The Role of Wu-Wei in Flourishing
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
Trent University
“A “flow” state occurs when one is fully, competently engaged with a challenging task to the point of forgetting oneself and the passing of time. In contrast, a state of “Wu-Wei” is defined by two dimensions: (a) Fully focusing on the present without any task or goal in mind, and (b) in perfect harmony with […]”
Read more
Recommended Readings for the Existential Positive Psychology (2.0) of Flourishing Through Suffering*
“*This list is far from being exhaustive. Here, I only included those publications that have played an important role in my development of existential positive psychology and my own publications on this subject matter. I welcome suggestions of additional publications important for this emerging field. Antonovsky, A. (1987). Unraveling the mystery of health: How people […]”
Read more
The Theory of Positive Disintegration
William Tillier, M.Sc.
“In the last INPM newsletter, I introduced Kazimierz Dąbrowski and briefly reviewed the positive psychology approach he used in defining mental health. The healthy personality is traditionally defined by adjustment to one’s social and cultural norms (how well one fits in) and, in today’s world, being happy by being able to satisfy one’s basic needs […]”
Read more
Burnout Among Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Geoff Thompson, Ph.D.
“After months of the tedium, irritations, and uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, the media and healthcare organizations are talking more about the pandemic’s mental health toll on healthcare workers. Burnout In addition to various stressor-related injuries, such as symptoms of acute stress, “burnout” is one of the most common complaints of healthcare workers. Freudenberger (1974) […]”
Read more
Life Within Closed Rooms: Dealing with the Quarantine During the COVID-19 Crisis
Debanjan Banjeree
““But what does it mean, the plague? It’s not above life, that’s all!” Albert Camus, The Plague, 1947, p. 102 The world has witnessed several ‘plagues’ throughout history, and each time the effects have been global and devastating. From the infamous Bubonic Plague to the Spanish Flu, Asiatic Cholera to the more recent Severe Acute […]”
Read more
The Theory of Positive Disintegration
William Tillier, M.Sc.
“When I studied psychology in university, one of my favorite courses explored theories of personality. At the end of the course, the professor said he was going to introduce one last theory that was unknown and quite complicated. It was important, he said, because it was a forerunner to the approach of positive psychology. He […]”
Read more
Boredom & Meaning
Geoff Thompson, Ph.D.
“The study of boredom is becoming quite fascinating. The American Psychological Association’s Dictionary of Psychology defines boredom as ‘‘a state of weariness or ennui resulting from a lack of engagement with stimuli in the environment” (VandenBos, 2007). Sufficient research has been published to indicate that boredom is a specific state of mind and not merely […]”
Read more
Psychedelics as an Aid to Addiction Recovery
Geoff Thompson, Ph.D.
“In the early 1950s, Bill Wilson, creator of Alcoholics Anonymous, discovered that under the influence of LSD he had a spiritual experience. What attracted him to continue using the drug was that it catalyzed the same experience he had had detoxifying at Towns Hospital in December 1934—his famous “white light” spiritual experience. Although drinking two […]”
Read more
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 […]”
Read more
The Frankl Cure for the 21st Century: Why Self-Transcendence is the Key to Mental Health and Flourishing
Paul T. P. Wong, PhD
Trent University; Research Institute of Flourishing and Suffering, INPM
“Abstract Viktor Frankl has the best answer to the mental health crisis during COVID-19, and we ignore him at our own peril. His dialectical and paradoxical self-transcendence (ST) model emphasizes that we can find our true self only by letting go of the old one. He defines meaning in terms of ST and propose […]”
Read more
Learning to Listen
Jeri-Lyn Munro, MA, RCC
“Frontline workers keep us safe. Police officers, firefighters, emergency medical services, emergency department teams, doctors, nurses, long-term care aides, outreach social workers and corrections staff work in risky settings, even without the added pressures that accompany a pandemic. Every day and every shift they may be called upon to deal with life-threatening dangers and injuries—and […]”
Read more
Addiction Therapy and the Pursuit of Meaning
Geoff Thompson, PhD
“At the facility where I work, we define addiction as a result of living a life that lacks personal meaning. The solution is, thus, obvious: Help clients begin the process of pursuing a meaningful life. But how to accomplish this? We’ve been working for more than a decade answering that question. One conclusion we’ve come […]”
Read more
Addiction and Shame
Geoff Thompson, Ph.D.
