Clinical Perspectives on Meaning

"Clinical Perspectives on Meaning: Positive and Existential Psychotherapy . . . is an outstanding collection of new contributions that build thoughtfully on the past, while at the same time, take the uniquely human capacity for meaning-making to important new places." - From the preface by Carol D. Ryff and Chiara Ruini This unique theory-to-practice volume presents far-reaching advances in positive and existential therapy, with emphasis on meaning-making as central to coping and resilience, growth and positive change. Innovative meaning-based strategies are presented with clients facing medical and mental health challenges such as spinal cord injury, depression, and cancer. Diverse populations and settings are considered, including substance abuse, disasters, group therapy, and at-risk youth. Contributors demonstrate the versatility and effectiveness of meaning-making interventions by addressing novel findings in this rapidly growing and promising area. By providing broad international and interdisciplinary perspectives, it enhances empirical findings and offers valuable practical insights. Such a diverse and varied examination of meaning encourages the reader to integrate his or her thoughts from both existential and positive psychology perspectives, as well as from clinical and empirical approaches, and guides the theoretical convergence to a unique point of understanding and appreciation for the value of meaning and its pursuit. Included in the coverage: The proper aim of therapy: Subjective well-being, objective goodness, or a meaningful life? Character strengths and mindfulness as core pathways to meaning in life The significance of meaning to conceptualizations of resilience and posttraumatic growth Practices of meaning-making interventions: A comprehensive matrix Working with meaning in life in chronic or life-threatening disease Strategies for cultivating purpose among adolescents in clinical settings Integrative meaning therapy: From logotherapy to existential positive interventions Multiculturalism and meaning in existential and positive psychology Nostalgia as an existential intervention: Using the past to secure meaning in the present and the future The spiritual dimension of meaning Clinical Perspectives on Meaning redefines these core healing objectives for researchers, students, caregivers, and practitioners from the fields of existential psychology, logotherapy, and positive psychology, as well as for the interested public.