Criminal Justice Research Paper

Volume 34/Number 2/April 2012/Pages 170-188

The Essence of Hope in Domestic Violence Support Work: A Hermeneutic-Phenomenological Inquiry

Maggie Crain Corinne Koehn

This study explored the lived experience of hope for domestic violence support workers. A hermeneutic-phenomenological approach was used to collect and analyze the experiences of six professional women, aged 37 through 69. Four themes, each with subthemes, emerged from the findings: Hope is visceral reveals the phenomenology of hope as experienced through bodily sen- sations, reactions, and emotions. Hope is contextual describes how experiences of hope are enhanced by personal perspectives and social environments. Hope is mutual reveals how inter- actions with other people inspire hope. Hope is a journey illustrates how hope evolves over the years to reveal new understandings of what it means to live hopefully. The article discusses implications for counseling, counselor education, and service provider organizations and pre- sents suggestions for future research.

For generations, philosophers have highlighted how essential the inspira- tional qualities of hope are in our sociefy (Buechler, 1995; Zournazi, 2002). As research in positive psychology grows, more attention is being given to hope's abilify to inspire futures full of pleasure, engagement, and meaning (Seligman, Parks, & Steen, 2004). A person who loses hope often needs to reach out for support; the restoration of hope can be fostered within a personal relationship such as those with a parent, friend, partner, or in many cases a support worker. Mental health counselors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers are all help- ing professionals that strive to instill hope in their clients through counseling.

The role of hope in counseling women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) has yet to be fully explored. IPV is defrned as "various forms of violence, abuse, mistreatment and neglect that [individuals] experi- ence in their intimate, kin or dependent relationships" (National Clearing- house on Family Violence [NCFV], 2001, p. 1). When a woman is abused by her romantic partner, she incurs damage to her physical and mental health.

Moggie Crain and Corinne Koehn are affiliated with the University of Northern British Co/umb/a.

Correspondence concerning this article should be directed to Maggie Crain, 14 Crain Court, Bullscreek,

New Brunswick, Canada E7N OBI. Email: [email protected].

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abilify to work, interpersonal relationships, self-efficacy, self-worth, aud abilify to hold a stable seuse of hope (NCFV, 2001). Those who work with IPV sur- vivors are cousidered domestic violeuce (DV) support workers.

Mental health support workers have beeu fouud to be iustrumeutal iu helpiug clients build aud maiutaiu hope (Cutcliffe & Craut, 2001; Larseu & Stege, 2010a, 2010b; Westburg & Cuindon, 2004); however, it is also vital for support workers to themselves stay hopeful if they are to help others (Cutcliffe, 2004). Support workers are at risk of burnout, vicarious trauma (VT), aud com- passion fatigue (Adams, Boscariuo, & Figley, 2006). Iu makiug iufimate cou- nections with clients, DV support workers inevitably absorb iuto their owu cousciousuess their clieuts' experiences, which may lead to shiffs in cognition and intrusive imagery that cau lead to VT (Saakvitue, 2002). Their sensitivify to VT and proximify to clients experiencing hopelessness heightens the risk that support workers will lose hope iu their work (Saakvitne & Pearlman, 1996; Shoptaw, Stein, & Rawsou, 2000)). Those who are counected to their own hope-fostering process may be less susceptible to the feelings of stress, helpless- ness, aud frustration that tend to contribute to buruout (Holtslauder, Duggleby, Williams, & Wright, 2005; Pines & Maslach, 1978).

Although the susceptibilify of DV support workers to buruout, compas- siou fatigue, aud VT has offeu beeu studied (Baker, O'Brieu, & Salahuddiu, 2007), this study was desigued specifically to explore the jourueys with hope of couuselors workiug with clieuts experiencing IPV. The questiou it asked was, "Wliat is the experieuce of hope for domestic violeuce support workers?"

Hope and Helping Professionals There is a dearth of research exploriug hope iu helping professiouals.

Although the pheuomeuou of hope is uuique to every iudividual. Smith (2007) fouud that it is always iuflueuced by other processes, such as freedom, imagi- natiou, time, aud physical body. Dufault aud Martocchio (1985) categorized hope as geueralized aud particularized, spheres that each have six dimeusious: affective, behavioral, coguitive, affiliative, contextual, and temporal.

Four studies have explicitly addressed hope iu helpiug professiouals. Cutcliffe (2004) fouud that bereavemeut couuselors must have hope for their elients' well-being and future if they are to successfully foster hope iu clieuts. Westburg aud Cuiudou (2004) fouud that healthcare providers from a variefy of disciplines (e.g., nursing, social work, counseling, psychology, administra- tion) working with persons infected with HIV had high levels of hope, and healthcare workers professed that instilling hope during counseling was the most critical intervenfion for promoting adherence to treatment. Woodside aud Laudeeu (1994) fouud that professiouals workiug with persous with schizophreuia were uo more hopeful than the general population, aud their hope levels fell affer they had worked louger thau five years with any single

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person. A qualitative study gathered informafion about factors influencing hopefulness from mental health professionals helping to treat schizophrenia (Landeen et al., 1996). The main factors identified were recognizing client successes, getting to know elients as people, helping clients keep expectations realistic, having hopeful colleagues, accessing more effective medications for clients, receiving political and community support for resources, having per- sonal religious beliefs, and having hopeful family members. Among barriers to hope were clients not attending appointments and being "unmotivated," clients refusing medications, clients feeling hopeless and not taking responsi- bility for themselves, and negative and hopeless colleagues.

