Hope: The Expectation of Good Things To Come
Cultivating hope to improve wellbeing
By Elisha Eveleigh Clipson, Ph.D.
Child and Adolescent Psychologist
Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience
Daring to hope improves our overall well-being. People with more hope report less anxiety, depression and stress. Hopeful employees are more productive than their counterparts. Hopeful students have higher tests scores and better academic achievement. They are less likely to drop out of college. Hope is associated with better self-esteem, a stronger sense of purpose in life, and better coping with physical injury or disease. Hope promotes the belief that our challenges are temporary.
What is hope?
Hope is something good we want to happen in the future, but the good thing might be hard to obtain. For instance, we do not hope for the air we are breathing right now. We already have it. It’s reasonable to believe we will still have it in an hour. In contrast, a person might hope to grow closer in a relationship or finish a marathon. Hope is different than optimism in that someone can have hope without being optimistic. I can hope my sports team will win without being optimistic. In personal matters, some people say that hope, unlike optimism, is a verb. That we take action to hope.
How do we hope?
Sometimes we have hope without much ability to change the outcome. For instance, I hope my friend’s adoption goes smoothly. But researchers have identified ways to actively cultivate hope in general. Hope can be learned and practiced. It’s not something we have or don’t have.
The first step involves identifying a goal. Philosophers and researchers tend to agree that people must believe what they hope for is possible, if difficult to attain. To practice, choose something that is helpful to you, others or society. Keep values in mind to provide direction. Questions to guide the process might include, “What are you aiming toward in your development as a person? Who’s helping you along this path? How do you want to develop in a way that promotes good for others in your community, or in society in general?
Next, find pathways to the goal. Use imagination to identify several different ways to reach a goal, and ways to work around barriers to the goal.
Find agency or motivation to move toward the goal. Agency can be developed through positive self-talk, getting encouragement from others, and prayer/meditation. This may involve reading stories about people who have overcome adversity. Practice hopeful mantras like, “I have what it takes” “I just need to do my best” or “I’m doing the best I can.”
Practical Tips:
Practice giving to others. Donate time or resources to an organization that provides animals, clean water, etc. to other children. Volunteer to help a grandparent neighbor.
Discuss the future with others and set small goals along the way to a larger goal.
Researchers have shown that cultivating spiritual practices can be an effective way to build hope. Even family rituals or traditions cultivate hope. This might include yearly traditions, serving the community together, or cooking family recipes.
When working with children and adolescents, cultivate the idea that they are capable of handling tough things and can rely on trusted others to help them.
Therapeutic approaches can help develop the skills of hope. For instance, Dialectical Behavior Therapy teaches acceptance (not approval) of life circumstances which can allow for more future-focused thinking. It also teaches tolerance of distress and mindfulness techniques, both of which can help when practicing hope.
Avoid too much exposure to bad news. Instead, find and share inspiring stories of courage and hope.