Bennet Wong

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Bennet Wong
File:Bennetwong3.jpg
Bennet Wong, M.D., F.R.C.P.(c)
BornJuly 16, 1930
Strasbourg, Saskatchewan, Canada
EducationUniversity of Alberta, Menninger Clinic
Years active1956-present
Known forCo-founder, Haven Institute
Medical career
ProfessionPsychiatrist, Author, Lecturer
InstitutionsHaven Institute
ResearchHuman Potential Movement
Websitewww.haven.ca

Bennet Randall Wong (born July 16, 1930 in Strasbourg, Saskatchewan Canada), is a Canadian psychiatrist, author and lecturer who co-founded the Haven Institute, a residential experiential learning centre on the west coast of Canada, with Jock McKeen. He has written on mental illness and personal growth.


Education

  • B.A. University of Saskatchewan, 1951
  • M.D. University of Alberta, 1955
  • Medical Internship, University Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 1955-56
  • Postgraduate Training in Psychiatry, Menninger School of Psychiatry, Topeka, Kansas, 1956-61
  • F.R.C.P.(c), Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada 1973
  • F.C.H.S., International College of Human Sciences, 1998

Awards and Citations

Who's Who in Canada

Career

Career Summary

  • Clinical Director Winfield State Hospital and Training Center, Winfield, Kansas,1957-59
  • Private Practice in Psychiatry, Vancouver, B.C. 1961-75
  • Program Director, Youth Programs, Central City Mission, Vancouver, B.C.1963-67
  • Clinical Director, Youth Resources Society, Vancouver, B.C.,1967-70
  • Clinical Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, U.B.C.,1974-80
  • Co-Director, Resident Fellow Program, Cold Mountain Institute, Vancouver, B.C.,1975-80
  • Group Leader,Cold Mountain Institute, Vancouver, B.C.,1970-80
  • Board of Directors, Cold Mountain Institute, Vancouver, B.C.,1972-80
  • Faculty, Antioch College West, M.A. Program in Humanistic Psychology,1974-80
  • Program Director, Cortes Centre for Human Development, 1980-82
  • Board of Directors, Cortes Centre for Human Development,1980-88
  • Advisory Board, Hull Institute, Calgary, Canada 1985-88
  • Board of Advisors, Options for Children and Families, Calgary, Alberta,1987-93
  • Board of Directors, Moffat Communications Ltd., Winnipeg, Manitoba,1973 - 1999
  • Board of Advisors,The Haven Institute for Personal and Professional Development, Gabriola, B.C.,1995 - 2003
  • Director, PD Seminars Ltd.,1982 - 2004
  • Program Director, Haven Institute, Gabriola Island, B.C.,1983 - 2004
  • Seminar Leader, The Haven Institute, Gabriola Island, B.C.,1984 - 2008
  • Professor of Humanistic Psychology, Hua Wei University, Shen Zhen, China, 2007 - present
  • Emeritus Faculty, The Haven Institute, Gabriola Island, B.C., 2008 - present

Training and Early Career

Bennet Wong was a serious student from childhood. An avid reader, he wanted to find answers for life's questions even as a youngster. He excelled academically, and was a talented musical performer in high school and university. Very engaging in social interactions, and was always a bright light in a group. He was interested in psychology from an early age; for a Chinese family, psychiatry is viewed with suspicion, being seen in this culture as superstition and not legitimate. Against his family's wishes, he entered the study of psychiatry following graduation from medical school and attended the Menninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka, Kansas.

During his training in psychiatry, many visiting lecturers appeared at the Menninger School. Anna Freud came to lecture, as well as Henri Ellenberger and other noteworthy luminaries of the day. Wong was especially interested in the presentations of S._I._Hayakawa, the semanticist and political figure. Hayakawa gave a lecture on the history of the blues with illustrations in music rather than words. Wong's imagination was captivated by this innovative use of multimedia; after that, Wong began to deliver his talks with "more than words," and music and poetry became features of his rousing presentations from that time on.

He was appointed to be Clinical Director at the Winfield State Hospital in Kansas. This was a large hospital with chronic patients, most of whom were profoundly retarded. Wong was stunned by the poor conditions for the patients; in some of the wards, the patients were never dressed, and they were hosed down rather than receiving caring attention. Wong was indignant, and vowed immediately to change this. He instituted many programs during his time in this office, all aimed at helping the patients to develop and advance within their own limitations, and always with care for human dignity. He had considerable opposition to his humanistic approach; this detractors believed that such intensive care for people with limitations was not justifiable. Wong was immoveable, and he engaged the nurses and orderlies and medical staff to assist him in his goals. He was able to introduce a feeling of camaraderie and team spirit amongst the workers, and with the patients themselves. This was evidence of a core belief he has exhibited throughout his career: that all human beings have worth, and are to be treated with respect and dignity. Also, this period was a harbinger of future times in his career when he would work with group dynamics to enhance the expression of his goals.

