Brain science research shows that activating positive emotional states is the fastest route to instilling hope, spurring motivation, and empowering our clients. But how do you help clients access resourceful states when they’re feeling hopeless and helpless?

In the following video, trauma specialist and author Courtney Armstrong explains her approach.

In her Networker article, Armstrong says she treads carefully "before inviting the client to work together to transform a symptom, whose painfulness I always validate, into a quality that increases their sense of power, competence, and purpose... It may be hard for us to recognize that clients’ symptoms can reveal the path to healing," she continues, "but if we look and listen carefully, we may find that it doesn’t take a detective to uncover their greatest strengths. Often they’re hiding in plain sight.