Top

Published in:

01-06-2010 | Original Paper

Meaning Therapy: An Integrative and Positive Existential Psychotherapy

Author: Paul T. P. Wong

Published in: Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy | Issue 2/2010

Abstract

Meaning Therapy, also known as meaning-centered counseling and therapy, is an integrative, positive existential approach to counseling and psychotherapy. Originated from logotherapy, Meaning Therapy employs personal meaning as its central organizing construct and assimilates various schools of psychotherapy to achieve its therapeutic goal. Meaning Therapy focuses on the positive psychology of making life worth living in spite of sufferings and limitations. It advocates a psycho-educational approach to equip clients with the tools to navigate the inevitable negatives in human existence and create a preferred future. The paper first introduces the defining characteristics and assumptions of Meaning Therapy. It then briefly describes the conceptual frameworks and the major intervention strategies. In view of Meaning Therapy’s open, flexible and integrative approach, it can be adopted either as a comprehensive method in its own right or as an adjunct to any system of psychotherapy.

Adler, A. (1969). The science of living. New York: Anchor.

Arthur, N., & Pedersen, P. (2008). Case incidents in counseling for international transitions. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Routledge.

Brooks-Harris, J. E. (2008). Multitheoretical psychotherapy: Key strategies for integration practice. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bugental, J. F. T. (1990). Intimate journeys: Stories from life-changing therapy (Revision Ed. ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bugental, J. F. T. (1999). Psychotherapy isn’t what you think: Bringing the psychotherapeutic engagement into the living moment. Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker.

Ellis, A. (1962). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy. Oxford, England: Lyle Stuart.

Ellis, A. (1987). The practice of rational-emotive therapy. New York: Springer.

Frankl, V. E. (1985). Man’s search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy. New York: Pocket books.

Frankl, V. E. (1986). The doctor and the soul (2nd ed.). New York: Random House.

Hayes, S. C. (2005). Get out of your mind and into your life: The new acceptance and commitment therapy. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

Hoffman, L. (2009a). Introduction to existential psychology in a cross-cultural context: An east-west dialogue. In L. Hoffman, M. Yang, F. J. Kaklauskas, & A. Chan (Eds.), Existential psychology east-west (pp. 1–67). Colorado Springs, CO: University of the Rockies Press.

Hoffman, L. (2009b). Gordo’s ghost: An introduction to existential perspectives on myth. In L. Hoffman, M. Yang, F. J. Kaklauskas, & A. Chan (Eds.), Existential psychology east-west (pp. 259–274). Colorado Springs, CO: University of the Rockies Press.

Hoffman, L., Yang, M., Kaklauskas, F. J., & Chan, A. (2009). Existential psychology east-west (pp. 1–67). Colorado Springs, CO: University of the Rockies Press.

Ishiyama, I. (2003). A bending willow tree: A Japanese (Morita therapy) model of human nature and client change. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 37, 216–231.

Klinger, E. (1998). The search for meaning in evolutionary perspective and its clinical implications. In P. T. P. Wong & P. S. Fry (Eds.), The human quest for meaning (pp. 27–50). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Maddi, S. R. (1998). Creating meaning through making decisions. In P. T. P. Wong & P. S. Fry (Eds.), The human quest for meaning (pp. 3–26). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

May, R. (1991). The cry for myth. New York: Delta.

May, R. (1999). Existential psychotherapy. Review of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy, 12, 3–9.

McAdams, D. P. (2006). The person: A new introduction to personality psychology (4th ed.). New York: Wiley.

Mendelowitz, E. (2009). Building the Great Wall of China: Postmodern reverie and the breakdown of meanings. In L. Hoffman, M. Yang, F. J. Kaklauskas, & A. Chan (Eds.), Existential psychology east-west (pp. 327–349). Colorado Springs, CO: University of the Rockies Press.

Norcross, J. C., & Goldfried, M. R. (2005). Handbook of psychotherapy integration. New York: Oxford University Press.

Peacock, E. J., & Wong, P. T. P. (1990). The stress appraisal measure (SAM): A multidimensional approach to cognitive appraisal. Stress Medicine, 6, 227–236.CrossRef

Rogers, C. R. (1951). Client-centered therapy. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Rogers, C. R. (1980). A way of being. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Sarbin, T. R. (1986). Narrative psychology: The storied nature of human conduct. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

Schneider, K. J. (2008). Existential-integrative psychotherapy: Guideposts to the core of practice. New York: Routledge.

