Meaning in Life
Description
This inspiring, insightful new text provides a practical guide to helping clients live a meaningful and satisfying life despite the challenges they may be facing.
Divided into three parts, it starts by drawing on empirical research to demonstrate the effectiveness of meaning-oriented practice and reviews a large body of literature on meaning in a wide-range of psychological and philosophical approaches, translating this into specific recommendations for practitioners. It continues by exploring the basic skill set required for working effectively in this area - from how to assess clients' needs and address issues of meaning, to specific existential, phenomenological and mindfulness skills. Finally, it provides a step guide to applying the skills to clinical practice with the support of examples and case studies from a range of professions.
In what is still an emerging area of practice, this text stands alone as a comprehensive source of reference for both students and practitioners across the full range of people professions.
Reviews / Votes
This ground-breaking text draws together a range of historical, philosophical, and therapeutic sources to provide a uniquely detailed and comprehensive guide to meaning-centred practice. I am sure it will become the 'go-to' guide for counsellors, psychotherapists, and researchers in this field for many years to come. A remarkable achievement. * Mick Cooper, Author of 'Existential Therapies' and 'Existential Counselling and Psychotherapy' * This handbook on Meaning in Life is unique in the crowded field of existentially oriented therapies. Dr. Vos is able to integrate traditional existential phenomenological approach with the more recent evidence-based psycho-education approach of meaning therapy. He has made an important contribution to defining existential competency as essential for practitioners. * Dr. Paul T. P. Wong, President of the International Network on Personal Meaning and originator of Meaning Therapy *More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Dr Joel Vos is psychologist and philosopher. He is Director of the online education, therapy and research platform Meaning Online. He is an internationally recognised researcher on meaning in life, and is chairman of the IMEC International Meaning Conferences. Dr Vos gives lectures, training and supervision at universities and mental health services in the United Kingdom and abroad, such as the Metanoia Institute and the New School for Psychotherapy and Counselling in London. He has worked as Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Social and psychological Transformation at the University of Roehampton, and as researcher at Leiden University and Amsterdam Vrije Universiteit. www.joelvos.com
Content
Introduction.- Part I: Scientific foundations: meaning in life for sceptics.- 1. Traditional Approaches to Meaning.- 2. A pragmatic-phenomenological approach to meaning.- 3. Research on the meaning of meaning.- 4. Research on meaning-centered practices.- Part II: Practical foundations: practitioner skills 5. Pluralistic Framework.- 6. Meaning-Centered Assessment Skills.- 6. Meaning-Specific Skills.- 7. Relational Skills.- 8. Phenomenological, experiential and mindfulness skills.- 9. Existential skills.- Part III: A ten-session treatment manual: Meaning-Centered Groups for Physically Ill Individuals.- 10. Overview of treatment.- 11. Individual assessment session.- 12. Session 1: introduction to meaning in life.- 13. Session 2: Changes in meaning in life.- 14. Session 3: Resilience as source of meaning .- 15. Session 4: material-hedonic sources of meaning.- 16. Session 5: self-oriented sources of meaning.- 17. Session 6: Social sources of meaning.- 18. Session 7: Higher sources of meaning.- 19. Session 8: Being-here as source of meaning.- 20. Session 9: Experiencing meaning in daily life and how to do it.- 21. Session 10: Ending and a new beginning.- Questionnaires