Facilitating Hope - personal dimensions
Undoubtedly our individual experience has an influence on our hope. This shows in how far hope is connected with the individual Self. Our ideal Self is also supported by hope. Our self-conception includes our values and our idea of relation and society. Our own hope is part of our identity and therefore can be understood as an individual and very personal way of being, not just an inner journey into the future or an optimistic approach of “it will eventually get better“, “everything will be fine“ or “it will eventually make sense“. Hope is much more a matter of presence (an attitude that we have right now) and personal encounters (we place our hope in someone). Hope is an existential foundation, meaningful, but when misunderstood it can be a lifelong lie.
Examples of possible topics
- Which personal experiences and experiences of my clients have nourished my hope(s) and which have questioned or destroyed my hope(s)?
- Which relationships have I experienced as having facilitated hope and how about my clients?
- How do I and my clients deal with the painful ambivalence of hope and anxiety, often hopelessness and despair?
- What does it mean to “hope against all odds“ or “hope is the last to die“?
- How can I give an account of my hope, considering painful and disappointed experiences, i.e. how can I justify hope?