“Addiction psychologists generally believe that shame is a bad thing for someone suffering from addiction. Philosophers disagree.”
Read more
“Subversive” Thoughts on Psychotherapy
Geoff Thompson, Ph.D.
“The play, Equus, has stirred the imagination of many psychologists—mainly because it raises doubts about what we do in the therapeutic hour.”
Read more
The Opioid Crisis as a Problem of Meaning
“The opioid crisis and fentanyl, the opioid most responsible for drug overdoses, has once again brought addiction into focus. In British Columbia, where the crisis is at its worst in Canada, the overdose death rate from illicit drugs has been rising since 2008. ”
Read more
Featured Member: Dr. Laura Armstrong
“Dr. Laura Armstrong, Ph.D., C.Psych., is an Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychologist, and researcher at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, in the School of Counselling, Psychotherapy, and Spirituality.”
Read more
How can I be Free from my Struggles and Live a Happy Life?
Paul T. P. Wong, PhD
“Abstract This paper invites you to consider a more adaptive view towards happiness and suffering which may change your life. It suggests that the old paradigm of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain is no longer adequate in the current digital age, and a new paradigm of embracing and transforming suffering is needed in order to […]”
Read more
How Can We Survive and Thrive in Wartime?
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
Trent University
“The daily news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine brings back many painful memories. The scenes of Russia’s deliberate bombings of hospitals and schools, and the relentless shelling of residential areas fill my heart with sadness and rage, because the United Nation and NATO cannot do anything to stop a madman from destroying cities and […]”
Read more
History of the Meaningful Living Project
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
Trent University
“The Meaningful Living Project was conceived and launched by Dr. Paul T. P. Wong in 2011 according to his Facebook posting on January 1, 2011: “Woke up early this morning, praying for ways to get through all the competing voices and get my message out. How can I sum up the Meaningful Living Movement in […]”
Read more
A Brief Overview of the Meaning of Love (Part 1)
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
Trent 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. According to Rubin (1970), love has three components: (1) an affiliative and dependent need, (2) a predisposition to help, and (3) exclusiveness and absorption. Liking […]”
Read more
Transcend the Pandemic: How to Redesign the Future of Work*
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
Trent University
“*Based on my presentation at the symposium on the Future of Work at the annual Convention of Social of Consulting Psychology, Feb.4-7, 2021 Abstract The coronavirus has drastically changed the world of work and demands a redesign for organizations and individuals in order to meet the numerous new challenges, such as working remotely and a […]”
Read more
The Theory of Positive Disintegration
William Tillier, M.Sc.
“In the last INPM newsletter, I introduced Kazimierz Dąbrowski and briefly reviewed the positive psychology approach he used in defining mental health. The healthy personality is traditionally defined by adjustment to one’s social and cultural norms (how well one fits in) and, in today’s world, being happy by being able to satisfy one’s basic needs […]”
Read more
Descriptive Review of The Courage to Suffer
Geoff Thompson, Ph.D.
“Van Tongeren, D. R., & Showalter Van Tongeren, S. A. (2020). The courage to suffer: A new clinical framework for life’s greatest crises. West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Press. This book provides an “existential positive psychology framework” (p. 3) for mental health clinicians whose clients are struggling with issues that have no solution or hope of […]”
Read more
The Value of Suffering
Geoff Thompson, PhD
““So if you want to know the truth about the universe, about the meaning of life, and about your own identity, the best place to start is by observing suffering and exploring what it is.” Yuval Noha Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century Today, we often see suffering as unnecessary or unfair. Pharmaceutical advertisements […]”
Read more
5 Reasons Why Christians and Muslims Reject Euthanasia
Timothy T. F. Yu, B.Sc.
University of Toronto Scarborough
“*This is an excerpt from a longer article titled Making an exit: Secular, Christian, and Islamic perspectives on euthanasia Palliative care patients often face many challenges when making end-of-life decisions. This is especially true for people of faith, such as Christians and Muslims, who need to consider the spiritual consequences of such decisions. The Government […]”
Read more
How Can We Survive and Thrive in Wartime?