The present study aimed to expand upon what little we know about hope in helping professionals by studying the experience of hope in DV support workers. Because helping professionals must be hopeful themselves to foster hope in clients (Cutcliffe, 2004; Edey & Jevne, 2003), a first quesfion is how such professionals experience and maintain their own hope. Sustaining hope may be particularly challenging for those providing services to women who offen return to abusive relationships and who may suffer considerable personal and emotional injury. The findings may have useful implications for DV sup- port workers, the agencies and insfitutions that employ them, and counseling educational and training programs.

METHOD

Phenomenologieal reflection —the process of coming to understand the essenfial meaning of some aspect of life—involves "reflectively appropriafing, clarifying, and making explicit the structure of meaning within a lived experi- ence" (van Manen, 1997, p.77). That vision guided the design of this study: Phenomenologieal inquiry was thought to be an appropriate approaeh because it seeks to provide a rich understanding of the meaning of everyday experiences (van Manen, 1997), and the experience of hope is a common, lived experience that is cential to life (Cutcliffe, 2004). Van Manen's approach was used because it emphasizes the interpretive nature of understanding lived experi- ence and provides guidance on how to analyze data.

Participants The participants sought were females over the age of 19 who had been

employed for at least one year in counseling women abused in their intimate relationships. Six women, ages 37 to 69, participated. Four lived and worked in northern British Columbia, Canada, and two in rural New Brunswick, Canada. Experience with DV violence counseling ranged from 1.5 to 23 years with an average of 12.5 years. Participants worked with women of all sexual ori- entations and in a variety of abusive intimate relafionships. One participant

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held a universify graduate degree, one an undergraduate degree, and four had some college education. Four women identified themselves as Gaucasian, one as French-First Nations, and one as South Asian-Punjabi; all empbasized tbeir etbnicify as Ganadian women.

Procedure Upon approval by tbe Universify Researcb Etbics Board, participants

were recruited tbrougb flyers and presentations about tbe study at tbeir work- places. Eigbt women contacted tbe researcber. All met tbe inclusion criteria, but scbeduling difficulties prevented two women from following tbrougb. Interviews witb tbe otber six were arranged at communify centers. Participants were given a $25 giff certificate in appreciation for tbeir participation.

Eacb participant completed a brief demograpbic questionnaire. Lived experience material was gatbered tbrougb pbenomenological interviews in wbicb stories, anecdotes, and recollections were encouraged. Hermeneutic conversations encourage detailed and unregulated dialogue (van Manen, 1997) and facilitate shared understanding of the meaning of hope (Gadamer, 1989). Interviews followed a semi-structured interview guide, lasted 1-15/2 hours, and were audiotaped. Among the quesfions:

1. What do you think the role of hope is for you in your work? 2. I would like you to focus on a time where you experienced hope

within your work. a. Please describe your experience as you lived tbrougb it. b. Wbat were your tbougbts and emotions tbat accompanied tbat

experience of bope? c. How did your body feel? d. Was tbere anytbing noticeable about tbe people around you or

your environment?

Tbe first autbor, wbo conducted tbe interviews and analyzed tbe data, kept separate journals: (a) for reflections about tbe participants and about ber- self before, during, and affer tbe interview; (b) for noting bypotbeses and ideas during data analysis; and (c) to document decisions, so tbat tbe analysis process could be clearly tracked.

Data Analysis Tbe study incorporated van Manen's six researcb processes (1997): (a)

turning to tbe nature of tbe lived experience; (b) investigafing tbe experience as it is lived ratber tban as it is conceptualized; (c) reflecting on essential tbemes fbat cbaracterize tbe pbenomenon; (d) describing tbe pbenomenon tbrougb writing and rewriting; (e) maintaining a strong and oriented relation

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to the phenomenon; and (f) balaneing the researeh eontext by eonsidering parts and wholes.

An approaeh to themafic analysis that was both holistic and seleetive was used to examine interview transcripts and identify themes that seemed impor- tant to the experience of hope (van Manen, 1997). The researeher reviewed her journaling of each interview and listened to the recorded dialogue twiee to gain a sense of the whole and immerse herself in the emotions and words embedded within the interview. Repeated listening and note-taking detected many previously unnotieed aspects of the interacfion (Psathas, 1995). The interview was then transcribed verbafim. By doing the transcribing herself, the researcher was able to tune in to subtleties of word choice and stratégie descrip- tion. She read and re-read transcripts and notes until she had uneovered a sense of the parficipant's whole experience.

