Hope as a Therapeutic Target in Counselling – In General and in Relation to Christian Clients

This paper reviews the contemporary literature as it pertains to the importance of hope as a therapeutic target; how it is variously conceptualized and how it may be effectively built in therapy. Implications for clinical practice include: (1) specific hope interventions amongst a broader treatment plan; (2) therapists’ awareness of their own level of hopefulness; (3) focusing on attachments, goals and making meaning from suffering. Each of these aspects is discussed for clients in general, and for Christian clients, with whom hope typically has a distinct theological narrative.