A rainbow is a prism that sends shards of multicolored light in various directions. It lifts our spirits and makes us think of what is possible. Hope is the same – a personal rainbow of the mind.
Hope enables people to set and achieve goals, cope with obstacles, and bounce back from setbacks. Hope can be learned, and people who engage in hope-focused rehabilitation have significantly better outcomes than those who don’t. Here are just a few tips to cultivate hope in people who face complex challenges to finding and maintaining quality employment:
- Use Snyder's Hope Scale to measure baseline hope levels and identify which strategies are most likely to work.
- Reframe “failures” as opportunities and help find the lesson in something that didn’t work.
- Identify a pathway that is clear and specific, but flexible enough to be modified.
Source: The Case for Hope, Project E3
Learn more about how to cultivate hope in people with disabilities seeking quality employment:
The Case for Hope, Project E3
Read the full Project E3 research summary describing how Snyder's Trait Hope Scale can be used in the process of measure and understand hope, and specific steps to put hope-focused rehabilitation into practice.
Does Positive Psychology Address Specific Needs Within the Disability Community?, National Disability Institute
Get an overview of positive psychology, as well as positive psychology researchers and practitioners who have designed and tested theories and positive interventions with and for the broader disability community.
What is Hope in Psychology + 7 Exercises and Worksheets, PositivePsychology.com
Read descriptions and examples of hope, get an overview of hope assessments, and access hope exercises and activities.