Encouraging Optimism Based on Positive Expectations

1. Encouraging Optimism
Based on Positive
Expectations
Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes PhD, LPC-MHSP, LMHC
Executive Director, AllCEUs.com
Podcast Host: Counselor Toolbox Podcast
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 1

2. Objectives
 Define hope and optimism
 Explore the connection between positive
expectations and optimism
 Identify blocks to optimism
 Identify steps to optimism
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 2

3. Research on Optimism
 Patient coping and expectations about recovery predict the development of
chronic post-surgical pain after traumatic tibial fracture repair. Br J Anaesth.
2016 Sep; 117(3): 365–370.
 Patients who are optimistic about recovery following an injury will actually
recover and return to work faster than patients who are less optimistic. At
Work, Issue 65, Summer 2011: Institute for Work & Health, Toronto
 Positive patient expectations associated with positive patient-reported
outcomes in Surgery: A Systematic Review Surgery. 2014 May; 155(5): 799–
808.
 Optimism was found to have a positive effect on personal recovery and
mental health after a tornado outbreak. Psychol Health. 2017 May;32(5):530-
548
 Optimism has been shown to significantly influence the course of some
diseases (cancer, HIV, coronary heart disease) J Health Psychol. 2016
Aug;21(8):1758-67
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
3

4. Health Effects of Optimism
 Reduced cortisol
 Improved sleep
 Reduced blood pressure
https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/optimism-and-your-
health
 Improved health-related behaviors
 Faster healing Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F., & Segerstrom, S. C.
(2010). Optimism. Clinical psychology review, 30(7), 879-89.
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 4

5. Hope and Optimism
 Hope is a passive emotion unrelated to the likeliness of the
outcome. (winning the lottery)
 Hope is based on the anticipation of positive future
developments.
 Optimism is confidence in attainment of the goal through a
belief that the person will find a path to achieve the
desired goal and will be motivated to walk this path.
 How could you be optimistic about winning the lottery? Grad school?
 You are hopeful before a job interview and optimistic after it.
 The more control people perceive they have the more
optimistic (and hopeful) they can be, because the outcome
is now attainable
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
5

6. Optimism
 To any challenge, an optimist reacts with faith in
reaching desirable results and continually taking part in
the activity even if the process is long and difficult
 An optimistic explanatory style can be characterized by
the attribution of external, unstable and specific causes
to failures and negative events. (tripping)
 When you think about your challenge
 What parts are in your control or due to internal factors
 What parts are out of your control or due to external factors
 What parts of this situation are true all the time
 What parts are true only in this instance or setting
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 6
Eggs
• Life transitions
• Social anxiety
• Academic challenges
• Trauma
• Addictions
• Divorce
• Cancer/Chronic
illness (alz, park)
• Perfectionism
• Addiction
• Depression
• Chaotic
classroom/poorly
behaved children

7. Optimism
 People using an optimistic strategy do not think too much
about possible risks and imagine themselves in a situation
where they are coping successfully.
 When you think of asking someone out on a date
 When you think of a job interview
 When you are waiting on test results
 When you find out your spouse filed for divorce
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 7
Eggs
• Life transitions
• Social anxiety
• Academic challenges
• Trauma
• Addictions
• Divorce
• Cancer/Chronic
illness (alz, park)
• Perfectionism
• Addiction
• Depression
• Chaotic
classroom/poorly
behaved children

8. Hope and Optimism
 Hope and optimism consists of three basic
components –
 Goals
 Will/determination/motivation
 Pathways to the goals
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 8

9. Hope and Optimism
 When you are negative and hopeless you tend to
notice the things that are not going the way you want
 When you are positive, you seize on the good things.
(pan for gold)
 If optimism is hope combined with perceived control
and ability to achieve goals then….
 Positive expectations can help people become more
optimistic.
 Note: This only works for things people have some degree of
control over.
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
9

10. Step One
 Create Positivity
 Start looking at events in terms of what you want
instead of what you lost or do not have.
What is it that I want (my goal)?
What parts of this can I control?
 What resources and capabilities do I have that I can use?
How have I, or someone I know, gotten through similar
situations?
What is the likelihood that this will go well?
Why is it worth the effort (motivation)?
Activities: Write a story, make a plan, collage, timeline
 Daily positivity journaling
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 10
• Breakup/Make a friend
• Conflictual
relationship/getting
along
• Layoff/Get a job
• After a
hurricane/restore
normalcy
• To not be depressed/to
be happy
• Chaotic classroom/well
behaved kids
• Relapse/continued
recovery

11. Step 2
 Create a self-fulfilling prophesy
 Create a POSITIVE self fulfilling prophesy
 Reframe the situation using specific, changeable attributions
 Set SMART goals
 Avoid rigid expectations (for other peoples behaviors, for the way
things are going to turn out, for something extraordinary)
 Shore up resources
 Envision the positive—repeatedly
 Act as if…
 Attribute failures and setbacks to external, unstable and specific
causes
 Use the rule of expectations (people rise to the occasion)
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
11
• Breakup/Make a friend
• Conflictual
relationship/getting
along
• Layoff/Get a job
• After a
hurricane/restore
normalcy
• To not be depressed/to
be happy
• Chaotic
classroom/well
behaved kids
• Relapse/continued
recovery

12. Step 3
 Eliminate the negative self-fulfilling prophesy
 Moderate unrealistic or negative expectations (facts and
probability)
 Examine thoughts and expectations based on prior learning.
 Learn from the past. It doesn’t have to repeat itself. “If you
do what you have always done, you will get what you have
always gotten.”
 Relationships
 Jobs
 Sporting events
 Coping ability
 Recovery
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 12
• Breakup/Make a friend
• Conflictual
relationship/getting
along
• Layoff/Get a job
• After a
hurricane/restore
normalcy
• To not be depressed/to
be happy
• Chaotic classroom/well
behaved kids
• Relapse/continued
recovery

13. Step 4
 Get Support
 Other people are more adept at helping you find the
hidden nuggets
 Other people are great cheerleaders
 Other people can help you identify unrealistic or
pessimistic thoughts (CBT Thought diary app)
 Support yourself by being mindful and intentionally
focusing on the positive.
 How can you involve other people in your process?
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 13

14. Summary
 Positive expectations inspire optimism
 Hope is a feeling that things will work out
 Optimism is a cognitive belief that the path has been
set and if you follow that path, things will work out
 Helping people develop positive expectations means
 Addressing negative expectations
 Envisioning positive outcomes
 Creating a realistic plan
 Getting support
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 14