Schneider, K. J., Bugental, J. F. T., & Pierson, J. F. (2001). The handbook of humanistic psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Seligman, M. E. P., Rashid, T., & Parks, A. C. (2006). Positive psychology. American Psychologist, 61(8), 774–788.CrossRefPubMed

Siegel, D. J. (2009). Mindful awareness, mindsight, and neural integration. The Humanistic Psychologist, 37(2), 137–158.CrossRef

Sommer, K. L., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998). The construction of meaning from life events: Empirical studies of personal narratives. In P. T. P. Wong & P. S. Fry (Eds.), The human quest for meaning (pp. 143–161). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Spinelli, E. (2001). The mirror and the hammer—Challenges to therapeutic orthodoxy. New York: Continuum Books.

Sue, D. W., Ivey, A. E., & Pederson, P. B. (1996). A theory of multicultural counseling & therapy. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing.

Tomer, A., Grafton, E., & Wong, P. T. P. (Eds.). (2008). Existential & spiritual issues in death attitudes. NY: Taylor & Francis.

Van Deurzen, E. (2007). Existential counselling & psychotherapy in practice (2nd ed.). London: Sage.

Weissman, M. M., Markowitz, J. C., & Klerman, G. L. (2000). Comprehensive guide to interpersonal psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.

White, M. (2007). Maps of narrative practice. New York: Norton.

Wong, P. T. P. (1995a). The processes of adaptive reminiscence. In B. Haight & J. D. Webster (Eds.), Reminiscence: Theory, research methods, and applications (pp. 23–35). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.

Wong, P. T. P. (1995b). Coping with frustrative stress: A behavioral and cognitive analysis. In R. Wong (Ed.), Biological perspective on motivated and cognitive activities. New York: Ablex Publishing.

Wong, P. T. P. (1997). Meaning-centered counseling: A cognitive-behavioral approach to logotherapy. The International Forum for Logotherapy, 20, 85–94.

Wong, P. T. P. (1998a). Meaning-centered counselling. In P. T. P. Wong & P. Fry (Eds.), The human quest for meaning: A handbook of psychological research and clinical applications (pp. 395–435). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wong, P. T. P. (1998b). Implicit theories of meaningful life and the development of the personal meaning profile (PMP). In P. T. P. Wong & P. Fry (Eds.), The human quest for meaning: A handbook of psychological research and clinical applications (pp. 111–140). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wong, P. T. P. (1998c). Spirituality, meaning, and successful aging. In P. T. P. Wong & P. Fry (Eds.), The human quest for meaning: A handbook of psychological research and clinical applications (pp. 359–394). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wong, P. T. P. (1999). Towards an integrative model of meaning-centered counselling and therapy. The International Forum for Logotherapy, 22, 47–55.

Wong, P. T. P. (2002). Logotherapy. In G. Zimmer (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychotherapy (pp. 107–113). New York: Academic Press.

Wong, P. T. P. (2006). Existential and humanistic theories. In J. C. Thomas & D. L. Segal (Eds.), Comprehensive handbook of personality and psychopathology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Wong, P. T. P. (2008). Meaning management theory and death acceptance. In A. Tomer, E. Grafton, & P. T. P. Wong (Eds.), Existential & spiritual issues in death attitudes (pp. 65–88). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wong, P. T. P. (2009a). Positive existential psychology. In S. Lopez (Ed.), Encyclopedia of positive psychology. Oxford: Blackwell.

Wong, P. T. P. (2009b). Viktor Frankl: Prophet of hope for the 21st century. In A. Batthyany & J. Levinson (Eds.), Existential psychotherapy of meaning: Handbook of logotherapy and existential analysis. Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen.

Wong, P. T. P. (Ed.). (2009c). The human quest for meaning (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. (in press).

Wong, P. T. P., & Fry, P. S. (Eds.). (1998). The human quest for meaning: A handbook of psychological research and clinical applications. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wong, P. T. P., & McDonald, M. (2002). Tragic optimism and personal meaning in counselling victims of abuse. Pastoral Sciences, 20(2), 231–249.

Wong, P. T. P., & Weiner, B. (1981). When people ask “Why” questions and the heuristic of attributional search. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 650–663.CrossRef

Wong, P. T. P., & Wong, L. C. J. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of multicultural perspectives on stress and coping. New York: Springer.

Yalom, I. D. (1980). Existential psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.

Title: Meaning Therapy: An Integrative and Positive Existential Psychotherapy
Author: Paul T. P. Wong
Publication date: 01-06-2010
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy / Issue 2/2010
Print ISSN: 0022-0116
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3564
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-009-9132-6

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Meaning Therapy: An Integrative and Positive Existential Psychotherapy

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 2/2010

Grief Therapy and the Reconstruction of Meaning: From Principles to Practice

Meaning-Centered Couples Therapy: Logotherapy and Intimate Relationships

Outcomes of a Day Treatment Program for Eating Disorders Using Clinical and Statistical Significance

Social Responsibility Therapy for Harmful, Abusive Behavior

Laura Barnett (ed): When Death Enters the Therapeutic Space: Existential Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Counselling

Making Meaning of Trauma: Trauma Exposure Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story