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| Hope in the Awareness Stage: The Dawn of Hope |
Hope in the Awareness Stage: The Dawn of Hope
If hopelessness is a cause of chronicity, then hope has been identified as both the catalyst and the linchpin of recovery. Hope is an expectation that something good will happen in the future. Hope springs from a sense of ‘the possible’ (Adams and Partee, 1998, p. 31). A number of sources of hope for recovery were described in the consumer accounts. The hope of significant others often had a gradual healing effect on the person, bringing him or her to realize that life did not have to continue as a meaningless cycle of illness and treatment. Sometimes this ‘sense of the possible’ came from a professional, as Betty relates in Davidson and Strauss (1992): [My nurse] knew I had potential and talent and all this and that I could get better, and I knew it too. And I just woke up. I wasn’t hallucinating as much, and I was active and eager, and I was also more social. (p. 135)
If hopelessness is a cause of chronicity, then hope has been identified as both the catalyst and the linchpin of recovery. Hope is an expectation that something good will happen in the future. Hope springs from a sense of ‘the possible’ (Adams and Partee, 1998, p. 31). A number of sources of hope for recovery were described in the consumer accounts. The hope of significant others often had a gradual healing effect on the person, bringing him or her to realize that life did not have to continue as a meaningless cycle of illness and treatment. Sometimes this ‘sense of the possible’ came from a professional, as Betty relates in Davidson and Strauss (1992): [My nurse] knew I had potential and talent and all this and that I could get better, and I knew it too. And I just woke up. I wasn’t hallucinating as much, and I was active and eager, and I was also more social. (p. 135)
Sometimes a family member’s unwavering belief instils hope, as told by Greenblat (2000): ‘It was [my mother’s] perpetual optimism that kept me afloat, swimming with me until I was able to swim on my own’ (p. 244).
Hope can also be inspired by peers who have recovered. Often this inspiration comes from the published stories of people with mental illnesses. Unzicker (1994) describes how another’s recovery story provided the spark of hope for her: ‘But there on the pages was another person’s story, Judi Chamberlin’s story of suffering and survival; it was her story that jump-started my rage’ (p. 60).
Others mentioned the stories of people with acquired physical disabilities who went on to achieve great things in life, such as the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking (Anonymous, 1994a), or those who demonstrated great courage and determination, for example Christopher Reeve, the actor who suffered quadriplegia as the result of an accident (Pettie and Triolo, 1999). Support and self-help groups also provide peer role models who are further ahead in the recovery process (Pettie and Triolo, 1999; Young and Ensing, 1999; L. Brown, Wituk and Lucksted, 2010). When Tenney (2000) decided to change the patterns in her life, she found self-help and peer support more helpful than therapy. In fact, she says, ‘It was basically what I would have liked therapy to be about – sharing as equals . . .’ (p. 1442).
The will to recover can be the result of inner determination, as it was for Deegan (1996b), who described how her ‘angry indignation’ (p. 96) at the suggestion that she was destined for a life of ‘maintenance’ set her on the path to becoming a health professional.
Leibrich was inspired by the approaching new year to start a new life: ‘The end of the year was close . . . I was possessed by the idea that I had to leave the hospital by New Year’s Eve, a new decade’ (Leibrich, 1997, p. 39). Leibrich tells how she discharged herself and spent the night alone, writing, and watched the sun rise in the distance, heralding a new decade.
For many, spirituality provides a source of hope and inspiration (Young and Ensing, 1999; Torgalsboen, 2001; Spaniol et al., 2002; Wilding, May and Muir- Cochrane, 2005). Young and Ensing found that spirituality was the source of hope for the majority of participants in their study, faith in God providing a source of inner strength, peace and healing.
Having faith in God has also given me hope. By participating in religious practice, including the disciplines of prayer and meditation, I have gained new strength and a new outlook on life. Granted I still have my problems, but my attitude has become one of optimism. (Murphy, 1998, p. 188)
Chadwick (1997) has highlighted the importance of taking spiritual issues into account and working from within the client’s belief system. Spirituality does not necessarily imply religiousness. Lapsley, Nikora and Black (2002), in conducting qualitative research in New Zealand, found Christian and Maori traditional practices, as well as more ‘New Age’ and philosophical approaches were mentioned as bringing about the ‘turning point’ in recovery.
