Building Hope During Challenging Times: Strategies and Interventions

We know that hope exists. We know that most people are hopeful and that during ordinary times hope comes rather naturally. We also presume that it is important to be hopeful during troublesome times. We believe this so much so that we automatically try to encourage those who seem to have little hope. Yet, for the most part we take hope for granted. We have faith in hope! Like breathing, we expect it to kick in when needed. The issue that challenges us is one of determining how to understand hope sufficiently so that we can be more precise in gaining benefits from being hopeful during extraordinary times? Not everything that we do on an everyday basis is appropriate for unusual times. The challenge is to know enough to be able to differentiate what is useful and what is not useful. In this book you will find suggestions of how to assess hope; support and facilitate the building of hope; and engage in helping processes. Imagine weaving a healing web of hopefulness that will serve as support for yourself, the ones you love, and all who are on the receiving end of your work and life circumstances.