Hope as a Mechanism of Resilience

Abstract

The present work presents hope as a primary mechanism of resilience in order to provide grounds for its application in mental health settings. A review of the literature shows that resilience has been studied and applied from various perspectives, including trait-based, deficit-based, strength-based, and population-based models. Resilience is further demarcated through a review of comparable concepts. Resilience is then conceptualized as the practice of hope, the mechanism that enables the adaptive coping involved in resilience. The theological intersection of hope, resilience, and religion is considered in light of the Christian-Catholic Meta-Model of the Person (CCMMP), Pope Benedict XVI’s (2007) encyclical Spe Salvi , and exemplars such as Josephine Bakhita. A more integrative and comprehensive understanding of both hope and resilience emerges. Whereas natural hope fosters resilience through expectations of good outcomes in this life, supernatural hope further strengthens resilience through the expectation that one will overcome sin, death, and disorder by virtue of Jesus’ redemption, where the object of one’s hope is in: (a) the present, through salvific purposes and spiritual sacrifice, and (b) the future, through eternal beatitude with God and resurrection of the body. Factors that contribute to an individual’s resilience include theological hope. Existing studies showing improved mental health from clinical treatments aimed at fostering natural hope and resilience offer reason to think that more positive outcomes could come from faith-based interventions with religious individuals that encourage spiritually based hope and resilience.