Snyder’s hope theory (Snyder, Irving and Anderson, 1991; Snyder et al., 1991) fittingly explains the leap of hope that occurs when the individual realizes that recovery is possible. In terms of hope theory, hopefulness can be restored with the emergence of a new goal, the emergence of a new pathway or skill, or an increased sense of agency (Snyder, 1998). Goals have been defined as ‘. . . internal representations of desired states . . .’ (Austin and Vancouver, 1996). The Awareness stage of recovery in effect presents the person with a goal. This goal may be clear and concrete, as it was for Deegan (1996b). One participant in Kirkpatrick et al. (2001) explained: ‘The seed of hope is when you want something, whether it’s a job or a family or if you want some type of help in some area . . . you need something to hope for’ (p. 49). For others, it is no more than a somewhat vague, distant goal of a ‘better life’ (Davidson and Strauss, 1992). For example, Koehler (1994) says: ‘It was more like an inkling, a hunch, an intuition, one of those feelings that defies description . . . that told me this decade would be better than the last’ (p. 22).
The person may experience any of the three components of hope first in the Awareness stage of recovery. The person may not yet have formulated pathways to the goal of recovery, but rather he or she realizes that pathways exist, because others with mental illnesses have managed to navigate them. For some, agency seems to come first, a sudden determination to get on with life: ‘My inner spirit finally burst through and I convinced my medical team . . . that any possible period of ‘‘real life,’’ indeed I had forgotten what this was, was worth any cycling I might sustain’ (Berman, 1994, p. 42). Still for others, the care and belief of others seems to open up pathways to recovery before a future goal has been formulated, as described above by Greenblat (2000) and Betty (Davidson and Strauss, 1992). Byrne et al. (1994) found that a good relationship with a therapist who believed in the person’s abilities could be a catalyst for change and a powerful motivator. Such a relationship was experienced by Watson (1994): ‘[My therapist] offered me, and continues to offer me . . . warmth, nurturance, brilliant insights and a dedication to, and intense belief in, my capacity to heal and grow’ (p. 70).
Agency and pathways thoughts are both additive and iterative, so when one component occurs, the other component follows in an upward spiral (Snyder, 2002). According to hope theory, emotions follow cognitions about goals.
When goals can be pursued without barriers, positive emotions result, while obstacles to goals produce negative emotional responses. As noted in Chapter 3, the association of successful pursuit of personal goals and subjective well-being has been explored by a number of researchers and theorists, including Brunstein et al.
(1999), Deci and Ryan (2002), Diener et al. (1999), Emmons (1999b), King (1998), Omodei and Wearing (1990) and Sheldon and Kasser (2001). Since psychological well-being is an important feature of recovery, it comes as no surprise that the expectation of goal attainment would be a first rung on the recovery ladder – the kernel of hope. The advent of hope brings with it the sense of personal agency that is necessary for taking responsibility for recovery.
Hope can also be inspired by peers who have recovered. Often this inspiration comes from the published stories of people with mental illnesses. Unzicker (1994) describes how another’s recovery story provided the spark of hope for her: ‘But there on the pages was another person’s story, Judi Chamberlin’s story of suffering and survival; it was her story that jump-started my rage’ (p. 60).
Others mentioned the stories of people with acquired physical disabilities who went on to achieve great things in life, such as the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking (Anonymous, 1994a), or those who demonstrated great courage and determination, for example Christopher Reeve, the actor who suffered quadriplegia as the result of an accident (Pettie and Triolo, 1999). Support and self-help groups also provide peer role models who are further ahead in the recovery process (Pettie and Triolo, 1999; Young and Ensing, 1999; L. Brown, Wituk and Lucksted, 2010). When Tenney (2000) decided to change the patterns in her life, she found self-help and peer support more helpful than therapy. In fact, she says, ‘It was basically what I would have liked therapy to be about – sharing as equals . . .’ (p. 1442).
The will to recover can be the result of inner determination, as it was for Deegan (1996b), who described how her ‘angry indignation’ (p. 96) at the suggestion that she was destined for a life of ‘maintenance’ set her on the path to becoming a health professional.
