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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
*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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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.
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.
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.