Hope, Resilience and Coping Resources

April 29, 2025

Hope, Resilience and Coping Resources

Dr. Ofra Ayalon – Nord Center 2025

Welcome and Introduction

Greeting: I am pleased to welcome everyone on behalf of the Nord Center, where we train therapists and helpers to work with metaphoric cards in mental health and education (in Israel and abroad).
Thank you for joining this Zoom meeting on HOPE – I’m excited to share my latest work on hope, resilience, and coping resources, topics so essential in our troubled times.
In our card workshops and trainings, we use metaphors and images to create a new inner reality, promote effective communication, set goals, remove obstacles, and bypass the limitations of conscious thinking.
In this short session, we will explore the vital role of HOPE in our lives. The session is titled “Hope, Resilience and Coping Resources.” Together, we’ll examine how hope interweaves with resilience and the coping tools we use in adversity.

Reflection: What gives you HOPE? Do you believe hope is something we can develop or learn? (Invite participants to briefly share a source of hope in their life via chat.)

Pandora’s Box: Myth and Metaphor

In Greek mythology, Pandora’s box (originally a jar) was a gift to Pandora, the first woman on Earth, with the strict instruction never to open it.
Pandora’s curiosity got the best of her, and she opened the box, unwittingly releasing all the evils of the world into our realm. She hastened to close it, but it was too late – the evils escaped. Only one thing remained inside the box: HOPE.
List of “evils” released: sorrow, disease, jealousy, violence, greed, madness, aging, death – in essence, all the troubles and miseries of life. Pandora’s act meant the world would know suffering… but also hope.

Modern Troubles and Miseries

Pandora’s story can symbolize the crises we face in modern life. Consider some “troubles and misfortunes” that impact people today:
- Loss of home or livelihood
- Loss of loved ones
- Loss of freedom or identity
- Financial hardships
- Threats to health or life
Pandora’s box as a metaphor: It represents a container of unexpected troubles. But importantly, it also holds HOPE – symbolizing optimism and resilience that help us cope with and overcome these challenges. Even as crises emerge, hope remains as a guiding light.
Hope’s message: Hope reminds us that even when everything seems lost, there is always the possibility of rescue and healing. In the darkest of times, hope is the small yet powerful force that stays behind to sustain us.

The Role of HOPE in Troubled Times

HOPE means believing in the feasibility of a different reality – trusting that things can change for the better. As long as we have hope, we have a chance to succeed or overcome adversity.
With the help of metaphoric cards (and other creative tools), we can embark on an inner journey to identify HOPE in our past, present, and future.
For example, we might explore questions like “What gives me hope now?” and “How have I found hope in the past?”
As practitioners and educators, we aim to nurture hope because it is a cornerstone of resilience.
Hope fuels our determination in therapy, recovery, and growth.

Interactive Idea: Before moving on, ask participants to take a moment and jot down one personal hope or an image that symbolizes hope for them. This primes our exploration and can be revisited later in the session.

BASIC PH Model – Six Coping Resources

To understand coping and resilience, I use the BASIC PH model developed by Ofra Ayalon and Mooli Lahad. It outlines six key coping resources – think of these as bridges that carry us over the trauma toward healing.
Each can also be a channel for hope:
1. Belief – spiritual faith, values, or beliefs that provide meaning
2. Affect (Emotions) – the expression and processing of feelings
3. Social Support – interpersonal connections and support systems
4. Imagination – creativity, fantasy, and the arts
5. Cognition – rational thinking, knowledge, and mindset
6. Physical – bodily activity, sensations, and physical wellness
HOPE emerges in all six coping resources.
No matter which coping channel we rely on, hope can manifest through it – giving us strength and optimism via our faith, our feelings, our community, our creativity, our mindset, or our bodily well-being.

HOPE in Every Dimension (BASIC PH)

Each coping resource can engender a different facet of HOPE:

Belief (Faith) – “Hope of Faith”: A spiritual or values-based hope grounded in belief systems.
Affect (Emotion) – “Emotional Hope”: Hope felt through positive emotions and optimistic feelings.
Social (Interaction) – “Social Hope”: Hope drawn from community, relationships, and mutual support.
Imagination – “Imaginative Hope”: Hope fostered by creativity, dreams, and envisioning new possibilities.
Cognition (Thinking) – “Cognitive Hope”: Hope based on planning, problem-solving, and positive expectations (a hopeful mindset).
Physical (Body) – “Physical Hope”: Hope related to health, endurance, and physical strength (e.g. the hope of healing or bodily recovery).

An initiative in the Netherlands even created a research-based “Hope Barometer” that measures hope across six dimensions, much like these, to help people and organizations identify where they draw hope from to achieve their goals.

Audience Engagement: Ask participants which of these coping resources they personally rely on most when seeking hope. For instance, do they turn to faith, loved ones, creative outlets, knowledge, or physical activity?

Interactive Exercise – HOPE Cards

Let’s put the power of metaphoric cards into practice with a brief activity:

Choose a “HOPE” card. (Select an image or card from the set that, to you, represents HOPE in some way.)
Write its story. Take a minute to jot down a short story or explanation: Why did you choose this card? What about it inspires hope for you?
Share with the group. If you’re comfortable, share a summary of your card’s story. What hope does it symbolize for you?
This exercise uses imagination and personal reflection – two powerful pathways to hope. It’s a technique you can also use with clients or groups to help uncover sources of hope.

Another therapeutic technique is creating “Hope Boxes.”

For example, one might fill a physical or digital box with meaningful items, images, or messages – each representing a source of hope or a coping resource from the BASIC PH model.

This kind of activity can serve as a tangible reminder of hope in times of despair.

