Counseling Resources to Restore Hope and Combat the Culture of Fear

By Gretchen Netterfield

In these difficult times, counselors and helping professionals are looking for something extra to put in the therapy toolbox because our media, our politicians and our next-door neighbors are singing the same tune, expect the worst...Companies are going to fall, more people are going to lose their jobs and their homes. The unrelenting scenes of war and violence and pandemic warnings weigh heavily on our hearts and our minds. We live in an information and media driven society where there are few avenues to escape the culture of fear and imminent doom.

The challenge for both the client and the counselor is to embrace optimism and restore hope as an achievable paradigm within the counseling process. To acknowledge that hope is a choice even in the worst of times and to reinforce that courage is holding onto hope despite your fears. Challenging clients to hope is a way to reinforce goals and aspirations and anchor the counseling process within a positive framework. Having hope provides protection against being stuck in the past or trapped in the vicious cycle of negative and pessimistic thinking. Hope is also a valuable tool in the management of depression, anxiety, powerlessness and hopelessness. Restoring hope will greatly increase the likelihood of developing and maintaining healthy avenues to cope and reduce distress.

The difficulty is making hope real and translating a concept into a tangible coping mechanism. The first step is finding a tangible representation of the challenge and an expression of a person's intention and motivation to move forward. This can be done by encouraging your client to nominate an object or item that symbolizes the challenge of holding onto hope. It can be a piece of jewelery, a rock, a shell or a coin, a piece of string, anything that can be easily carried around.

Thus using a real world prompt to remind clients to stay strong and true to their aspirations especially during times of stress when it is most likely that old destructive or negatives habits will become very enticing. Constant reminders are required to assist clients to make changes of any kind, from trying to stop nail biting to managing depressive thoughts. The object or item therefore forms part of the action plan and allows clients to take a reminder of the session details into their daily lives.

The nominated item becomes a symbol of courage to make changes and therefore letting go of fear and not letting a person's past dictate the way they live in the present or future. This approach helps the counselor encourage and support a client's progression towards their goals and helps clients to engage in the action phase of change. Real world prompts are also useful as a focal point during panic or anxiety attacks. Breathing and relaxation exercises taught and practiced in the counseling session can act as a reminder to clients of their ability to self soothe and manage symptoms.

Optimism is not blind, naive or even completely curative but that is not a good enough reason to accept negativity as the only option. Hope is a coping mechanism that allows us to acknowledge that even though life might be difficult you can still choose to hope that things for yourself, your family, and your community will get better. The crossroads and the rollercoaster's that make up the human experience are more easily traversed and endured with the help of hope.
Hope is the accessory that goes with everything. It is a way to combat the culture of fear and negativity head on.

'Hope is the physician of each misery.' Irish proverb

Gretchen Netterfield

If you would like more information and counseling resources please visit http://www.hopechoice.com to find out how to take the Hope Challenge download the engaging and practical Ebooks. The range of Hope Challenge Ebooks have been created from over twenty years of combined counseling experience and research to provide you with the most effective tools for change and over coming negative thinking.

The Hope Challenge Ebook will show you how to:
•Combat fear
•Make hope real
•Transform negative thinking

At http://www.hopechoice.com you will also find a specially designed symbol of hope that has been developed to remind us all that hope is possible. The hope wristband or Hooplet represents hope, choice and transformation.

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