Despair and Hope: The Healing Power of Listening

Abstract

Despair is defined in the dictionary as the complete loss or absence of hope. Many if not most individuals feel a deep sense of despair, made more intense by the loneliness that is part of their lives. The power differentials between those who receive services and those who provide services often intensify this sense of despair and loneliness. It is in that relationship between the powerful and the powerless that loneliness and despair start to build, because there is no bridge between the people who serve and those being served. Those of us who provide services and supports to people in need have been taught to be objective and factual, but facts are only part of the story, the roadway so to speak. The foundations of the bridges between people are found in the emotional connections, the places where the stories of their lives take shape. In order to gain the whole story we must listen to the feelings, where the thematic images behind the words present the story of this person’s life.