Where Hope and Technology Meet
It has now been over 50 years since the Response Center opened its doors to teens in the Chicago area. The project was a drop-in center for adolescents expressing concerns about mental health, physical wellness, familial, sexual and peer issues. At the time, there was much talk (and debate) about, when it came to mental health, which of the multitude of treatment modalities was the most effective. After reviewing the research and literature, we were somewhat naively surprised to find that the key element in projecting success was less tied to any specific treatment modality and more to the ability to transmit hope.
One might argue that the world today is more complicated, filled with more complex options, issues, paths, and technological advancements. In the medical world, patients seeking changes, cures and remedies will also be searching for hope! The literature and research on the issue of hope have increased exponentially. And, with the increased awareness of the power of hope, comes the question many professionals face daily: How to transmit that sense of hope with enthusiasm and authenticity?
Matthew Gallagher, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Houston, defines Hope as follows, "Hope is how we can think about our goals for the future, the extent that we can identify pathways or strategies to achieve those goals and then maintaining the motivation or the agency to kind of keep working towards those goals, even in the face of obstacles or setbacks."
"Hope is a motivation to persevere toward a goal or end state, even if we're skeptical that a positive outcome is likely," suggests Everett L. Worthington, Ph.D. We see this daily in our work with clinics specializing in weight reduction as well as metabolic and bariatric surgery. It is underscored by patients who report trying every other treatment path prior to showing up at our clients pain management clinics. It is the dream of patients who come into our clients elective and reconstructive surgery centers following a lifetime of self-consciousness and displeasure every time they see themselves in the mirror.
Hope, wishful thinking and optimism are not synonyms. In her article, The New Science of Hope, Carol Graham notes, "Hope is the belief that an individual can make things better."
Hopefulness is also distinct from wishing. "Wishing is ubiquitous, but it can be kind of an escape from reality. Hope is different because it has to do with facing reality," says Jon G. Allen, PhD, a senior staff psychologist at The Menninger Clinic, a psychiatric hospital in Houston. "As I see it, hope is motivation to stay in the game." He affirms that a major element of that motivation comes from relationships with other people.
So, some 50 years after the opening of the drop-in center, we need to ask ourselves the same questions about hope. How open are we to hear our patients needs for hope? How ready are we to provide that hope prior to touting our new high-tech medical equipment? How do we honestly and earnestly build this quality in our practice?
Perhaps, it is this very concept that Adam P. Stern, MD, (Director of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.) describes so eloquently:
"Hope can be a particularly powerful protector against the dread of a chronic or life-threatening illness. It needn't center on a cure to be useful, though those aspirations are enticing. Rather, a person's hope - even when facing an illness that will likely end their life — can be aimed at finding joy or comfort. It can be cultivated and focused on achieving life milestones, such as meeting grandchildren or attending a child's wedding. It can be found in moments of serenity: what is contentedness if not an acknowledgment that there can be good in our lives, even under challenging circumstances."
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