Navigating Life Transitions for Meaning

Navigating Life Transitions for Meaning explores the central human motivation of meaning making, and its counterpart, meaning disruption. The book describes different types of specific transitions, details how specific transitions affect an individual differently, and provides appropriate clinical approaches. The book examines the effects of life transitions on the component parts of meaning in life, including making sense (coherence), driving life goals (purpose), significance (mattering), and continuity. The book covers a range of transitions, including developmental (e.g., adolescence to adulthood), personal (e.g., illness onset, becoming a parent, and bereavement), and career (e.g., military deployment, downshifting, and retiring).

Life transitions are experienced by all persons, and the influence of those transitions are tremendous. It is essential for clinicians to understand how transitions can disrupt life and how to help clients successfully navigate these changes. 

Covers cultural transitions, such as immigration and religious conversion Examines health transitions, such as cancer survivorship and acquired disability Uses a positive psychology framework to understand transitions Includes bulleted ‘take-away’ summaries of key points in each chapter Provides clinical applications of theory to practice

1. Meaning in Life Amidst Life Transitions 2. Navigating the Teenage Years: What Do We Know About How Adolescents Find Meaning and Purpose? 3. Men’s Transitions in Late Life: Exploring the Influence of Male Norms 4. Transitions and Transcendence: Transgender Individuals’ Identity Negotiations and Meaning Construction in Context 5. Meaning Making in Bereavement Transitions: Review and Clinical Relevance 6. Transitions in an Uncertain Labor Market: Implications for Meaningful Work 7. Meaning Making and Chronic Illness: Understanding through Narratives 8. Resilience Trajectories of Cancer Survivors: A Meaning-Making Perspective 9. At the Heart of Meaning Making: An Acceptance and Commitment Approach to Developing Adaptive Meaning Following Acute Cardiac Events 10. Finding and Creating Meaning in Life During Reversals and Revisions