Rising youth suicide demands a new solution to the mental health crisis Renowned Canadian psychologist trains a thousand meaning therapists to combat suicide

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, April 22, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ — TORONTO, April 21, 2019 – Rising youth suicide in Canada and USA is an indictment against the medical model in mental health delivery, and demands an alternative solution.

Renowned Canadian psychologist Dr. Paul T. P. Wong wants to train an army of mental health workers in meaning therapy to combat this mental health crisis at the INPM Summer Institute in Toronto July 20-21, Hotel Novotel North York.

“Dr. Viktor Frankl had considerable success in reducing youth suicide with logotherapy in Vienna Psychiatry Hospital,” said Wong. “Meaning therapy is the 21st century version of logotherapy, based on my decades of research on stress and meaning.”

Since research has shown that suicide is closely related to trauma and the lack of a reason for living in the midst of suffering, Wong’s meaning therapy offers the following life-saving messages:

1) Even the darkest hour will pass, and a new dawn will begin as surely as day comes after night. Just hang in there a bit longer, tomorrow may bring something new.
2) Count your present suffering as a worthy sacrifice for someone or something more important than your own life.
3) To end your life is a very selfish act of inflicting devastating pain on those who love you; it will place a terrible emotional burden on them.
4) You need courage and patience to endure the present suffering; you will create a better future, if you do not lose faith.
5) If you believe that life has intrinsic meaning and value, then your suffering will be more bearable, and you will discover the reason for living, whatever the situation.

The above five time-tested and empirically supported principles will not only fortify people’s minds against suffering, but also reignite a passion for living despite their painful problems.

All mental health workers can learn the necessary skill set of MT to instill hope in people who consider suicide as a way out of a difficult situation.

These workers may serve as facilitators for meaningful living meetup groups (www.meetup.com/Toronto-meaningful-living-group/) and offer MT counselling on site or online. In addition, Apps will be developed to spread different variations of the above 5 life saving messages to all those who are considering suicide.

“The medical model of having more psychiatrists, more diagnoses, more medications has not stopped the rising rate of teen death by suicide and overdose,” said Wong. “We need to equip people with life skills to cope with stress, develop resilience and live a fulfilling life. Dr. Frankl has already demonstrated that meaning-therapy is much more economical and effective in combating suicide than the medical model. I do hope that the Government and psychological associations will support my approach.”

The clinical skills to transform trauma into resilience will be taught in the INPM Summer Institute in Toronto July 20-21 at Hotel Novotel. The life-saving messages are also summarized in Wong’s recent book, Inspirations for Difficult Times. He hopes that his book will help young people and their parents develop a more realistic but optimistic orientation towards life.

To contact Wong for an interview, email drpaulwong@gmail.com or visit www.drpaulwong.com.

drpaulwong
International Network on Personal Meaning
+1 416-546-5588