Hope in the Age of Anxiety

by Scioli, Anthony; Biller, Henry

• ISBN13: 9780195380354
• ISBN10: 0195380355
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-09-03
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Hope is a powerful emotion that arises from the most basic longings of humanity. Our hopes also reflect the enormous impact of social and cultural attachments, the love and care required to achieve our potential as human beings. Finally, hope derives from our innate capacity to envision the future and create plans for ourselves and loved ones. Hope is an aspect of emotional intelligence, a virtue that can be instilled, guided and reinforced by education and example, for use across a wide range of life situations. Hope can be secured without a traditional religious foundation as long as there is some basis for faith or spirituality. Hope can significantly impact every aspect of an individual's health and is rightly called humanity's "best medicine." Hope in the Age of Anxiety is the definitive guide for understanding, developing, and strengthening our most important virtue, offering lessons in emotional understanding as well as specific advice for dealing with important life issues, including the following: - Attachment: How to bestow and receive the gift of hope. - Mastery: How to find inspiration and make use of hidden dreams. - Survival: How to cope with fear and anxiety as well as trauma, loss, and death. - Culture: How to build on a cultural foundation of hope sources and possibilities. - Faith: How to incorporate the seven types of hope found in world religions. - Spirituality: How to use the hope motives to increase your spiritual intelligence. - Hopelessness: How to overcome nine different kinds of hopelessness. - Healing: How to transform hope into a "healthy portable environment". - Creativity: How to replace denial with creativity to build a more hopeful reality.

Author Biography

Dr. Anthony Scioli is Professor of Clinical Psychology at Keene State College. He received his Ph.D. in 1990 from the University of Rhode Island. Upon graduating, Dr. Scioli obtained a research fellowship at Harvard University where he trained with the eminent authority on achievement motivation, Dr. David McClelland. In 2000 and 2001 Dr. Scioli was an advanced fellow in the Behavioral Medicine Clinic affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Dr. Scioli is currently involved in several large-scale hope projects, including the development of an interfaith hope test, creating a hope website, and studying hope at the end of life.

Henry B. Biller is Professor of Psychology at The University of Rhode Island. He was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown in 1962 and a United States Public Health Service Predoctoral Fellow at Duke, receiving his Ph.D. in 1967. A fellow of the American Psychological Association, he has served on the advisory board of the Men's Health Network and the editorial board of the Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
The Roots of Hope: Understanding your Hope Legacy	p. 9
Rekindling Hope: Honoring the Fire Within	p. 11
Hope, Not Denial	p. 13
A Virtue for All Seasons	p. 15
The Far-Flashing Beam: Perspectives on Hope	p. 20
Hope Within the Individual	p. 21
Hope from Others	p. 25
An Integrative Theory	p. 29
Pillars of Humanity: Hope Across Time	p. 39
Evolution of Hope	p. 41
From the Archives of Hope	p. 47
From the Annals of Hopelessness	p. 58
Cultures of Hope: Absorbing the Virtues of a Community	p. 62
Biosocial Foundations	p. 63
Cultural Influences	p. 70
Cultural Clocks	p. 71
Religions of Hope: Allies in the Sky	p. 76
Hopes of the World's Religions	p. 76
Hope as the Essence of Religion	p. 89
Faith: The Assurance of Things Hoped for	p. 93
Hope's Underpinning	p. 93
Hope in Times of Darkness	p. 95
Acts of Faith	p. 96
Faith Myths	p. 103
The Human Condition	p. 104
Science and Spirituality	p. 106
Faith and Reality	p. 108
Spiritual Growth: The Life Cycle of Hope	p. 112
The "First Birth of God"	p. 115
The "Second Birth of God"	p. 117
Adolescent Spirituality	p. 119
Adult Spiritual Development	p. 121
Spiritual Intelligence: Developing a Smart Soul	p. 125
Centers of Value	p. 126
Faith Wisdom	p. 138
Six Spiritual Types	p. 141
Spiritual Type Assessment	p. 144
The Wings of Hope: Beams of Power, Presence, and Protection	p. 147
Attachment Matters: Love Always Hopes	p. 149
Profiles in Attachment	p. 150
The Attached Core	p. 153
Hope Providers	p. 155
Parents	p. 160
Lovers and Friends	p. 162
Spiritual Bonds	p. 168
Hope Provider Assessment	p. 172
Mastery and Inspiration: Your Life is Calling	p. 174
Profiles in Mastery	p. 175
Hopeful Mastery	p. 177
Mastery Strategies	p. 180
Finding Inspiration	p. 190
Providing Inspiration	p. 193
Hidden Dreams	p. 194
Survival Skills: Becoming a "Knight of Faith"	p. 201
The Gift and Burden of Fear	p. 202
Hopeful Resiliency	p. 204
Building Resiliency	p. 214
From Fear to Hope: Peace in Troubled Waters	p. 224
Fear of Hope	p. 225
Fears of Failure or Success	p. 226
Fear of Being	p. 229
Fear of Harm	p. 231
Fear of Loss	p. 234
Fear of Death	p. 238
Overcoming Hopelessness: Escape from Darkness	p. 250
Varieties of Hopelessness	p. 251
Hope-Restoring Strategies	p. 253
Doom	p. 254
Alienation	p. 262
Powerlessness	p. 266
Depression	p. 273
Suicide	p. 274
Hopeless Rage	p. 278
Hope for Children: Gifts for Today and Tomorrow	p. 280
Childhood Hopelessness and Depression	p. 280
Diagnosis and Treatment	p. 288
Nurturing Hope	p. 291
Nurturing Spirituality	p. 302
Hope and Healing: Why Hope is the Best Medicine	p. 308
Jaime's Story	p. 309
The Mind-Body Connection	p. 310
How Hope Heals	p. 322
The Hope Response	p. 325
Hope for Health: Prescriptions for Well-Being	p. 326
A Healthy Portable Environment	p. 327
Hope Prescriptions	p. 333
Spiritual Supplements	p. 334
A Healing Philosophy	p. 336
Hope and Wellness	p. 341
Creative Hoping	p. 348
The Hopeful Task	p. 352
Notes	p. 354
Bibliography	p. 393
Index	p. 417
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