N-Vivo software was used to eategorize codes and themes. Statements and phrases that were eonsidered essenfial to understanding parficipants' true expe- riences were highlighted and categorized as deseripfive themes. Quotafions were examined elosely and themes divided into more explicit subthemes. This holistie and selective approach fostered a deeper understanding of the phe- nomenon of hope for DV support workers.

Text deemed to be unrelated to the eore experience of hope was extraeted from the document. As a result, information regarding the phenomenon at hand became more vivid (van Manen, 1997). To ensure that no relevant infor- mafion had been extracted, the seeond author read all transcripts and con- firmed that the extraeted portions that had been highlighted seemed irrelevant to the experienee of hope.

Journal entries, charts, and mind-maps aided in the identifieation of final themes and subthemes (van Manen, 1997; Wheeldon & Faubert, 2009). An interview summary was written for eaeh participant. Saturafion was confirmed by the sixth interview, with no new informafion adding significantly to the analysis. After refleefion on all interview summaries, the first author wrote a themafie eomposite deseribing in detail each of the themes that recurred in interviews with all participants.

Member-checking. Participants were sent their own interview summaries and the theme composite on which to reflect and then eontribute their thoughts on the findings and interpretafions. Understanding of the phenome- non beeame more intricate with participants beeoming part of the process and the content. If there had been loose ends from the first interview, the con- tact phase was used to elieit more experiential information. Both e-mail and telephone interviews with partieipants further elucidated the findings. All parfieipants endorsed the themes; partieipant feedback that added subtle nuances to the themes was incorporated into the final analysis.

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Evaluative criteria. Several strategies were used to meet the evaluative criteria Lincoln and Cuba (1985) put forth for qualitative research. Credibility refers to whether findings accurately and faithfully describe the experience of participants. Heightening credibilify was the fact that all participants endorsed the findings and each theme incorporated data emerging with all participants, so that each theme was well-supported. Dependability refers to the extent to which other researchers can track and understand how and why research deci- sions were made. The journal of the decision-making process enhanced dependabilify by permitting review of the data collection and analysis proce- dure. Confirmability refers to the extent to which findings are based on data rather than the researcher's own personal constructions (Lincoln & Cuba, 1985, p. 324). The journal that documented preconceptions and impressions enhanced confirmabilify because it allowed for the researcher's assumptions to be articulated and monitored; findings that supported preconceptions were checked to ensure that they accurately reflected the meaning of quotations transcribed and that all participants had contributed to those particular find- ings. Confirmabilify was also achieved by participant endorsement of the find- ings. Transferability refers to whether the findings can apply to contexts other than the specific research context. Transferabilify is determined not by the researcher but by the reader who becomes familiar with both the research con- text and the immediate context to which the findings are to be applied (Lincoln & Cuba, 1985). To help readers ascertain whether the findings are transferable to their own contexts, a "thick description" is provided. This is a text that "presents detail, context, emotion, and the web of social relationships ... [and] evokes emotionalify and self-feelings" (Denzin, 1989, p. 83).

FINDINGS

According to van Manen (1997), phenomenological research should be guided by the following existentials: lived space (spatialify); lived body (corpo- realify); lived human relation (relationalify); and lived time (temporalify). These four existentials are thought to be central to every person but vary in meaning between persons. This framework for uncovering themes enables phenomenological researchers to formulate a holistic sense of participants' true lived experience by considering all facets of human experience (van Manen, 1997). Participants chose pseudonyms that are used in the findings to reflect their individual sentiments.

The present study found four major themes in DV counselors' experience of hope: Hope is visceral, hope is contextual, hope is mutual, and hope is a jour- ney (Table 1).

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Table I. Themes and Subthemes

Themes Subthemes

Lived body: Hope is visceral The vivacity of hope The serenity of hope The catharsis of hope

Lived space: Hope is contextual Shared experiences Agency attributes Preservation of home

Hope human relation: Hope is mutual The contagion of hope Personal impact Staff relations

Lived time: Hope is a journey Personal grov/th Client change Societal shifts

Lived Body: Hope Is Visceral Participauts experieuced hope viscerally, with physical reactious aud felt

emotious. Three subthemes pervasive throughout all six iuterviews were expe- rieuees of vivacify, sereuify, aud catharsis.

Vivacity: The visceral experieuces of hope were so charged with euergy that they were physically felt withiu the emotioual state. All parficipauts described experieuces of living iu a "wave of vivacify" during times of hope within their work. Shirley remarked, "There is that feeling of excitement, because you're getting to a place of 'this is gonna make a difference.'" Participants reported having "butterflies"; Beverly said, "I'm like, wow, some- thiug's happeuing here iu this person ... and it just bubbles up iuside of me so that I smile, cry, just feeliug all those goose-bumpy feelings."

