How to Foster Hope Through Addressing the Sources of Despair in Psychosis with Jeremy Ridenour, PsyD, ABPP
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.
References
Leamy, M., Bird, V., Le Boutillier, C., Williams, J., & Slade, M. (2011). Conceptual framework
for personal recovery in mental health: Systematic review and narrative synthesis. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 199(6), 445–452.
Milona, M. (2020). Philosophy of hope. Historical and multidisciplinary perspectives on hope
(pp. 99–116). Springer.
Vrbova, K., Prasko, J., Ociskova, M., Kamaradova, D., Marackova, M.,Holubova, M., Grambal,
A., Slepecky, M., & Latalova, K. (2017). Quality of life, self-stigma, and hope in
schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A cross-sectional study. Neuropsychiatric Disease and
Treatment, 13, 567–576.
Target Audience
____ Introductory __x____ Intermediate _____ Advanced
Learning Objectives
Recognize the definition of hope and distinguish it from optimism
Identify factors that people with psychosis describe as being key to restoring a sense of hope
Describe some of the key therapeutic processes that might reawaken hope via psychotherapy
Dr. Jeremy Ridenour, PsyD, ABPP is a psychologist and psychoanalyst who works at the Austen Riggs Center and serves as the director of psychological testing and associate director of admissions. His research interests include personality assessment and the psychotherapeutic treatment of individuals who experience psychosis.
Austen Riggs Center Inc. adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. All those at Austen Riggs Center involved in the planning of this activity, including the presenter(s) listed above, report they have no relevant financial relationships with an ineligible company*.
The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily represent the official policy or position of the Austen Riggs Center.
* An ineligible company is any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
Available Credit
- 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
ACCME - As a Jointly Accredited Organization, The Austen Riggs Center, Inc. designates this learning activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
- 1.00 APA
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, The Austen Riggs Center, Inc. designates this learning activity for 1.00 continuing education credit(s) (CE) for psychology. Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.
Austen Riggs Center, Inc. is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0115.
- 1.00 ASWB-ACE
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, The Austen Riggs Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organization, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Austen Riggs Center maintains responsibility for this. Social workers completing this course will receive 1.00 continuing education credit(s).
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