Wong was very interested in psychological and emotional development, and had a special fondness for the idealism of youth. This led him to specialize in adolescent psychiatry. When he opened his practice in Vancouver in 1961, he limited his scope to adolescents and youth. He was asked to consult to numerous agencies and bodies that dealt with youth. He was a frequent speaker at teachers' conferences, schools and parent/teacher associations. He also consulted to the Foster Parents' Association and the Child Welfare League of America. He befriended school principals who were looking to find new and effective ways of keeping young people interested in learning and growing, rather than dropping out. As well, he was a consultant to the Attorney General in British Columbia, and was seen as an expert on dealing with troubled youth (Staff Writer. 1966), (Staff Writer. 1967).

He entered the public stage, and was a frequent lecturer at meetings, interviewed on television and radio, and quoted in the newspapers of the day (Campbell River Courier, 1970) (Campbell River Upper Islander, 1970). As the youth revolution of the late 1960's and early 1970's found public attention, Bennet Wong was there to comment on the social phenomenon, and by some he was known as the "hippie shrink." He had traditional training, and position; but he understood the concerns of both the adults and the youth, and he would refuse to taken sides in a moralistic debate. He shocked audiences by talking about things that now seem obvious: adolescents do have premarital sex and many use drugs recreationally. Wong believed that the acting out of disturbed youth was often a cry for help, a hidden message that the young people wanted contact and understanding, even while they appeared to want nothing of the sort (Brown 1970).

Wong began to work more in groups, and was an early adopter of the encounter group process. He was a close friend of Dr. Lee Pulos, the psychogist and entrepreneur, and became friends with Alan Watts, who came to Canada to teach at Cold Mountain Institute. Watts saw in Wong an active mind and a readiness to see beyond the habitual beliefs of the commonplace. Wong was also befriended by the zen master Paul Reps. He discussed many issues with Canada's former Minister of Health and Welfare, Judy Lamarsh, and television journalist Laurier Lapierre. Lapierre credited Wong with helping him to discover his authentic nature. (Lapierre 1981).

Wong was increasingly interested in the existential approach of writers and thinkers, and saw anxiety as a normal human condition rather than some pathological state. He was quoted in newspapers about his radical view in this regard (Grenby 1975).

He saw that all human situations have an emotional and psychological component, including illness conditions. So, when he began to study the mind-body approaches of Wilhelm Reich in the early 1970's he began to find answers to questions that had been gestating for years. Traditional medicine in the 1950's made a sharp distinction between physical problems (which were the concern of clinical medicine, and psychological problems (which were seen to be the domain for psychologists, social workers, priests, counsellors and psychiatrists). A common notion was that psychological disturbance was not really a sickness, but rather a sign of weakness. Wong theorized that the human was one entity, and mind and body were one (Gomori 2002, p. 205). When he met McKeen, they had an immediate "meeting of minds" on this issue, and in their subsequent collaboration they maintained a theory of bodymind unity (Niosi 2005) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFNiosi2005 (help), (Allen 2005, p. 45,46).

Now retired from psychiatric practice, he is a consultant to corporations, and to the field of child and adolescent development (Wong 2005), (Irvine & Reger 2006). He continues to lecture internationally, and participate in artistic events (Record 2002), (Burnaby Now 2002), (Times Colonist 2002), 2002),(Daily News 2004), (McKeen 2007).

Partnership with Dr. Jock McKeen

The unfolding of this phase of Dr. Wong's career in association with Dr. Jock McKeen is detailed in the entry for Wong and McKeen, and in a biography by Gerry Fewster (Vancouver Sun 2002), (Nanaimo News Bulletin 2004), (Niosi 2005) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFNiosi2005 (help).

Establishment of the Haven Institute

This phase of Wong's career in association with McKeen is detailed on the Wong and McKeen pages, and is further discussed on the page for the Haven Institute (Nanaimo Daily News, Jan. 23, 2004), (Wellburn, 2005).

"In today's world, people are more looking for merging than what is emerging (and what is emerging is the revelation of our relatedness to one another in our separate distinctiveness)."

— Bennet Wong (Wong&McKeen, 1995, p.130)

