Hope

                                                            

                                                              Hope
                                   
                           
                              

One of the most important aspects of awakening is the instilling of hope. As a therapist, my recurrent refrain is one of hope. A therapist is a leader in a therapeutic relationship, and as such she must be a purveyor of hope. Hope is not a patronizing, happy face smile of life's vicissitudes, it is merely an encouragement of possibilities and potential.

This is why I emphasize people's strengths more than their weaknesses. When one feels burdened and myopic in their problems it takes an outside, object perspective to help broaden the horizons. If someone is still alive, they have strengths and positive possibilities if they choose to look for them and try them out as an option.

I believe in the goodness of human beings and I choose to emphasize this with myself and my clients. It's certainly not a matter of denying the shadow side of human nature (we will discuss that soon enough). But in the beginning of therapy, it is vital to emphasize what's working in a person's life.

This may start with the most simple and obvious facts, like someone reached out and called for help, they showed up for an appointment, they persevered through their resistance to come to counseling, etc. These are all simple yet powerful steps toward a change process, and change always begins with an acceptance of where you're at on the map.

Being hopeful is part of the power of positive thinking and flowing positive emotions. When one practices being hopeful, positive and flowing feelings of gratitude, humor, compassion, and generosity, one will inevitably experience and manifest these states and circumstances in life.

What we focus on is going to be what is manifested. If we allow social media, news, and negativity to be our default focus than that is what we will experience, this is pure compulsivity and commentary on life vs. life itself. So in the beginning, it is often useful to fake it a little. Try out being positive, loving and kind, and see if you don't get some pretty fast results. Try giving to others what you want to receive, this is the advice of all the wisdom traditions.