The Science of Hope

Presenters

• John Richardson-LauveFollow

First Presenter's Highest Degree Earned

MSW

Year First Presenter's Degree Was Awarded

1997

First Presenter's Field of Study

Clinical Social Work

Institution Where First Presenter Received Highest Degree

New York University

First Presenter's Institution

St. Joseph's Villa

First Presenter's Brief Bio and Description of Credentials for This Presentation

John Richardson-Lauve is a licensed clinical social worker with over 30 years of experience working in community mental health. He has worked with veterans who were experiencing homelessness in New York City, in a hospice home for those with HIV in the early years of the AIDS crisis, 6 years living together with his wife in a home with 8 teenage girls in foster care, and 10 years as clinical director for a child and adolescent mental health facility specializing in trauma and mental health crisis. His skills include organizational leadership, group training and facilitation, and support after grief, loss, and tragedy. He is the Senior Director of Community Outreach and Trauma-Informed Care Specialist at St. Joseph’s Villa in Richmond, Virginia. He and his wife have an 18-year-old son and have worked with over 50 children in foster care in their home.

Location

Verelst

Document Type

Individual Presentation

Primary Strand

Youth Resiliency

Relevance to Primary Strand

Research has shown that students who can maintain a hopeful mindset perform better in school. The cultivation of hope is created at the intersection of a goal, a pathway, and the agency to move along that pathway. We can engage in intentional and proven strategies to support the growth of hope in our students and support their success.

This link will bring you to research on hope: https://stjosephsvilla.link/HopeResearch

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Student Learning and Development

Brief Program Description

The science of hope allows us to both measure and cultivate hope in students. Research shows that this nonclinical intervention allows us to support student success in a myriad of outcomes. Hope is more than optimism or naivete, but is the intersection of clear and obtainable goals, a pathway to achieve them, and the agency to move along that path. In this workshop we will explore tools to measure hope as well as ways we can grow hope in our students (and ourselves).

Summary

Based on the work of Dr. Rick Snyder and colleagues, the science of hope is well researched. Hope is the intersection of a goal along with the willpower (agency) and the waypower (pathway) to achieve the goal. Hope is measurable and teachable. In this workshop we will go through the fundamentals of hope theory, a variety of evidence-based tools to measure hope, and practical strategies to cultivate hope in our students. Through interactive engagement, workshop participants will be the ones to make the case that those with hope have better outcomes, therefore growing hope is a way to promote student success.

Evidence

Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J. R., Holleran, S. A., Irving, L. M., Sigmon, S. T., et al.(1991). The will and the ways: Development and validation of an individual-differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 570-585.

Bonanno, G. A., Galea, S., Bucciarelli, A., & Vlahov, D. (2006). Psychological resilience after disaster: New York City in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attack. Psychological Science, 17(3), 181-186. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01682.x

The Psychology of Hope, authored by Dr. Rick Snyder.

Learning Objective 1

Learn and articulate the three fundamental elements that define hope.

Learning Objective 2

Measure hope in tools both self-report as well as completed by a caregiver or close adult.

Learning Objective 3

Understand the fundamentals of hope cultivation.

Start Date

6-1-2026 10:15 AM

End Date

6-1-2026 11:30 AM

Recommended Citation

Richardson-Lauve, John, "The Science of Hope" (2026). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 3.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2026/2026/3

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.