Joel F. Wade

Who is he: Joel F. Wade, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist and life coach in Santa Cruz, California. He also consults with businesses on improving trust, communication, and well being. Dr. Wade offers workshops and seminars on mastering happiness, centered around cutting edge research in the field of positive psychology and several decades of experience as a therapist, coach and teacher. Wade is the author of Mastering Happiness: Ten Principles for Practicing a More Fulfilling Life, and A Pocket Guide to Mastering Happiness and a children's book, The San People of the Kalahari, based on Wade's first contact in 1988 with a band of San hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari Desert.

In addition to his books, Dr. Wade is a regular columnist with Jack Wheeler's "To The Point News" and writes for American Thinker and The New Individualist. As a speaker, Wade enjoys teaching clear, practical skills and ideas that can be used immediately, and inspiring his listeners to take effective steps toward a more rewarding, joyful, and resilient life. His website is www.drjoelwade.com.

His background: Dr. Joel Wade was inspired by and began studying with Dr. Nathaniel Branden in 1980. This was the beginning of a broad exploration of the field of psychotherapy and human growth, which included earning a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, studying a wide variety of theory and techniques for treating psychological symptoms and helping people to improve their lives. What Wade came to find, however, is that much of the field of psychotherapy is focused on the idea that a person's suffering or joy in life is largely a result of what happens to them – their environment. This is a mistaken belief, and it can lead people to a kind of helplessness and victimhood from the very process through which they hoped to be empowered. What he has found instead is that the pivotal moments in his clients and students have usually come from more deeply owning their own lives. When a person can accept the truth of who they are right now – including their strengths and weaknesses – when they can honestly assess their real circumstances, and take charge of where they want to go in their life from that point, that is where true growth occurs.

Drawing from the increasingly useful research in psychology in general, and the new field of positive psychology in particular, Dr. Wade is able to help his clients, students, and readers to take a more active and optimistic role in their relationships, their work, and their own personal well being. He is a devoted husband and father, and is particularly interested in helping parents find ways of being more effective and involved with their children, helping couples to find more joy and allegiance with one another, and helping people to nurture and enjoy the deep satisfaction that can come through family and friends.

Dr. Wade is also interested in the central role of human achievement to a satisfying and happy life. He has played competitive water polo for many years, with UC Santa Barbara on their 1979 NCAA championship team, captaining their league champion team of 1981, and as a member of the US National team. Now in his fifties, Wade continues playing at the Master's level. From these experiences, and through his work over the years, he knows what it means to be passionate and devoted to a course of action, what it takes to see it through to success, and what resilience and gratification – and great fun - can be borne of such dedication.

Having personally traveled to over 60 countries covering six continents, has seen and experienced the tremendous variety of lifestyles and cultures, but also the great common ground, of human existence. The specifics are as varied as the barrenness of the Kalahari Desert to the richness of the Amazon jungle; but a good life centers on common themes that are intrinsic to human nature: love, friendship, resilience, absorption in one's activities, mastering one's impulses, and finding and building a sense of meaning and purpose in life.

Through his work with individuals, couples, and businesses, and his presentations and writing, Dr. Joel Wade is passionate about what really makes a difference in human life, what brings strength and well being, what grows happiness, and what contributes to a more free, benevolent and honorable world.

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