HOPE’s Impact on Health and Resilience

HOPE is more than a romantic idea; it’s measurable and clinical. Research shows that a hopeful outlook can improve quality of life and even lengthen life expectancy. Hopeful individuals tend to cope better with illness and recover faster, because hope bolsters their resilience.
Biologically, the feeling of hope triggers the release of dopamine in the brain – a neurotransmitter linked to pleasure and motivation. This chemical boost influences our neurology, psychology, and even immune system, creating a mind-body state conducive to healing and well-being.
In short, hope has tangible effects on the brain and body. It can reduce stress, strengthen our immune response, and increase our capacity to “fight” or persevere. By fostering hope, we are literally supporting our physical and mental health.

Cognitive HOPE: The Power of Mindset

The cognitive (thinking) dimension of HOPE includes our thoughts, beliefs, willpower, determination, and the actions we take toward our goals. This is hope as a rational strategy: we tell ourselves “I can do this,” and we plan paths forward.
HOPE in this sense acts as a powerful motivator.
It drives us to persevere even in the face of adversity.
A hopeful mindset fuels determination and resilience, helping us bounce back from setbacks and continue moving forward. When we believe a better outcome is possible, we are more likely to work toward it tirelessly.
A classic example of cognitive hope at work is the Pygmalion Effect in education. Research showed that when teachers were told to expect great achievement from a randomly chosen group of students, those students’ performance improved significantly. In other words, the teachers’ hopeful expectations became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Cognitive HOPE as a self-fulfilling prophecy: Our positive expectations can help create the reality we desire. By genuinely hoping and believing in a certain outcome – and acting accordingly – we can, at times, make it come true. (This underscores how important it is to cultivate hopeful thinking in therapy, education, and our personal lives.)

Emotional HOPE: Born from Challenges

The emotional dimension of HOPE is how hope manifests in our feelings. People with high emotional hope perceive internal or emotional obstacles as challenges rather than threats. This hopeful outlook keeps them motivated to find alternative paths and solutions when faced with setbacks.
For example, when we fall in love, we HOPE that it will last forever – this hopeful feeling gives us the courage to invest in the relationship.
In a broader sense, hope can generate positive emotions like enthusiasm, optimism, and confidence, which help reduce stress and empower us to achieve our goals.
It is important to acknowledge that hope often springs from hardship. We tend to think of hope as something light and joyful – and indeed it can be – but more often, hope is forged in darkness. Hope is usually born out of pain, uncertainty, or despair. When everything in life is going well, we hardly think about hope at all; we simply don’t need it. It’s in the difficult times that we discover our capacity for hope.
Emotional hope reminds us that our deepest hopes often arise from our deepest struggles. By working through painful emotions and transforming them into hope, we build resilience and find meaning in adversity.

Social HOPE: Shared and Supported

Social hope is the hope we draw from each other. It relies on the strength we have as a community or society, and on the mutual support we provide one another in pursuit of common goals. This dimension of hope thrives on connection: it’s our way of instilling hope in others whom we believe in, and benefiting from the hope others place in us.
When we engage in social hope, we contribute to a collective optimism. For instance, a team or workplace with a hopeful culture will empower its members to succeed. Studies have found that employees with higher hope are less emotionally exhausted and have higher job satisfaction. Hope in the workplace or any group setting fosters confidence, collaboration, and persistence toward shared goals.
Example: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech was a profound expression of social hope. He shared his hope for civil and economic rights and an end to racism, inspiring a whole nation to believe in a better future together. This illustrates how one person’s hope can ripple out and uplift an entire community or movement.
In practice, we can cultivate social hope by encouraging one another, celebrating small victories, and banding together in challenging times.
Hope multiplies when it’s shared.

Imaginative HOPE: Creativity, Faith, and Vision

The imaginative dimension of HOPE highlights the role of creativity, vision, and even spirituality in sustaining hope. Sometimes, faith and imagination work hand in hand to keep hope alive. We often say, “Faith can move mountains” – believing in something larger than ourselves can give us tremendous hope. Likewise, “Imagination is the language of the soul,” allowing us to picture possibilities beyond our present reality.
Never lose HOPE. This simple phrase reminds us to hold onto optimism, no matter the circumstances. Imaginative hope is about envisioning a better future even when we can’t see it yet. It’s the boldest act of imagination to hope against hope – to mentally paint a brighter picture when current conditions are dark. In this way, hope itself is a creative force.
Imaginative hope means anticipating good things to come. It asks us to use our inner vision: for a person in despair, imagining a happier chapter in their life is the first step to making it real. In therapy, encouraging clients to visualize positive outcomes is tapping into the power of hopeful imagination.
To quote psychologist and Holocaust survivor Dr. Edith Eger: “Hope is not a distraction from the dark. It is a confrontation with the darkness.” In other words, hope doesn’t ignore our hardships or simply wish them away – it faces them head-on. Through hope, we imagine beyond the darkness of present struggles and find the strength to survive and eventually thrive. Dr. Eger’s life story itself is a testament to how hope and imagination can carry us through the worst of times.

Conclusion: Nurturing Hope and Resilience

In summary, HOPE is a multifaceted resource – it lives in our beliefs, feelings, relationships, creativity, thoughts, and bodies. It has profound effects on our health and our ability to be resilient in the face of challenges.
As we’ve seen, hope can be cultivated through stories, metaphors, and interactive exercises like the HOPE cards. We can also build hope by leaning on our coping resources (BASIC PH), sharing hope with others, and using our imagination and faith to envision better days.
Takeaway:
Even when Pandora’s box of life feels full of troubles, remember that HOPE remains inside. It’s our companion in adversity – keeping us optimistic, motivated, and connected until brighter possibilities emerge. Let’s commit to nurturing hope in ourselves and in those around us. Never lose HOPE!