Serenity: The second subtheme of the hope as visceral experieuce involved warmth, contentment, and serenify. Physically, participants described feeling radiant, healthy, and warm when experieuciug hope. Most participauts described feeliug au immediate seuse of iuuer peace aud happiness upou reachiug a goal, wituessiug success, or developiug a therapeutic couuectiou with a clieut. Lindsey said, "I feel thaukful... if I'm able to be present and hear their words; it's a sense of peace. I call them 'ah ha' moments."

Catharsis: The third visceral subtheme speaks to how experieucing hope within DV counseling can be very cathartic. Linda said, "It's like a weight has been liffed from you," aud teusiou evaporates. Cathartic release was preseut iu such forms as relaxatiou of muscles, tension leaving the body, or tears.

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Lived Space: Hope Is Contextual The experience of hope for DV support workers was contextual; it was

impacted by their lived space through shared experiences, their preservafion of home, and agency attributes. All participants endorsed all subthemes.

Shared experiences: Counselors' life-experiences, stiuggles, and personal status within society combine to create individual ouflooks, values, and coun- seling styles, all of which shape the counseling environment. Having similar lived experienees with clients forged a closer therapeutic connection, which in turn nurtured hope. "I had a younger sister who died firom drugs and she suf- fered mueh violence .... So there's kind of a bond there" (Beverly).

Agency attributes: Participants emphasized that agency factors con- tributed to the sense of hope or hopelessness in their work. Intricacies of fund- ing, staffing, personalifies, and employee benefits influenced hope. Linda described her dissatisfaction with how her agency had neglected mental health and self-care in her early years as a DV counselor: "I think that it eould be given better attention definitely, we're a smaller shelter, we have financial con- stiaints, and it just doesn't come up a lot." Issues sueh as flex time may seem insignificant in the grand seheme of support services, but participants empha- sized that those pieces of self-care were essential to their own mental health, productivity, and hope. Participants who belonged to more established agen- cies indicated that this also strengthened their ability to hope. Lindsey explained, "We do agency and self-evaluations too so they do open the door to 'what else can we do for you?', 'what can we offer you in terms of furthering your education?' It is a very supportive place to work." Participants explained that having access to a counselor was extremely valuable to maintaining hope in their work. Beverly explained that her agency...

[has] professional counseling available through our benefits so we can jusl make an appointment and talk to a counselor about what's bothering us, which is good because sometimes it's personal stuff, or a mix between professional and personal, and it's hard to deal with it all when you are work- ing all the time.

Allotment of funds for self-care seems important for eneouraging self- maintenance among DV support workers. Taking the time outside of work to enjoy coworkers and replenish energy were also considered essential: "We have litfle appreciation parties and when we've had a hard meeting, we will have a litfle get together and chill out, get the business done and have a chat, etc." (Rita). Parfieipants revealed that with awareness and support fi-om their employers, self-eare is a major component in maintaining hope in their work.

Preservation of home: Participants made it very clear that, to proteet either area from external stiess, their homes and their work places should not

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overlap. "You bave to set limits; you've got to bave your bome space as your own space" (Linda). Tbe lived space of eacb area bolds very different tasks, goals, and importance from tbe otber. For many participants, bome is a sanc- tuary wbere bope for tbeir work is rejuvenated. Lindsey explained, "Wbat I would do is take all my positivify to work because I was working witb otber peo- ple's cbildren and I would come bome and bave notbing leff but crap for my own family." Wben bome-life stress affected work witb clients or wben work- place pressure invaded family life, it was detrimental to relationsbips in eitber sector and bindered the enhancement of hope.

Lived Human Relations: Hope Is Mutual Participants considered inspiring hope to be a mutual process between

tbe counselors and clients, staff, and significant otber people in tbeir lives. All endorsed tbree subtbemes: tbe contagion of bope, personal impact, and staff relafions.

The contagion of hope: Participants wbo understood tbat otbers can inspire bope within them idenfified the mutual inspirafion of hope that is pos- sible between client and counselor. "If tbe entire team is burned out, cranky, and not engaged in wbat tbey're doing, tbe clients are affected by tbat" (Lindsey). Wben personal success was difficult to idenfify, participants described looking outward to barness a sense of optimism and bope; tbey described being influenced by family, friends, colleagues, and otbers wbo bave toucbed tbeir lives. Lindsey's meaningful social connections influenced her abilify to find bope: "I am in a 12-step program and I bave found amazing sup- port in my life." Participants aspired to belp clients idenfify tbeir personal power and to encourage tbem to strive toward dreams tbat may bave been lost tbrougb IPV. "Wben I see someone reacb a milestone, I'm so bopeful; tbat's buge wben you see small successes" (Lindsey).

Personal impact: Personal impact was described as making a difference in clients' lives, forming connecfions with the women seeking support, and receiving personal validafion. Rita said, "My main focus is to help them, that's why I'm there, to help them any way I can."

