Hope in the Age of Anxiety

Economic collapse, poverty, disease, natural disasters, the constant threat of community unrest and international terrorism--a quick look at any newspaper is enough to cause almost anyone to feel trapped and desperate. Yet the recent election also revealed a growing search for hope spreading through society. In the timely Hope in the Age of Anxiety, Anthony Scioli and Henry Biller illuminate the nature of hope and offer a multitude of techniques designed to improve the lives of individuals, and bring more light into the world.
In this fascinating and humane book, Scioli and Biller reveal the ways in which human beings acquire and make use of hope. Hope in the Age of Anxiety is meant to be a definitive guide. The evolutionary, biological, and cultural roots of hope are covered along with the seven kinds of hope found in the world's religions. Just as vital, the book provides many personal tools for addressing the major challenges of the human condition: fear, loss, illness, and death. Some of the key areas illuminated in Hope in the Age of Anxiety:

How do you build and sustain hope in trying times?

How can hope help you to achieve your life goals?

How can hope improve your relationships with others?

How can hope aid your recovery from trauma or illness?

How does hope relate to spirituality?

Hope in the Age of Anxiety identifies the skills needed to cultivate hope, and offers suggestions for using these capacities to realize your life goals, support health and healing, strengthen relationships, enhance spirituality, and inoculate yourself against the despair that engulfs many individuals.

Customer Reviews:

full of surprises

By Dale Floody "Balanced Positive Psychology" - September 12, 2009

To be honest, I thought this book started out a little slow, but I was soon pleased by a series of nice surprises. Focusing on hope and its correlates (including faith, spirituality, and values), the authors tap a very wide variety of resources (including literature, films, philosophy, music, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and religion). Fundamentals of a variety of belief systems are artfully woven throughout the book, including but not limited to Christianity, Buddhism, African, Australian aboriginal tribes, Aztec, and Native American beliefs. Their definition of hope includes a four-channel emotional network of mastery, attachment, survival, and spiritual subsystems. Fairly heavy reading at times, this book is not a simplistic self-help book, although self-help recommendations are among the pleasant surprises that keep appearing. There is a prolonged and interesting discussion of the development of a sense of hope, faith and spirituality, as well as a chapter dealing... read more

Hope Springs Eternal

By Witchwriter - January 25, 2010

It perhaps is an understatement to say that our lives are suffused with hope. We hope our next interview will land us a job; we hope our children will do well in school; we hope the lump we discover isn't what we fear it may be. It's hard to go through a single day in which we don't hope for one thing or another.

But what is hope? Is it merely a convenient way of describing an optimistic outlook on life or perhaps a spiritual inclination shared by the world's religions? Is it just a word publishers use to promote self-help books? Perhaps hope is nothing more than a poetic metaphor or, in the words of Emily Dickinson, "the thing with feathers....that perches in the soul."

Scioli and Biller set out to explore the deeper meaning of hope by delving into its philosophic, spiritual and developmental roots. It is an ambitious undertaking but they are up to the task and have produced a masterful work that illuminates the various ways hope operates in our day-to-day... read more

A major achievement

By Rodney J. Hunter - July 28, 2010

Hope in an Age of Anxiety is a major scholarly achievement. Scioli and Biller have carefully examined an immense range of literature on the nature of hope and hoping, from traditional philosophical, religious and psychological sources to the most contemporary psychological theories and studies, and have pulled it all together into a powerful, comprehensive theory, from which they also draw down-to-earth practical implications and suggestions. Especially illuminating for me were their tripartate theory of human motivation, which serves as a foundation for the book, and the astute discussions of the relation of hope to both fear and despair, though many other topics are also covered with similar insight and authority. Initially, I found portions of the book tough going, somewhat pedestrian, and even simple-minded (though this was a misjudgment); I had to read it twice to fully grasp and appreciate its depth, unity, and overall accomplishment. But it was well worth the effort, and I... read more