HOPE THERAPY FOR PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION: CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS

Abstract

                Depression is characterized by clinical symptoms of sadness, emptiness, feelings of worthlessness, lack of confidence in one's own abilities, loss of energy, and, importantly, feeling of hopelessness. From experiences in caring for patients with depression, it was found that many patients had relapses and returned to have retreatment as inpatients because of the lack of hope for living.

                Hope therapy is the encouragement for patients to create the clear goal at the present and can achieve the goal by themselves while the therapist is responsible for continually motivating patients to have hope for the goal. Hope therapy consists of 1) setting goal, 2) determining how to achieve the goal, 3) perceiving the ability to reach one's goals. Anyway, there are two main stages of the hope therapy process. The first step is creating the hope to achieve, consists of 1) finding the hope and 2) bonding with the hope. The second step is raising the hope that consists of 1) strengthening the hope and 2) reviewing the hope.