Erickson's The Life Cycle Completed

Most of the resources that I have consulted for this paper have agreed that hope bears great potential for the treatment and healing of those affected by trauma. That being said, there is still no consensus on what exactly hope is and how it is helpful. For too long the topic of hope has been reduced to an afterthought or an implicit factor in the treatment of those afflicted with trauma. Perhaps the reason that hope has been neglected is that many professionals do not know how to quantify or measure; or perhaps it is because the very word brings up religious connotations that health care professionals are hesitant to deal with. In any event, hope must be given a proper treatment if health care professionals are going to understand it and utilize
In the most general sense, flourishing is a process in which an individual is stimulated in the activities of life in such a way that the individual feels fulfilled and expressive of their individuality. This idea of flourishing has drawn upon the ideas of numerous professionals in the field, but Erik Erikson specifically comes to mind. Erikson is known for his influential The Life Cycle Completed which explains the various stages of the human life cycle. According to Erikson each stage of life features a psychosocial crisis for each individual that—depending on how the individual manages—shapes future interactions. The psychosocial crisis that affects young adults is the struggle between intimacy and isolation. Erikson writes of intimacy, “Young adults emerging from the adolescent search for a sense of identity can be eager and willing to fuse their identities in mutual intimacy and to share them with individuals who, in work, sexuality, and friendship promise to prove complementary.” This is to say that our identities as young adults are not yet fully formed and that going forward our relationships go a long way in helping us define who we are. The antithesis to intimacy is isolation, which manifests itself as the fear of remaining disconnected and disassociated from others. Without relationships, it is hard for us to know who we are and who we are going to be. This is particularly challenged for people afflicted by trauma as trauma often times has a catastrophic impact on personal relationships. In order for a traumatized person to flourish they will need to piece together a sense of their own identity and cast a vision of a hopeful future for themselves. This process must include a rebuilding and reformulating of relationships. As someone who has experienced family trauma as a child, group therapy and counseling has had a tremendous impact on my flourishing. It was in the context