The hope collage activity: an arts-based group intervention for people with chronic pain

ABSTRACT

A growing body of research suggests that hope and other positive emotions are important in disrupting the cycle of pain and negative emotionality common to chronic pain sufferers. This qualitative research study focuses on the in-session experience of hope for participants during a specific arts-based hope intervention, as part of an evidence-based group therapy programme called Being Hopeful in the Face of Chronic Pain (BHFCP). In-depth Interpersonal Process Recall interviews were conducted with 11 group members to elucidate their experience of hope during the Hope Collage intervention. Findings suggest that, during this activity, hope was increased through several mechanisms. Specifically, group members described “Coming together in hope”, “Hope in relation to the ‘other’”, and “Internalizing hope” as important aspects of their in-session experience. Implications of these findings are discussed, with an eye to group process and how to support hope via creative means in this population.

KEYWORDS:

• Client perspective
• counselling psychology
• groups
• cognitive behaviour therapy
• narrative approaches

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Denise Larsen is research lead for Hope Studies Central in the Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Canada, and has studied hope in counselling for the last 15 years.

Rachel Stege has been engaged with hope research since 2006 and continues to utilise hope-focused interventions in her counselling practice in Alberta, Canada.

Rachel King is a Registered Provisional Psychologist and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her programme of research focuses on hope and resilience.

Natasha Egeli is a Registered Provisional Psychologist in Alberta, Canada, and has published research on a variety of topics.

Notes

1 This research project was approved by the University of Alberta research ethics board.

2 Each group offering used the same structure and content, and was offered by the same two facilitators. The facilitators were registered psychologists with 5 and 17 years of experience, both of whom had been running the BHFCP group for at least 2 years.