Making a difference: Participants described tbe numerous fimes tbey experienced bope wben tbey felt tbey bad made a difference in tbeir clients' lives. Tbe goal of tbeir work was not always to bave an extreme influence on a client's life patb; impact could be realized in tbe glimmer of bope sparking bebind a client's eyes, the beginning of a client's realization of her own abili- ties, or a bit of strengtb conjured witbin clients tbat allowed tbem to stand on tbeir own two feet. "Tbat's wbat I see as a ray of bope: wben you see a woman wbo bas gone tbrougb a lot and now sbe is smiling" (Beverly). Lindsey ecboed participants' desire to offer bope to the children of women accessing services, "For me it's about tbe kids. So if I can belp one woman get well... tbere is a

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kid who might get a pieee of their parent back." In working to empower their elients, parfieipants shared both resourees

and experiences. They described feeling that it is their dufy to provide this foundation for elients. "They are eoming to you not beeause they are losing it, but because they want support.... We want to be sending a message that they are the ones who have the strength" (Shirley).

Developing a therapeutic connection: Perhaps less tangible but just as important was the abilify to form a eonneetion with the women seeking help— "when they get to the point where they are not relying on you, but they feel eomfortable" (Beverly). Trust, care, and faith are all facets of the type of thera- peufic relationship parficipants deseribed as conducive to change, support, and hope. With these elements, clients were more apt to hear the possibilifies eounselors offer, put what they learned to use, and seek support again later.

Receiving personal validation: A more explieit experience of hope oecurred when elients extended their appreeiation: "It means a lot and it gives me hope when they eome back and they thank you, or they say they really enjoyed talking to you, or you're a very positive person" (Beverly). Affirmation, from eurrent or past elients, inspired hope for participants.

Staff relations: Although interpersonal concerns are natural, partieipants emphasized that staff solidarity influenced their experienee of hope. "The eompany offers plenfy, but somehow it's the fitting in and belonging that mat- ters" (Lindsey). If they felt heard, understood, and appreciated, there was a sense of aecomplishment and optimism for their future contributions. "The support you receive from coworkers as well as the knowledge, the support, the exchange of ideas, and the brainstorming that might happen in a particularly difficult situation are very vital" (Linda).

Just as colleagues inspired hope, they eould also undermine it. As Linda explained, "We absorb negativity, even if we're not conscious of it; we are absorbing all the time. If you're around someone in a bad mood, you can soon get yourself in a bad mood!"

Lived Time: Hope Is a Journey The voices in this researeh revealed that finding and maintaining hope

within the work of DV counseling is a journey that takes time, patienee, and effort. The three subthemes revealed were personal growth, client change, and societal shifts.

Personal growth. The participants' own experienees with personal growth were aspects of hope. Here four subthemes emerged: (a) Hope develops through self-awareness; (b) hope is work; (c) hope perseveres through defeating experiences; and (d) hope is an evolution.

Hope develops through self-awareness: Partieipants believed that whether or not professionals were attuned to the opportunifies for lessons to be

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learned depended largely on self-awareness. To remain hopeful, they said, they must be aware of factors in their lives that hinder hopefulness. Lindsey explained, "The hugest catalyst is making the choice to change my thought patterns because my thought patterns change how I feel, and when I'm feeling differently I get to do different things." Once such life variables as unhealthy lifesfyle choices, lack of exercise, violent TV, and unhealthy nutrition were identified as detrimental to the fostering of hope, energy could be diverted to promoting more positive behaviors.

Hope is work: Finding, cultivating, and maintaining hope as a DV sup- port worker is hard work. As Shirley said, "The hope is that there is change and that it happens from within; [the counselor] just needs to work on finding that." Participants believed it was their responsibilify to seem positive even on days when hope was elusive. As Lindsey explained, "There are days I don't want to be positive, I don't want to be smiling, I just want to feel the way I feel." Baby steps were integral to the journey with hope because little changes and small successes often felt like giant leaps forward.

Hope perseveres through defeating experiences: A sense of powerlessness often accompanies DV support work: "This lady had been trying to get away from her partner for years and years, she just kept going back and we were get- ting discouraged, we were feeling like there was not much more we could do to help her" (Rita). It can be defeating to recognize that support workers' efforts may have little direct impact on IPV. No matter how often a client returned to the abusive relationship, however, participants found that the true experience of hope lay within the woman's return for support: "We didn't think we were doing it at the time, because she kept coming back, but the info we were giv- ing her, she was using it" (Rita).

Hope is an evolution. Intense passion, ambition, and idealism were ele- ments that kept participants hopeful early in their careers as DV counselors, but as time passed, they began to see this type of personal investment as detri- mental: "If you get on that platform and that bandwagon of rescuing, you will be burned out before you know it.... Because you're not gonna be able to [keep it up]" (Shirley). At the start of their careers, participants found it hard to recover hope when women seemed to be engaging in a dangerous lifesfyle. Cheryl said, "I'm going to tell you, my first two years I would cry when that woman would leave....You've got to learn your limitations, how to keep your- self healthy." Work experiences altered the counselors' attitudes over the years. Their years of experience gave them an understanding of what they needed to do to maintain hope in their careers: "I had to learn over the years that you can't fix that for them. What you need to do is give them the strength to fix it themselves" (Rita). Learning from mistakes, growing through pain, and look- ing to the future moved participants along in their journey with hope.

