Blog Posts

Hello friends, welcome back to the blog.  Recently in sessions it has come up that people are feeling helpless about situations out of their control such as world events and other people’s suffering.  Some people feel a level of hopelessness about these situations.  I have also heard clients who feel depressed, anxious, or stuck that suffer from moments of hopelessness.  I myself have fallen into this at times during my daughter’s medical condition we have been navigating.  Hopelessness or apathy has a way of becoming a self fulfilling prophecy when we don’t have motivation or change or don’t believe we have control to make changes.  So how do we find hope during hopeless situations or when we feel helpless?                                     

1. Finding a path or motivation to move you forward.  Having a “why” or a purpose to want to be hopeful about can help motivation.                    

2. Surround yourself with supportive people.  Or, find people who are trying to make some kind of change or have a similar goal.      

3. Set a goal for yourself, brainstorm solutions to current problems or create one meaningful goal or task to work on.                  

4. Serve others. There are lots of reasons why serving others and acts of kindness are important. One of them includes releasing serotonin which can help you feel more calm and relieve stress.         

5. Challenge negative thought processes and remind yourself that you won’t feel this way forever.      

6. Control what you can.  In moments of hopelessness it is easy to focus on everything outside of your control.  Feeling out of control can lead some people to feel more anxiety or despair.  By acknowledging the situation and focusing more energy on what is inside your control it can help reduce anxiety and fear of unknowns.                                        

7. Keep a gratitude journal or express gratitude.  Focusing on things you are grateful for each day can help improve optimism.       

8. Make time for things you enjoy, things that are fun, play, or spending time in nature.                                                                

It can be hard to find hope in moments we feel hopeless and out of control.  These suggestions are only a few idea to find hope. What have you done to find hope in hopeless situations? 

We would love to hear from you.                     

Emilie Barragan, LCSW    

Therapeuo Health – “Tackling physical and emotional pain”