This is the last thing a licensed mental health professional wants to hear but I heard this recently. My response was to remain in my solution focused mode, focus on this “impossible” youth and his strengths. That’s all we can do sometimes. When we feel hopeless, we should turn to hope. When we are focused on the bad, we need to shift to the good. When you are trying to stop a crowded hallway of children from running, you don’t say “stop running” you say “please walk”. I also said that “It is easier to see the negative than it is the positive”. This are some of the anecdotes that I provide to the youth and families I work with.
What advice to you give others (or yourself) when you feel hopeless in the therapeutic process?