Client change: Being a part of or having an influence on their clients'

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healing was an integral part of the counselors' own experienee of hope. An important aspeet of experiencing hope was witnessing women who were feel- ing hopeless regain their own sense of hope. The idea of "change" for the elient presented itself in a variefy of ways; at times, for instance, there is a sense of transformation:

You see someone come in and ... spirituaüy they're dead, physicaüy they're dead, mentaüy they're dead, and you watch them s!ow!y one day at a time, they stay away from the dope, or stay away from the abusive re!ationship. Or stay away from the toxic environment, whatever it is that's going on, every day you see them do something sma!l. After 30 days, you see a !itt!e hght is back in their eyes, 60 days you can actuaüy see their eyes, and they're no !onger !ooking at the floor. At 90 days, their chin is fmaüy coming up. !t's huge! That's hope. (Lindsey)

Partieipants also found that eaeh step their elients made—seeking help, leaving home, fighfing for their ehildren, talking about feelings—re-instilled hope for a better future. The counselor's journey with hope was intrinîieally linked to the client's journey. W^en there was no apparent progress, partiei- pants found hope in eonsidering the future impact their work might have.

Societal shifts: Sociefy's progress toward eliminating violence against women influeneed the counselors' hope. At fimes, it was quashed by the laek of significant progress. For example, Linda revealed, "I remember maybe seven to eight years ago where I felt very drained by the job, I felt a sense of hopeless- ness ... what ehanges are we making? Cuz the statisfics are not that high for women who are able to make that break." DV support workers are eontinuously invested in the soeial movement to eliminate violence against women. Some participants identified the aet of challenging violence within intimate relation- ships as being the core of their experienee of hope. "Hope is being involved in aetivities that are proactive and very productive, and that goes with sitting on eommittees and boards" (Shirley). Working within the system to ehange the way eommunities understand and address domestic violence encouraged hope; being eommitted to this fight was very important: "it's changing the whole system of patriarehy; we're bringing down a system that has held women and children down" (Cheryl).

This devofion to the eause was not taken lightly. As Shirley said, "It's not about the money; you have to have the passion and the dedication to work in this line of work." Cheryl made a call for men to take aetion: "The imbalance in power ean disappear and that equalify can happen, but it can't happen with only one part of the equation" (Cheryl).

Summary of Themes The experienee of hope for DV support workers in this study was multi-

faceted. Viscerally, hope ineorporated elements of vivaeify, serenify, and catharsis. Contextually, faetors at the worksite, the preservation and sanetity of •

home life, and experiences shared with their clients all influenced hope. Hope was also anchored in the qualify of participants' relationships with clients and other staff. Hope was also experienced as a journey that evolved over time and took effort to traverse. The journey was characterized by an interplay of changes in their personal growth, client changes, and societal shifts.

DISCUSSION

Both the literature and the study findings make it clear that hope is cen- tral to the counseling process for both client and counselor (Sprenkle & Blow, 2004). The accounts of study participants reflect Smith's visualization of hope (2007) and portray the effects that physicalify, environment, other people, and time have on DV counselors' experiences of hope.

Theme One: Hope Is Visceral Many aspects of the experience of hope for DV support workers were

revealed through physical reactions and emotions—the felt experience, or lived body, of hope. When participants felt vivacify in relation to hopeful expe- riences, they felt they were nearing their goal of making a difference in some- one's life, witnessing a client achieve success. Feelings of serenify were connected to the counselor's hope of achieving a satisfying alliance with clients. Cathartic experiences came when there were feelings of completion after long hoping for a certain goal. As Dufault and Martocchio (1985) found in their research with cancer patients, study participants experienced nervous- ness, doubtfulness, vulnerabilify, and sadness along with feelings of happiness, optimism, and energy.

Theme Two: Hope Is Contextual Dufault and Martocchio (1985) described a "contextual realm" that

encompasses all life situations that surround,, influence, and impactan individ- ual's experience of hope. Along with financial securify, familial living situation, and valued possessions, study participants found that sharing of experiences between client and counselor, agency attributes, and keeping home and work separate all affected the experience of hope.

Saakvitne and Pearlman (1996) demonstrated the eftect of the work envi- ronment on the vulnerabilify of professionals to detrimental mindsets, such as VT. Some agencies that deal with traumatized clients operate under the mis- conception that the emotions of professionals have no connection to the work environment (Saakvitne & Pearlman, 1996). Pines and Maslach (1978) demon- strated the need to compartmentalize jobs and personal lives; similarly, study participants considered it important not only to maintain separate spaces but also to be emotionally present when working with clients.

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Theme Three: Hope Is Mutual Supportive relationships are essential to the inspiration of hope

(Holtslander et a l , 2005). Parfieipants in this study described hope from many relafional angles and found their experience of it was inspired by the sueeess and hope of people closely conneeted to their lives.

