcendence and a resilient mindset.

You can learn all the above skills and other innovative interventions in this certificate program. Positive psychology 2.0 reveals the road less travelled, how to transform suffering into blessings, and the value of striving towards the highest transcendental values of faith, hope, and love (Wong, 2023).

Level one – The Four Foundational Courses

Four introductory courses will be taught by Dr. Paul T. P. Wong this fall:

  • Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy: The key to mental health and flourishing
  • Integrative Meaning Therapy: How to harness the positive potentials of suffering and turn it into healing and thriving.
  • Existential Positive Psychology: The new science of global wellbeing and human flourishing through research on indigenous manifestations of existential universals.
  • The Meaningful Living Project: A grassroots movement towards positive mental health.

You will learn the theoretical and empirical foundation of this emerging field step-by-step, interventions, and research on new positive psychology assessments. Sign up for a complimentary free Positive Living Newsletter to receive additional announcements about this unique certificate program.

 

References

Nationwide Children’s. (2023, February 15). Youth suicide rates increased during COVID-19 pandemic, especially among particular subgroups. https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/newsroom/news-releases/2023/02/bridge_ruch_youthsuicide_pandemic

Paperny, A. M. (2022, December 12). Canada prepares to expand assisted death amid debate. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-prepares-expand-assisted-death-amid-debate-2022-12-11

Wong, P. T. P. (2020). The maturing of positive psychology and the emerging PP2.0 [Book review of Positive Psychology (3rd ed.) by William Compton and Edward Hoffman]. International Journal on WellBeing, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v10i1.885

Wong, P. T. P. (2023). Spiritual-existential wellbeing (SEW): The faith-hope-love model of mental health and total wellbeing. International Journal of Existential Positive Psychology, 12(1). https://www.meaning.ca/ijepp-article/vol12-no1/spiritual-existential-wellbeing/

Wong, P. T. P., Cowden, R. G., Mayer, C.-H., & Bowers, V. L. (2022). Shifting the paradigm of positive psychology: Toward an existential positive psychology of wellbeing. In A. H. Kemp (Ed.), Broadening the scope of wellbeing science: Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on human flourishing and wellbeing (pp. 13-27). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18329-4_2

Wong, P. T. P., Mayer, C.-H., & Arslan, G. (2021). COVID-19 and existential positive psychology (PP2.0): The new science of self-transcendence [Editorial]. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.800308/full