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
Trent University
“The daily news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine brings back many painful memories. The scenes of Russia’s deliberate bombings of hospitals and schools, and the relentless shelling of residential areas fill my heart with sadness and rage, because the United Nation and NATO cannot do anything to stop a madman from destroying cities and […]”
Read more
Descriptive Review of The Courage to Suffer
Geoff Thompson, Ph.D.
“Van Tongeren, D. R., & Showalter Van Tongeren, S. A. (2020). The courage to suffer: A new clinical framework for life’s greatest crises. West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Press. This book provides an “existential positive psychology framework” (p. 3) for mental health clinicians whose clients are struggling with issues that have no solution or hope of […]”
Read more
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.”
Read more
The 12-Step Tsunami Trauma Survival Guide
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D., C. Psych., President, International Network on Personal Meaning
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...”
Read more
The Art of Dying
Ridley Pearson
“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...”
Read more
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.””
Read more
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.”
Read more
Introducing the EPP Bulletin
“The first issue of the monthly Existential Positive Psychology (EPP) Bulletin will be released this July, exclusive for INPM members. It will contain the latest INPM news, provide information about meaning-centered activities and research opportunities around the world, showcase the ideas and publications of INPM members…and much more! Advertisement on the EPP Bulletin is free […]”
Read more
Joshua Wong Research Scholarship Contest
“This scholarship contest is to encourage graduate students to get involved in the exciting new fields of existential positive psychology (PP 2.0). All submissions need to be related to some aspects of PP2.0 which can be found in Wong (2019, 2021). Submissions may be based on empirical research, case studies, literature review, or theoretical formulation. […]”
Read more
History of the Meaningful Living Project
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D.
Trent University
“The Meaningful Living Project was conceived and launched by Dr. Paul T. P. Wong in 2011 according to his Facebook posting on January 1, 2011: “Woke up early this morning, praying for ways to get through all the competing voices and get my message out. How can I sum up the Meaningful Living Movement in […]”
Read more
Miscellany October 2020
“A NEW CERTIFICATE COURSE on the New Science of Staying Positive in the Midst of COVID-19 Related Suffering and Death Learn from one of the originators of second wave positive psychology (PP 2 .0) about how to embrace the dark side of human existence. Dr. Paul T. P. Wong will offer a Certificate Course on […]”
Read more
Miscellany July 2020
“INPM Webinars The INPM is pleased to announce two free webinars hosted by Dr. Paul T.P. Wong on growing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Webinar A explains: (a) Why we need to accept COVID-19 as an opportunity to develop existential courage to transcend suffering as a rock foundation to build a better life, and (b) Why […]”
Read more
Multinational Research on Psychological Coping With COVID-19
Nikolett Eisenbeck
David F. Carreno
“We are conducting an international study in more than 30 countries around the world, including the areas most affected by the COVID-19 thus far, such as Spain, Italy, and the United States of America. The goal of the study is to evaluate how people cope psychologically with the current coronavirus crisis (e.g., confinement, feelings of […]”
Read more
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...”
Read more
Aging with Grace
Dianne Currie
“"...The book describes a long-term research study that followed a unique population of almost 700 Catholic sisters and how they aged. It is a unique and groundbreaking study, in that it was able to trace a population that had lived carefully regulated and well-documented lives over an extended period of time. Some of the records were traced back to the early 1900's and many of the sisters lived into their nineties and beyond..."”
Read more
Affirmations—Your Passport to Happiness
Jamie Leggatt
“'Affirmations: Your Passport to Happiness' by Anne Marie Evers is a powerful book that changes lives by focusing on the affirming power of words and images for health, wealth and happiness...”
Read more
Intolerable Cruelty
Laura Carr
“Brain Grazer’s Intolerable Cruelty (2003), starring George Clooney (as Miles Massey) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (as Marylin Rexroth), is a movie that calls people to question if they have a true purpose and meaning in life. ”
Read more
Maturing Memory
Damon McGregor
“Faces that once
Were crisp in my head,
Now are dull,
And diffused through the crowd.”
Read more
Thresholds of Time
Damon McGregor
“The time of the hour clicks on,
It passes me by, tantalizing me to catch it,
But is untouchable.”
Read more
Meaning Conference 2025 will be the INPM’s first in-person conference with a virtual option after the pandemic. Register Here for Early Bird Savings. To learn more about conference details and conference submission guidelines, click here.