Hope Sharing Circles - Positivity Matters

www.PositivityMatters.org

The Hope Sharing Circle: a small group where each person builds their own practical hope in the company of others.

Membership: The only requirement for membership is a desire to flourish. You and only you can say that you are a member or that you are not a member!

Assumptions:

Positive mental wellbeing is related to but distinct from mental illness.
The absence of mental illness does not imply the presence of positive mental wellbeing.
Strengthening positive mental wellbeing is a worthwhile activity and can be pursued for its own sake.

Disclaimer: A Hope Sharing Circle is not therapy.* A Hope Sharing Circle is not a substitute for professional healthcare.

Small-Group Format:

What went well lately?
What is a goal you’d like to work on?

These two questions are passed around the circle over the course of an hour. The intent is for the Hope Sharing Circle to become a weekly practice, and the “What went well” question is meant to be a time for sharing how our goal pursuits went.

More areas to consider setting goals in: H.A.P.P.Y. L.I.F.E.

A Few More Suggestions:

If you are new to a Hope Sharing Circle, please consider choosing your first goals to be discovering/reassessing your top strengths (free: www.viacharacter.org) and creating a list of your top three core values. Both of those suggestions can be regarded as acts of kindness to ourselves. We make these suggestions, in part, because each strength and value can potentially become a source from which an infinite number of meaningful goals can be generated. We suggest play and kindness as initial areas in which to envision meaningful goals. Play is another thing that can be viewed as an act of kindness to ourselves.

Each element of a Practical Hope Circle is grounded in wellbeing science:

Strengths – Character Strengths and Well-Being/Happiness
Values – The Power of Affirming Your Values
Conversation – Conversation quantity and quality are related to well-being
Wellbeing Practices – Happiness can be learnt, but you have to work at it
Hope – The science of hope: More than wishful thinking

Try Out a Hope Sharing Circle: (or start one yourself!)

Sunday’s from 1:00-3:00pm at the Telegraph Mill at 330 S 21st St., Lincoln, NE 68510

*While we may discuss therapeutic practices that have been shown to be effective at increasing positive mental wellbeing in nonclinical populations like behavioral activation (BA) planning and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a Hope Sharing Circle is not intended to treat mental illness.

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