The Creation of Hope

The Creation of Hope

Chapter 11 in the textbook emphasizes the importance of hope and possibility in the counseling process. Clients come into counseling having tried many different solutions that have failed. In many cases, they are discouraged and hopeless about resolving their problems in a way that creates a better life.

The Creation of Hope

In some cases, clients face significant barriers of physical disability or illness, histories of trauma, occupational disadvantages, or addictions. Throughout the counseling process the counselor attempts to create hope.

Write a 750-1,000-word paper discussing the following:

1.      How can the counselor create a sense of hope and possibility for the client?

2.      How does establishing goals help clients to develop hope?

3.      What steps can the counselor take to help clients identify goals for change?

4.      What strategies can a counselor utilize to help clients commit to change?

Include at least three scholarly references in your paper.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

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SAMPLE ANSWER

Introduction

Illness, and especially the type that requires psychotherapy brings with it a need for hope.  The term hope refers to an emotion that involves positive feelings about the future whether in short-term or long term basis. It is characterized by high motivation and optimism. Patients undergoing therapy need messages that give them a reason to find hope and alleviate the hopelessness that they may be experiencing. This is because; by the time patients go for counseling, many of them have tried several options that may have been futile.  Therefore, during counseling, hope serves the purpose of envisioning a future that they would like to take part in and consequently, it forms a central feature in counseling practice (Larsen et al. 2018).

The Creation of Hope

How can the counselor create a sense of hope and possibility for the client?

According to Edey and Jevne, (2003), people seek various solutions including internet searches, confiding in religious people, and friends, reading books among others, a situation that makes hopelessness and pessimism to set in. Therefore, mental health practitioners come in to help them find solutions and achieve inner peace, and this requires them to hold a sense of hope (Bartholomew et al. 2019). There are several ways that mental health practitioners can infuse hope to their patients. One way would be to examine the circumstances under which the client was symptom-free and invite them to process some of the ways that they have been able to overcome the challenges that they have experienced in the past. The main aim of this action is to enhance resilience and identify sources both internally and externally that would be beneficial In encouraging them to get a fighting spirit by focusing on their strengths.

The Creation of Hope

It is also necessary for the clinician to recognize and consequently validate the efforts that are being put in by the client. This action is ideal as it serves to re-instate a feeling of hope. If the clients are made to write down the baby steps, they will be able to recognize that they are making progress and consequently gain hope. Also, clients can be encouraged to realize that they possess choices, power as well as wisdom and therefore they are capable of helping themselves. In doing so, they take out the past feelings and replace them with hope. Therefore hope forms the basis of the therapeutic relationship and is integral to the very aims and motivation of counseling

How does establishing goals help clients to develop hope?

Hope is an emotion-driven by a specific desired outcome, which is unlikely to occur. One thing that is very unique about hope is that it tends to direct people and encourage them to remain committed to their goals and take actions toward achieving them despite setbacks and obstacles. Setting goals can be used to help clients develop hope mainly because goal setting increases positivity and hope is involved with positive emotions regarding the future (Larsen et al.2018). When people have goals, they desire to achieve them and therefore they develop the strategies that are useful in helping them meet the goals. One effective thing about setting goals is that people tend to visualize their goals coming into fruition and this makes hope and positivity to set in. making realistic goals and sub-goal, therefore, goes a long way in helping the clients develop hope (O’Hara, 2013).

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What steps can the counselor take to help clients identify goals for change?

The process of psychotherapy has many goals and includes facilitating behavior change, promoting decision-making process, enhancing the ability of the client to cope with the issue as well as enhancing the ability to build and maintain relationships. These goals become a guideline for the therapist when helping the patient in making efforts towards a positive change. One step that the therapist needs to undertake is to analyze the goal and establish the impact of the therapy, the available barriers, the expectations and motivations for making the changes (Brewer, 2016). The first step is to identify the goal and choose the starting point while establishing the steps that are essential in achieving the goal. Once the starting point is established, then the process begins. It is necessary to ensure that the goals are specific and challenging but they should not be impossible to achieve. The goals may then be divided into sub-goals and alternatives to achieving the goals identified.

The Creation of Hope

What strategies can a counselor utilize to help clients commit to change?

One of the strategies that can be employed to help the clients maintain their commitment to change is to employ hope focused strategies.  Hope-focused counseling requires a conscious decision on the part of the therapist to incorporate hope into the counseling session. Interventions that foster hope include establishing a therapeutic relationship, reframing the situation or helping the client envision a new perspective, empowering the patients and helping the patients utilize the available resources (Brewer, 2016).  Also, the therapist should ensure that the main goal is broken down into manageable chunks that would be easier to achieve, for example, one may strive to re-join the gym and do regular exercise, or socialize more. In line with this, the therapist should ensure that they remain compassionate and also identify and recognize the efforts that are made by the clients hence motivating them to do more. Tracking the progress is also a significant strategy and this may be accompanied by encouraging the client to write down the reason why they should stick to the goal as this may positively boost the motivation.

The Creation of Hope

Conclusion

Psychotherapy is necessary and mainly the clients that undergo it have lost hope or suffer from conditions such as depression that are characterized by the feeling of hopelessness. Therefore, hope is necessary for the counseling process mainly because it is instrumental in ensuring positivity as people look forward to their goals coming to fruition. Hope is necessary for both the clients and the therapists hence efforts should be made to ensure that the therapists also remain hopeful. One way to instill hope is to set goals and come up with strategies that will ensure that the clients stick to their commitment to change.

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References

Bartholomew, T. T., Gundel, B. E., Li, H., Joy, E. E., Kang, E., & Scheel, M. J. (2019). The meaning of therapists’ hope for their clients: A phenomenological study. Journal of counseling psychology, 66(4), 496. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cou0000328

Brewer, A. B. (2016). A Qualitative Study on Clients’ and Therapists’ Perceptions of Therapeutic Interventions that Foster Hope.

Larsen, D. J., Stege, R., King, R., & Egeli, N. (2018). The hope collage activity: an arts-based group intervention for people with chronic pain. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 46(6), 722-737. doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2018.1453046

O’Hara, D. (2013). Hope in Counselling and Psychotherapy. Sage. Doi: 10.4135/9781446269992.

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