Helping our patients to use hopelessness to pivot for change

Have you ever seen hopelessness used in a positive light?

Well in Acceptance Commitment Therapy ACT, we sometimes use hopelessness as a pivot for change. It’s called “creative hopelessness”.

When someone is “stuck”, we can try and make them see that it’s “hopeless” to continue with their fight/flight/freeze responses. We can then use the “hopelessness” to pivot and shift to accepting what is IS, create space for the uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, and move assertively towards a life true to their values.

It’s like OSCE exam. It’s pointless focusing on and stressing about the mistakes of the last station. We accept what is IS, and move forward with the station at hand.

We can also see that life is like a long series of questions. We can’t get every question right. We create space for our past mistakes and failures, and focus on the question at hand.