Meaning Therapy
Dr. Paul Wong
Courage, Faith, Meaning, and Mature Happiness in Dangerous Times
President's Report for the Positive Living Newsletter (May 2017). Read the rest of the newsletter here.“The wound is the place where light enters you.” — Rumi The current tense political climate at home and abroad has the same feeling as the dreadful...
Frankl’s Self-Transcendence Model and Virtue Ethics
Authors Co-authored with Timothy Reilly, Ph.D., Dept. of Psychology, University of Notre Dame Abstract This presentation will conclude my research project on Viktor Frankl’s self-transcendence (ST) model as a framework of applying virtue ethics. My focus in this...
The Varieties of Self-Transcendence: The Good and the Bad
President’s Report for the Positive Living Newsletter (January 2017). Read the rest of the newsletter here. Recently, I have touted the benefits of self-transcendence (ST) in several publications (e.g., Wong, 2016a, b). Since all things exist...
Proposed Guidelines for Collaborative Research
Why do we need collaborative research? It is needed because of the complex and holistic nature of any human phenomenon. In order to advance the common good, we need to learn from each other and work together towards a better understanding of human...
From Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy to the Four Defining Characteristics of Self-Transcendence
Introduction The present paper continues my earlier presentation on self-transcendence (ST) as a pathway to meaning, virtue, and happiness (Wong, 2016), in which I introduced Viktor Frankl’s (1985) two-factor theory of ST. Here, the same topic of ST is expanded by...
Good Work: The Meaning-Centered Approach (MCA)
Introduction This chapter focuses on the notion of good work from a meaning-centered approach (MCA). MCA views good work at three levels: the individual, the organization, and society. At the individual level, good work means that employees are empowered through...
Meaning-Centered Counseling and Therapy Course Syllabus (Saybrook University, US)
PSY3070 | Saybrook University The Meaning-Centered Counselling and Therapy course (PSY3070) was taught online at Saybrook University in Spring 2017 as part of their Clinical PhD Program.Overview This course provides an introduction to logotherapy and meaning...
Self-Transcendence: A Paradoxical Way to Become Your Best
Introduction I propose that the way to become your best self is, paradoxically, to become more selfless. I want to make the case that, in a world of cut-throat competition, the best strategy to survive and prosper for individuals and societies is to give our best in...
Meaning-Centered Approach to Research and Therapy, Second Wave Positive Psychology, and the Future of Humanistic Psychology
Abstract This paper describes six research principles for revitalizing humanistic psychology and impacting mainstream psychology based on Gergen (2016) and DeRobertis (2016). It demonstrates how Wong’s meaning-centered research and therapy is an extension of...
Self-Transcendence as the Path to Virtue, Happiness and Meaning
Abstract In my last presentation (Wong, 2015), I introduced Viktor Frankl’s concept of the meaning dimension as a necessary spiritual orientation for the good life of virtue, happiness, and meaning. I proposed that meaning mindset (Wong, 2012a) represents the...
Humanistic Theories of Psychopathology (SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Psychology)
Humanistic psychology, which began as a movement against psychoanalysis and behaviorism in the 1950s and 1960s, remains a viable “third force” in psychology, because it provides a unique perspective on mental health and psychopathology. It questions the...
Logotherapy (SAGE Encyclopedia of Abnormal & Clinical Psychology)
Logotherapy, founded by neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), literally means “therapy through meaning.” It rests on three inter-related pillars—freedom of will, will to meaning, and meaning of life—and its main contribution to...
Meaning Conference 2025 will be the INPM’s first in-person conference with a virtual option after the pandemic.