What is a HOPE Group?

 
 

H.O.P.E. Groups bring human beings together in safe, nurturing environments to help each other in a process of "attitudinal healing" (from Jerry Jampolsky,MD) that empowers them to confront the unpleasant things that life has thrown at them (like cancer, heart disease, depression, MS, AIDS...) and get on with their lives, finding answers through presence, forgiveness, compassion, and, finally, hope: "the certainty that things can make sense, regardless of how they work out. (Vaclav Havel)."

HOPE Groups help people get in touch with their inner resources that make success a process of pursuing the "worthy ideal" of one's life—a personal and unique ideal that every one of us is born with (from Earl Nightingale). So, a HOPE Group is not so much a "treatment" group (like a "cancer support group" for instance); it is:

 

  • •a "small group" of people dealing with personal issues that have to do with their physical and/or mental health and well-being who come together to tell their stories and work out meaningful solutions to their problems in a safe, nurturing context;
  • •open, on-going, and confidential. A HOPE Group uses a three-part document called The Goldbook to help create a mindset focused on success; developing an attitudinal context based on love and forgiveness; and working within a set of verbal agreements that establish a healthy set of ethical guidelines for support and safety.
  • •a safe place where you find out who you really are.

 

In effect then a HOPE group is a supportive group that complements virtually all other groups that focus on treating particular diagnoses.

The challenge of this era is for human beings to learn to focus on possibility and meaning in life rather than on life's problems and their causes. When we can focus on our innate ability to meet and move beyond challenges, we focus on what is possible; not what is wrong. HOPE groups help people face challenges in their lives by focusing on what they want to have happen—what they would like to see come of things—their intention. We encourage the participant to "go for it", and patiently wait for the results without any interfering "shoulds".

We humans are devoted "fixers," "advisers," "judges," and criticizers, which means we are devoted to knowing better than others. This way of thinking and acting is intrusive and unkind. Instead, we have the Quaker way of looking at questions: "If you can ask the question, you already have the answer;" so the most important thing we can do for you is to listen with open hearts and soft eyes as you find those answers that lie within by asking open questions, sharing experience when asked, and affirming talents and strengths that we see in you.

For individuals who would want to convene their own small, private, invitational HOPE groups we share experience that make this possible. We insist that the convener of such a group is nothing more than the convener, and the group is responsible for maintaining its safety and health focus. HOPE's unique method of context-building makes this self-help group possible. If you are interested in convening such a HOPE group, Contact us.

For medical practices and hospital services that wish to incorporate HOPE practices into clinical visit meetings with their patients, we offer training and support at levels appropriate to the needs of the practice or service. We complement medical science and practice by introducing our rich experience with active listening, open questioning, simple reflecting, and gentle affirming. We offer certified, supported HOPE Guide trainings of professionals (RN, NP, PA, DO, MD) to help guide their patients in the life- and health- context that comprise the essence of HOPE's twenty-five years' experience with over 6000 HOPE Group meetings. As Dr. Hamilton used these principles in his surgical practice, according to his medical and surgical ethics, it is only appropriate to put all of this work in the ethical context and practice of that particular service.

Copyright ©H.O.P.E., Inc. 2012