Hope in a strengths-based group activity for individuals with chronic pain

Abstract

While hope has been described as the ability to imagine a future in which one wishes to participate, individuals with chronic pain can have difficulty maintaining hope due to the pervasive impact of pain on multiple facets of their lives. This research examines client experiences of hope during a hope and strengths activity offered as part of a group treatment plan for individuals experiencing chronic pain. Entitled Being Hopeful in the Face of Chronic Pain, the group was developed in order to focus on hope and generative emotional experiences, experiences often lacking for individuals with chronic pain. The group activity being studied specifically addressed participants' current strengths and strengths they hope-to-have-more-of. The study employed basic qualitative inquiry and utilized interpersonal process recall individual interviews to stimulate participant recall. Twelve participants (spanning three separate group offerings) individually discussed their personal experiences as they unfolded during a specific hope and strengths-focused activity. Participants described experiences during the group activity that fostered personal hope via perspective shifts, communion, comparison and connection with other group members. Findings are discussed in the context of current literature on hope, chronic pain, positive psychology and group interventions.

Self-Management Support Intervention for Parents of Children with Developmental Disorders: The Role of Gratitude and Hope

“…Presenting participants with examples of how participants have benefitted from the course in session one is designed to instill hope. Learning techniques that can be useful to managing stress and wellbeing may also provide hope for the future, as does focusing on strengths (Larsen et al 2015). Gratitude is explicitly addressed each session with the gratitude diary, shown to be as effective as more complex CBT techniques, such as thought monitoring and cognitive restructuring, often with lower attrition rates (Wood et al 2010).…”

Positive Psychological Interventions and Chronic Non-Cancer Pain: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Two studies (Dargan et al 2014;Larsen et al 2015) reported qualitative themes which reflected improvements relevant to positive psychological constructs (e.g., flourishing). Dargan et al (2014) described themes relating to participants' experiences of attending a PPI.…”

“…The theme 'Solutions and changes' encapsulated an increased sense within some participants of their ability to facilitate meaningful and positive change, indicating enhancements in pain-related self-efficacy. Larsen et al (2015) explored the impact of a group-based PPI in terms of its influence upon participants' sense of hope. The theme 'Awareness' suggested that the PPI enabled participants to better-recognise and reflect upon their own personal strengths and internal resources, despite the enduring nature of the chronic pain.…”

Understanding Other-Oriented Hope

“…It may be possible to content-analyze written narratives for evidence of other-oriented hope. Because the most commonly recognized understandings of hope are self-oriented, that is, virtually all definitions of hope reflect a self-orientation (Larsen et al 2014a), it will be important to sensitize qualitative researchers to the possible presence of other-oriented hope in research interviews and texts. Our research for this book suggests that other-oriented hope, though a seemingly new phenomenon, may have been laying-in-wait for researchers to 'discover' the threads of its existence across numerous published research texts.…”

“…While researching group therapy for those with chronic pain (Larsen et al 2014a), I (D. L.) became acutely aware of how group members intentionally (though often silently) held hope for others in the group. The focus of this group for people with chronic pain was on hope and strengths.…”