References

  • Staff Writer. (March, 1966), "Dr. Bennet Wong and the 50-Minute Hour", Vancouver Life, Vancouver, BC, p. 41-43 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Staff Writer. (June, 1967), "B.C.'s 1967 Child Welfare Program Attracting International Interest", The British Columbia's Civil Service Newsletter, vol. VIII, no. 6, Victoria, BC, p. 1 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Staff Writer. (February 11, 1970), "Our Schools Said Best in Province", The Courier, Campbell River, BC {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Staff Writer. (February 11, 1970), "Attentive Audience Hears Bennet Wong", The Upper Islander, Campbell River, BC {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Brown, Nancy. (1970), "Sex, LSD, Lies, Theft Probed by Panel", The Times-Colonist, Victoria, BC {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Grenby, Mike. (August 16, 1975), "Manage Your Money, Don't Fret Over It", The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, BC, p. 42 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Lapierre, Laurier. (Spring, 1981), "Men of Merit", The West Ender, vol. 2, no. 4, Vancouver, BC {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Wong, B.R.; McKeen, J. (1995), In and Out Of Our Own Way, Gabriola Island, BC: PD Publishing, ISBN 0-9696755-2-6.
  • Staff Writer. (March 23, 2002), "Psychologist Gerry Fewster Appears With the Subjects of His Biography, Ben & Jock", The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, BC, p. H17 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Times Colonist, Staff Writer. (May 1, 2002), "Book Launch by Author Gerry Fewster", Times Colonist, Victoria, BC, pp. B2 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Burnaby Now, Staff Writer (October 27, 2002), "What is Love?", Burnaby Now, Burnaby, BC, p. 31 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Record, Staff Writer. (November 3, 2002), "Literature Comes to Life", The Record, New Westminster, BC, p. 17 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Gomori, Maria. (2002), Passion For Freedom, Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books, ISBN 0-8314-0090-0.
  • Staff Writer. (January 23, 2004), "Haven Foundation Continues Mandate", Nanaimo Daily News, Nanaimo, BC, pp. A4 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Staff Writer. (August 31, 2004), "Gabriola Pair Shares Poetry", Nanaimo News Bulletin, Nanaimo, BC, p. 27 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Daily News, Staff Writer. (September 3, 2004), "An Evening of Unusual Poetry", Nanaimo Daily News, Nanaimo, BC, pp. C2 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Niosi, Goody. (July 30, 2005), "Healing in the Waiting Room", Harbour City Star, Nanaimo, BC, pp. A4 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Allen, Wayne. (2005), This Endless Moment, Waterloo, ON: Phoenix Centre Press, ISBN 0-9684446-2-8.
  • Niosi, Goody. (August 31, 2005), "Haven Founders Offer Tips on Happiness", Harbour City Star, Nanaimo, BC, pp. A4 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Wong, B.R. (Fall, 2005), "Toilet Training", Relational Child & Youth Care, vol. 18, no. 3, p. 57 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Welburn, Lynn. (October 5, 2005), "Health and Happiness - a Book on Mind/Body Connection", Harbour City Star, Nanaimo, BC, pp. A18 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Irvine, David; Reger, Jim. (2006), The Authentic Leader, Sanford, FL: DC Press, ISBN 1-932021-19-1.
  • McKeen, Jock (2007), Selected Poems of Jock McKeen (English & Chinese), commentary by Bennet Wong, trans.by Gloria Sol,Feng Zheng,Paul Wang,HelenLi, Shen Zhen, China: Hua Wei University Publication.
  • Wilson, Valerie. (March 12, 2008), "Haven Marks 25 Years of Altering Lives", Harbour City Star, Nanaimo, BC, pp. A17 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Staff writer. (March, 2008), [[1] "Organic Dirt"], Shared Vision, Vancouver, BC, p. 4 {{citation}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Davey, Rachel. (October, 2008), "A Model For Communication", Synergy Magazine, vol. 5, no. 2, Nanaimo, BC, pp. 10, 11 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).
  • Stajic, Janina. (September 22, 2008), "Haven's 25th Anniversary", The Sounder, Gabriola, BC {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link).

Publications

Wong Publications

  • Wong, B.R. "Group Psychotherapy", Pulse, March 1964, vol.3, no.2.
  • Wong, B.R. “Why Not Delinquency?” B.C. Corrections Courier, vol 2, no. 4, April 1964.
  • Wong, B.R. "If Only I Had Known", Proceedings of the Canadian Conference on Social Welfare, Vancouver, B.C., June 1966.
  • Wong, B.R. "Sex: Personal, Social, Ethical - Take Your Choice", Continuing Education Deparmtent, U.B.C., November 1966.
  • Wong, B.R. "The Need to Be", The Alcoholism Foundation of B.C., March 1968.
  • Wong, B.R. "The Need To Be", Canadian Journal of Psychiatric Nursing, May 1968, vol.IX, no.5.
  • Wong, B.R. "The Adolescent in Our Changing Society", Child Welfare, July 1968, vol.XLVII, no.7.
  • Wong, B.R. “The Authority Figure As A Therapist,” B.C. Corrections Courier Anthology, no. 2, pp. 7-12, 1969.
  • Wong, B.R. “The Need to Be,” B.C. Corrections Courier Anthology, no. 5, pp. 4-11, 1970.
  • Wong, B.R. "The Problems of Adolescence", The Flying Physician, October 1970, vol.13, no.4.
  • Wong, B.R. "Obstacles to Understanding Youth", Canadian Doctor, October 1970, vol.36, no.10.
  • Wong, B.R. "The Grey World of the Adolescent", Cold Mountain Journal, 1972.
  • Wong, B.R. "Love Is Junk", Proceedings of the Unity Church Conference, June 1973.

Wong and McKeen Collaborative Publications

See Wong and McKeen Publications list

External links

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