Leibrich was inspired by the approaching new year to start a new life: ‘The end of the year was close . . . I was possessed by the idea that I had to leave the hospital by New Year’s Eve, a new decade’ (Leibrich, 1997, p. 39). Leibrich tells how she discharged herself and spent the night alone, writing, and watched the sun rise in the distance, heralding a new decade.
For many, spirituality provides a source of hope and inspiration (Young and Ensing, 1999; Torgalsboen, 2001; Spaniol et al., 2002; Wilding, May and Muir- Cochrane, 2005). Young and Ensing found that spirituality was the source of hope for the majority of participants in their study, faith in God providing a source of inner strength, peace and healing.
Having faith in God has also given me hope. By participating in religious practice, including the disciplines of prayer and meditation, I have gained new strength and a new outlook on life. Granted I still have my problems, but my attitude has become one of optimism. (Murphy, 1998, p. 188)
Chadwick (1997) has highlighted the importance of taking spiritual issues into account and working from within the client’s belief system. Spirituality does not necessarily imply religiousness. Lapsley, Nikora and Black (2002), in conducting qualitative research in New Zealand, found Christian and Maori traditional practices, as well as more ‘New Age’ and philosophical approaches were mentioned as bringing about the ‘turning point’ in recovery.
Snyder’s hope theory (Snyder, Irving and Anderson, 1991; Snyder et al., 1991) fittingly explains the leap of hope that occurs when the individual realizes that recovery is possible. In terms of hope theory, hopefulness can be restored with the emergence of a new goal, the emergence of a new pathway or skill, or an increased sense of agency (Snyder, 1998). Goals have been defined as ‘. . . internal representations of desired states . . .’ (Austin and Vancouver, 1996). The Awareness stage of recovery in effect presents the person with a goal. This goal may be clear and concrete, as it was for Deegan (1996b). One participant in Kirkpatrick et al. (2001) explained: ‘The seed of hope is when you want something, whether it’s a job or a family or if you want some type of help in some area . . . you need something to hope for’ (p. 49). For others, it is no more than a somewhat vague, distant goal of a ‘better life’ (Davidson and Strauss, 1992). For example, Koehler (1994) says: ‘It was more like an inkling, a hunch, an intuition, one of those feelings that defies description . . . that told me this decade would be better than the last’ (p. 22).
The person may experience any of the three components of hope first in the Awareness stage of recovery. The person may not yet have formulated pathways to the goal of recovery, but rather he or she realizes that pathways exist, because others with mental illnesses have managed to navigate them. For some, agency seems to come first, a sudden determination to get on with life: ‘My inner spirit finally burst through and I convinced my medical team . . . that any possible period of ‘‘real life,’’ indeed I had forgotten what this was, was worth any cycling I might sustain’ (Berman, 1994, p. 42). Still for others, the care and belief of others seems to open up pathways to recovery before a future goal has been formulated, as described above by Greenblat (2000) and Betty (Davidson and Strauss, 1992). Byrne et al. (1994) found that a good relationship with a therapist who believed in the person’s abilities could be a catalyst for change and a powerful motivator. Such a relationship was experienced by Watson (1994): ‘[My therapist] offered me, and continues to offer me . . . warmth, nurturance, brilliant insights and a dedication to, and intense belief in, my capacity to heal and grow’ (p. 70).
Agency and pathways thoughts are both additive and iterative, so when one component occurs, the other component follows in an upward spiral (Snyder, 2002). According to hope theory, emotions follow cognitions about goals.
When goals can be pursued without barriers, positive emotions result, while obstacles to goals produce negative emotional responses. As noted in Chapter 3, the association of successful pursuit of personal goals and subjective well-being has been explored by a number of researchers and theorists, including Brunstein et al.
(1999), Deci and Ryan (2002), Diener et al. (1999), Emmons (1999b), King (1998), Omodei and Wearing (1990) and Sheldon and Kasser (2001). Since psychological well-being is an important feature of recovery, it comes as no surprise that the expectation of goal attainment would be a first rung on the recovery ladder – the kernel of hope. The advent of hope brings with it the sense of personal agency that is necessary for taking responsibility for recovery.
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