Counseling can be a process in whieh client and counselor together cre- ate hope (Edey & Jevne, 2003). In the present study, partieipants' experiences of hope were found to be elosely conneeted to elient successes. The primary concern was to inspire hope within their clients, and it has been found that to inspire hope in others, counselors must first find hope within themselves (Cuteliffe, 2004). Vaillot (1970) pointedly said, "No one ean radiate what he is not" (p. 272). Similarly, participants acknowledged that they learn, grow, and achieve hope through their therapeutie relationships with clients.

Like the findings of Landeen et a l (1996) that mental health workers who worked with persons with schizophrenia were influenced by the hope of other staff members, study participants suggested that those sharing the work space were influential to the hope experience. Hope eould rise or fall depending on whether or not eolleagues had hope. For partieipants who were feeling hope- less, words of wisdom from coworkers or supervisors provided insight. Extensive, high-quality supervision and debriefing have become increasingly reeognized as eritieal to learning, maintaining, and improving professional eounseling skills (Holtslander et a l , 2005).

Theme Four: Hope Is a Journey The current findings suggest that hope refers to the idea of "going some-

where"; parficipants described the future orientafion of their experienees of hope. Holtslander and colleagues (2005) viewed hope through fluetuations and waves. Landeen, Pawlick, Woodside, Kirkpatrick, and Byrne (2000) found that as individuals endure eireumstanees where hopelessness abounds, they find new ways to be hopeful. It is a human instinet to find pathways to survival.

Partieipants deseribed how hope fluetuates over time and how their vision ehanged throughout the years. Edey and Jevne (2003) acknowledged that counselors' experiences of hope shift over fime, eommenfing that, "If we see value in attending to hope, we simply have to start the journey and see where it leads" (p. 50). Through introspeefion, DV counselors recognized that self- awareness is essenfial to maintaining hope. Parfieipants explained that through- out their years of work they confinuously discovered personal needs and goals.

Like others seeking hope, DV counselors run into barriers that hinder their progress. Allen (2005) said, "Hoping is not stafic. In the face of tragedy and suffering, hoping is difficult and precious; it is a virtue, hard won and ehal- lenging to sustain" (p. 283). Snyder (2002) viewed barriers to desired goals as bumps in the road that trigger stress because they alter eounselors' ideas of their

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capability. Study participants suggested that to hold onto hope DV counselors must acknowledge that clients have freedom of choice and trust in their abili- ties to choose the right path for themselves.

Holtslander and eolleagues (2005) found that an erosion of hope over time can be a concern for earegivers. Study participants here simply began to see hope through different lenses. Changing ideology on whether to maintain an emofional distance from clients or to remain infimately connected seemed to be the most evident shift for support workers with years of experience. Although the medical model suggests that helping professionals should hold emotions inward because they are signs of weakness, inadequacies, and poor boundaries (Saakvitne & Pearlman, 1996), others argue that emotional invest- ment ean inspire courage and fortitude (Buechler, 1995). The findings here suggest that the longer parficipants provided DV support, the better they main- tained hope by detaching themselves from more idealistic conventions.

A strong thread in this researeh is that experiences with hope were deeply woven into the journeys of both counselors and clients. Consistent with Smith (2007), study participants emphasized that unless they could view change as possible, they could not experience hope. The role of the counselor is enmeshed with these goals. Participants viewed the opportunity to witness the spiritual rejuvenafion of clients through a series of small steps successfully completed, life alterafions, and positive choices, as cultivating their own hope.

Since the social recognition of IPV in the 1970s, various multifaceted solutions and policies related to it have been propounded. As Pines and Maslach (1978) found, participants in this study cultivated hope in situations where they felt they had input on policies and an impact on the changing nature of society. Partieipants explained that the response to this social concern must begin in homes, where awareness and opening lines of communication can be more easily facilitated.

Relevance for Clinical Practice Mental health counselors working in the DV field may benefit from

being mindful of their own level of hope and realizing that it ean influence the elient's degree of hope. Hope fluctuates over time, as this study shows, suggest- ing that DV counselors engage in regular self-examination looking for signs that would indicate hope is faltering. For example, our findings suggest that signs of declining hope for eounselors include changes in behavior or attitude, such as believing ehange is not probable; demonstrating a less hopeful de- meanor with clients or colleagues; or being less engaged in their work or their personal lives.

Similarly, to take preventive action, counselors might ponder factors that could be threats to hope. Although these will vary by counselor, our results

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suggest tbat in DV counseling, tbey migbt include consistent negativify from colleagues or working witb women wbo repeatedly return to abusive relation- sbips. But participants also reported bow tbeir bope was nurtured by caring employment conditions and by tbe opportunify to be proactive in cbanging communify responses toward DV. Lack of tbese migbt tberefore be tbreats to bope.

More posifively, DV counselors migbt also idenfify experiences tbat foster bopefulness and work to put in place strategies for maintaining bope. Tbe cul- tivation of bope is an important element in managing work stress; bope bas been identified as a powerful motivational force tbat inspires and beals (Gutcliffe, 2004). Stress-management strategies sucb as debriefing procedures for critical incidents (Halpern, Gurevicb, Scbwartz, & Brazeau, 2009) foster bope by belping counselors to be more emotionally resilient.

