A week ago Sunday, I attended a wonderful talk by J. Scott Rutan, a highly esteemed writer, teacher, and practitioner of group psychotherapy. During the talk — offered by the Northeastern Society for Group Psychotherapy — Scott handed out a list of healing factors, and invited everybody to rank the healing factors in order.
This was a difficult task, because all of those healing factors are very important. However, I had no difficulty identifying what healing factor I rely on the most: Hope.
I hope it’s okay if I quote from my first blog post with “hope” in the title, written almost exactly three years ago today:
I hope I can express, in my first post about hope, how important hope is for human beings who struggle, cope, bruise, and heal.
I hope you understand that I’m saying that hope is important to all of us.
Hope is:
- a word that comes up in therapy, every day.
- something I hold for every person I encounter.
- according to Emily Dickinson, “the thing with feathers.”
I hope there’s hope in the three photos I took yesterday.
Michael loves raccoons, so I bought him this mug yesterday. I hoped that he’d like it and he did!
I hope we all survive the coming winter and don’t swallow too much snow.
I hope Scott Rutan, everyone else who helps me create these blog posts, and my readers know how thankful I am for them.
I hope this week brings good news to all who hold hope for the USA.
I hope you find hope in this:
I hope you comment about your own healing factors, below, and accept more thanks from me.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 
yes, hope is the thing with feathers… and what pushes us forward and keeps us going. I hope you have a good week Ann
I hope we all have a good week, Lisa! ❤
Thank you for holding hope for us Ann. 💕
Thanks for helping me hope, Val! ❤
I hope this week brings us all great things, yes, Ann. You said is so very well.
I hope you know you say things so very well, Mark. ❤
Hope is most important for me. Without hope, I would not have better days. Thanks for the reminder👏
Thank you for the healing factor of your comment. ❤
❤
Thanks for posting that list, Ann. I found it interesting — although I don’t think I would be able to put 15 things in order of priority. I didn’t understand some of the things on the list, and after pondering this I guessed that this might be a list designed for therapists to list the therapeutic techniques they use to help other people, rather than things we can do for ourselves. (“Educating the patient…” clued me in to this.)
“Corrective relational experience” only makes sense for me if I think of it that way (I haven’t even heard the phrase before). Is that the case?
I think the universe needs some corrective relational experience. 🙂
You are correct, Maureen. Thanks for being a healing factor in this world and for the corrective relational experience of your comments.
Of faith, hope and love; Love is the greatest, Faith needs no explanation if you have it, if you don’t no explanation is enough. But, hope is at its strongest when it is gone.
-Alan
I hope you know how healing your comments are, Alan.
Shut the freezer, you have already had an ice cream and go and brush your teeth
How did you know our freezer was open, that I had an ice cream and I needed to go brush my teeth, Joanne?`
Ok for some reason I just wrote what I said to Leo as a comment, talk about having a silly moment.
When it comes too healing, I just hope for the best
You’re the best, Joanne.
I think of every move we make as being an act of hope. As long as we go on it’s with the hope that things will get better. That’s what makes hope so powerful, and yet so easy too, which is why Emily Dickinson said of hope,
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.
Every move you make helps me hope, Chris.
There is hope as long as there’s love and coffee! (ღˇ◡ˇ)♥ℒᵒᵛᵉ♥ ☕
There is hope as long as New Bloggy Cat is here!
(´▽`ʃƪ)♡
I hope you find the elections have some healing factors
You and I share that hope, Derrick. Thanks for the healing factor of your comment.
If I had been given the index I would also have placed hope at #1. I am hopeful by nature, but I think even when I’m significantly disappointed or let down I find a way to reframe the circumstances as soon as I see a way to insert a good dose of hope. I’m watching election returns right now…I think being hopeful may indeed pay off! *fingers crossed*
Your comments are always a healing factor, Debra.
I hope you continue writing your marvelously fun blogs!
You’re a healing factor for me, Claudia!