Holding the Hope

Not that long ago I was talking to a friend and they said “sometimes you just look back and think how did I get through that year?” When we are in pain we often just find a way to hunker down and just push through. Eventually there comes a day when we realize things are better, maybe not great but okay again. When we are in that terrible time we often forget that we have been there before and made it to the other side. We are in pain and it feels like we will always be in pain.

As a therapist when I am working with someone who is in that awful time I feel like often much of my job is to hold the hope for them. If I have known them a while I can remind them that they have been on difficult journeys before and they got through them. I can tell them when I see them getting better and that I believe that they will get better. I hold the hope for their recovery when they can’t see it.

Now that isn’t to say another part of my job isn’t to acknowledge the pain that they experiencing. It is always important to not move to quickly to it will get better when someone is suffering. The balance is to both acknowledge the pain and help people believe that things will shift again. A delicate balance to be sure.

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