Graduation Date
1984
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Other
Program
Arts
Committee Chair Name
Dr. Ken Hallum
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Dr. John Gai
Third Committee Member Name
Dr. Jerrald Krause
Keywords
Art
Subject Categories
Art
Abstract
My thesis is based primarily on an examination of the pertinent literature available regarding the issue of hope in psychotherapy. My survey of the literature is grounded in the interpretive and speculative style of phenomenological research. It has not been my goal to prove or disprove anything. It has not been my desire to bring orderliness to the phenomenon under study nor to bring classification or prediction upon those who participate in therapy. I emphatically agree with Harre who states: ...Human social life is shot through with ambiguity and interdeterminateness—hot because life events cannot be made determinate, but because it is often injudicious so to clarify them. We need room for manoeuvre. Was what he said a reprimand, or merely a tasteless joke? Only time and the reactions of the others will tell. And much social activity passes into limbo unresolved in its essential ambiguity. Our actions are offered to others as open sets of possibilities to be more closely defined should the need arise. There are no data, and a fortiori to attempt to formulate the descriptions of regularities in the sequence of human action as data, is a folly. (in Reason and Rowan, 1981:17) Rather, it has been my purpose to study, digest, interpret, and synthesize the information collected. Primarily, my goal has been to become more knowledgeable about the importance and role of hope in the therapy arena. It has been my intention to identify some specific ways psychotherapy has been both an encourager and a discourager to the emergence of hopeful attitudes within therapeutic processes. Hopefully, this information may be useful to others (be they client or therapist) in their selection of a therapy. Finally, it is hoped that this project has been carried out in a manner which has been stimulating and challenging not only to me, but also to my committee members, my friends, and my community. For purposes of brevity and gender equity, I have chosen to word half of this thesis in the male, and half in the female gender.
Recommended Citation
Beechel, Christopher S., "Hope: Its Association with Belief, Change, and Therapy" (1984). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2390.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2390