The interplay of expectation and desire turns hope and hopeless ness into complex emotions. Although we tend to welcome hope with open arms and prefer to avoid hopelessness, both emotions can be useful and generate movement (in their primary adaptive form), and both can get us stuck (in their primary maladaptive and secondary reactive form). The dilemma of hanging onto hope or abandoning it after a setback or experienced loss is part of our existence, hoping against better judgement can make us become stagnant. Finding access to adaptive hope and hopelessness is a process that can be therapeutically facilitated, but it cannot be forced
hope, hopelessness, mourning, emotion-focused therapy, emotion types
The tPeP (Journal Person-centered experiential Psychotherapy) is the scientific journal for Dutch and Flemish psychotherapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, that work from, or are interested in a client-centered perspective.