Tbe exploration of bope migbt be facilitated tbrougb tbe self-reflective pracfice of journaling or tbrougb dialogue. A supervisor, a colleague, or a peer supervision group migbt be sougbt to accompany a DV counselor on tbe bope journey by belping detect bopelessness, facilitating discussions about tbreats to bope, and encouraging use of strategies tbat migbt restore or nourisb bope. For example, a supervisor migbt point out client successes the counselor may have overlooked, or help the counselor to realize that although change might not be evident yet, it may occur in tbe long run. Edey and Jevne (2003) suggested tbat counselors "make bope visible" (p. 44) to clients, and we recommend tbat supervisors also do tbis for counselors, making the topic of hope an integral part of the supervision process. Of course, in keeping with the premise tbat to instill bope one must be bopeful, tbe companion on tbe journey must also bave an abundant supply of bope.

Implications for Organizations Organizations responding to DV migbt benefit ffom reflecting on bow tbe

work environment culfivates or diminisbes staff bope. For example, tbese find- ings suggest tbat tbe progression of social cbange may be an important compo- nent in counselor cultivation of bope; parficipants implied tbat organizations tbat supported staff in taking part in communify involvement belped to keep bope alive. Facilitating communify awareness and taking part in social reforma- fion offers multiple avenues for building a sense of efficacy and bopefulness.

Landeen et a l (1996) found tbat negafive and bopeless colleagues were barriers to bope in mental bealtb professionals working witb persons witb scbizopbrenia; similarly, participants in tbis study revealed tbat tbe contagion of bope among colleagues was an important aspect of maintaining bope. Organizations migbt tberefore work at nourisbing and protecting bope by adopting practices witb "bope potential," sucb as regular, effective supervision;

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social eveuts where employees cau have fun together; aud opportuuities aud fuudiug to attend professional developmeut programs. The findings also sug- gest that by rethiukiug practical issues, such as caseload and employee bene- fits, organizations can also influeuce hope.

Implications for Counselor Education . \ Programs that iueorporate coursework that facilitates studeut awareuess of

hope aud discusses its influeuce ou couuselor effecfiveuess could be useful. Along with reading reports of relevant studies (e.g., Elliot, 2005; Larseu & Stege, 2010a, 2010b; Lopez, Floyd, Ulven, & Snyder, 2000), studeuts could be guided to explore their persoual hopes, their curreut hope levels, aud how to maiutain hope despite difficulfies. Small group discussious, jourualiug, self- reflecfive assigumeuts, aud creafive eudeavors (e.g., collages that represeut hope) might all help to promote hope awareuess. Such courses should also address hopelessness-related problems, such as burnout, VT, compassion fatigue, and couutertrausference. With an uuderstaudiug of the symptoms of decliuiug hope aud posifive ways to cope both personally and professionally, studeuts would be better prepared to euter aud remaiu in the helping profes- sions.

Limitations and Directions for Future Research In this study the majorify of participants were Caucasian; it is possible the

experience of hope may be different for DV support workers of other racial or ethnic origins. Also, the small sample may not necessarily represent the expe- rience of hope for the larger populatiou of DV couuselors. More research with DV support workers is ueeded to invesfigate the layers and nuauces of hope for this group. For participauts iu this study, cultivafiug hope was offeu a rigorous task that eucompassed persoual upheaval aud perseverauee through challeng- ing aspects of their work. Future research might examiue producfive ways to maiutaiu this process without losiug professiouals to coufusiou aud buruout. In addition, since the study fouud that beiug involved with soeial change was intrinsically linked to experiences of hope, future studies could more fully invesfigate how abilify or inabilify to assist in social chauge affects the experi- euces couuselors have of hope iu their work.

Although retrospective accouuts offer au opportuuify for participauts to reflect aud make meauiug of their experieuces, they are vuluerable to loss of iuformatiou due to faulfy memories. Future research might track the accouuts and experiences of hope in DV counselors daily over time to ascertain what triggers hope aud hopelessness and to identify strategies that nourish hope. Videotaped couuseliug sessious could also be used to help couuselors reflect on what occurred and identify moments or incidents iu which hope rose or fell or its uature chauged in some way.

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CONCLUSION

In this study, the experience of hope for each DV support worker proved to be multifaceted. Hope is an experience that is seen, felt, and relayed and that changes over time. It is clear that hope is experienced through the personal aspects of life and is impacted by the life experiences that shape personalify. These experiences influence how individuals interpret their environments, the people in their lives, and their own personal growth. Hope can be self-inspired and instilled in others when both parties are open to the phenomenon.

For DV counselors, understanding and experiences of hope evolve with years of work, personal struggles, and life lessons. Although every individual's experience of hope is unique, this research demonstrates that there are com- mon influences on how counselors experienced hope in DV support work.

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