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Reawakening Hope in the Psychotherapy for Psychosis

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Abstract

Hope is known to be a crucial factor that can facilitate recovery from psychosis. In contrast, hopelessness has been associated with a variety of poor outcomes for people with psychosis, such as low self-esteem, depression, and suicide. While hope is central to recovery, the concept of hope can be challenging to identify and define. Furthermore, little is known about how psychotherapists can help people with psychosis reawaken a sense of hope that enables them to recover and lead meaningful lives with a severe mental illness. In this paper, the concept of hope is explored based on a selective review of the psychological and philosophical literature and through engagement with first-person accounts of psychosis. Following the review, key principles and interventions are described, including the importance of reckoning with therapist’s hope, processing hopelessness, facilitating a sense of belonging, fostering agency, and making meaning of the psychosis and promoting spirituality, that can rekindle a sense of hope. These principles and interventions are transtheoretical and can be applied to a variety of psychotherapeutic orientations. Finally, future directions are considered and possible factors that might enable the formation of hope for people living with psychosis are explored.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Austen Riggs Center, Erikson Institute for Education, Research, & Advocacy Stockbridge, 25 Main Street, Stockbridge, MA, 01262, USA

    Jeremy M. Ridenour

  2. Eskenazi Health, Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Jay A. Hamm

  3. College of Pharmacy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA

    Jay A. Hamm

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, USA

    Courtney N. Wiesepape & Paul H. Lysaker

  5. Richard L Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Paul H. Lysaker

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  1. Jeremy M. Ridenour
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Ridenour, J.M., Hamm, J.A., Wiesepape, C.N. et al. Reawakening Hope in the Psychotherapy for Psychosis. J Contemp Psychother 53, 305–313 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-023-09589-4

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