Parenting can be one of the most rewarding and challenging journeys a person can go through. As parents, we are responsible for nurturing, guiding, and shaping the futures of our children, which comes with its own set of complexities from day to day and from family to family. In this article we share the science of hope as a simple and powerful framework for parenting, offering strategies that foster optimism and well-being through the belief that a positive future is possible. Hope is more than just a feeling; it’s a simple, yet science-backed, resource that can transform the way we approach challenges in our children’s lives.
Hope is not about blind optimism, wishful thinking, or a Pollyanna avoidance of difficult situations. As parents, by understanding and applying the simple principles of hope, we can help our children build a hopeful mindset that will serve them for a lifetime. Scientists agree, our ability to hope is one of the strongest predictors of well-being.
The science of hope provides valuable insights into how parents can effectively nurture hope in their children. It is important to understand that hope is a dynamic and learnable skill that plays a critical role in shaping an individual’s ability to overcome challenges and pursue meaningful goals.
In the midst of stress and adversity, a parent can feel isolated and alone. However, a new concept in the science of hope is highlighting the importance of Collective Hope. Collective hope is the belief we have that a family or support group can find the strategies and possess the shared willpower to pursue common goals. Consider a single parent struggling to manage work, household responsibilities, and the emotional needs of their children. Alone, they may feel exhausted and discouraged. But when they are part of a supportive network—whether through extended family, friends, or a community support group—they gain access to shared knowledge, emotional encouragement, and practical solutions that hope is nurtured. Hope is a social gift.
Intentional Strategies To Nurture Hope: Parents and supportive networks can be just as intentional teaching children the skill of hope. Hope consists of three key components—goals, pathways, and willpower—parents can actively support their children in cultivating hope.

1. Help Children Set Meaningful and Achievable Goals
To nurture hope in children, parents can help them identify goals that are meaningful, whether academic, personal, or social.
Strategy:
Encourage your child to think about what they want to achieve in different areas of life and guide them to set specific, realistic, and motivating goals.
Break down larger goals into smaller, manageable steps to help children feel a sense of accomplishment along the way.

2. Cultivate Pathways Thinking

One of the key components of hope theory is the ability to find multiple pathways to achieve a goal. This means that children need to believe they can overcome obstacles and identify various ways to reach their objectives, even if the first attempt doesn’t work out.

Strategy:
Teach your child there is often more than one way to solve a problem. When they face a challenge, guide them to brainstorm different approaches to finding solutions.
Praise efforts in problem-solving, focusing on the process rather than just the outcome. This helps children internalize the idea that persistence and flexibility are important components of hope.
Use everyday situations to model this “pathways thinking” by sharing how you approach challenges and demonstrating how multiple solutions can exist.

3. Foster a Sense of Willpower and Motivation

Parents play a crucial role in building their child’s confidence in their capacity to act and achieve their goals.

Strategy:
Encourage independence and decision-making, offering opportunities for children to take initiative and assume responsibility for their actions.
Remind children of their past successes. Ask them to describe how they overcame barriers to find success.
Celebrate the child’s strengths and progress, helping them to see that their efforts matter and that they have the agency to shape their future.

4. Create an Environment that Encourages Hope
Hope is nurtured best in supportive and safe environments. When children feel loved, supported, and secure, they are more likely to develop hope because they have a foundation of trust and encouragement.

Strategy:
Ensure that your home is a safe space where children can express themselves freely, without fear of judgment or harsh criticism. A supportive environment fosters hope by allowing children to take risks and learn from their experiences.
Model hopeful behavior by connecting goal pursuits in your own life. Demonstrating how you cope with setbacks and continue to work toward your own goals will teach your children the power of perseverance and hope.

5. Engage in Hope-Focused Conversations
Parents can engage their children in discussions about what hope means, why it matters, and how they can use hope to tackle challenges.

Strategy:
Initiate conversations about goals, dreams, and aspirations. Ask open-ended questions like, “What’s something you’re excited to work toward?” or “What’s a problem you think you can solve if you keep trying?”
Create a space for discussing setbacks and reframing them as temporary challenges rather than failures, helping children understand that setbacks don’t mean the end of the road.
Introduce stories or examples of people who overcame adversity, whether from your own life, children’s movies, or literature, to show that hope is a powerful tool in overcoming challenges.

By incorporating these strategies, parents and supportive networks can actively cultivate hope in their children, helping them grow into resilient, optimistic individuals who believe in their ability to navigate life’s challenges. As the research shows, hope is not just an abstract concept—it’s a practical skill that can be nurtured in everyday interactions, shaping the way children approach life and their future. ❦

About the Authors

Chan M. Hellman is a professor at the University of Oklahoma and Director of The Hope Research Center and has published over 100+ research studies. Chan has presented his work on hope with TEDx and has provided invited talks in Europe, United Kingdom, and the Middle East. Chan’s research is focused on hope as a psychological strength helping children and adults overcome trauma and adversity. This research informed the development of the “Hope Centered and Trauma InformedÒ” training program used to promote Hope Centered Organizations. Chan is the co-author of the award-winning book “Hope Rising: How the Science of Hope Can Change Your Life” published by Morgan James. As a result of this work, Chan was one of five invited workshops for Jane Goodall’s Activating Hope Summit (2021). Chan’s work was featured as a main stage presentation at the 2023 American Psychological Association convention. Chan has Co-Founded Hope Rising Oklahoma along with First Lady Sarah Stitt in their effort to make Oklahoma a hope-centered state. Chan’s work on hope has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, American Psychological Association Monitor, CNN, and TIME Magazine. Chan and the Hope Research Center received the 2024 “Building Knowledge Through Research” award by the US Department of Justice.

Dr. Stacy Phillips develops and deploys effective solutions to challenging and systemic crime victimization issues as a Victim Justice Program Specialist with the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) at the U.S. Department of Justice. Levering her more than 20 years of experience in the victim services field, she works collaboratively across OVC’s Discretionary and Human Trafficking Teams to create, implement, and monitor a broad range of programs. Dr. Phillips has spearheaded demonstration initiatives on polyvictimization, reducing child fatalities and recurring serious child injuries, and currently leads OVC’s opioid/drug addiction crisis initiatives. She also oversees Project Hope, a community of practice focused on law enforcement and communities. She also manages projects on crime victims’ rights enforcement and legal wraparound networks, law enforcement-based direct services, post-conviction initiatives, and human trafficking. As a children and youth expert with a focus on trauma, polyvictimization, and brain science, Dr. Phillips represents OVC on the DOJ Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Working Group, Federal Inter-Agency Work Group on Child Abuse and Neglect, the Federal Interagency Task Force on Trauma-Informed Care. She is a sought-out speaker at national conferences and has advised research teams in their development of nationwide toolkits.
Before joining OVC, Dr. Phillips spent 15 years responding to the needs of children and families through the child welfare system. At the DC Child and Family Services Agency, she worked on child and family protective services issues, including grants, program design and management, needs assessment, resource development, and policy development. During this time, she started the DC Parent Advisory Council, served on the Districtwide Children’s Justice Act Task Force, and helped develop the District’s Human Trafficking Task Force. Beforehand, Dr. Phillips served as a Child Protective Services Investigations Supervisor, conducting adoption, foster care, and kinship licensing studies in Texas. She began her career as a Child Protective Services Investigator in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Dr. Phillips holds a Doctorate of Social Work (DSW) from the University of Southern California with a focus on smart decarceration of youth; a certificate in Public Policy from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government; an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Southern Connecticut State University; and an M.S.W. from The Catholic University of America.

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