Weaving the Threads of Fear and Hope

Ania Smolka & Annie Bordeleau

Introduction

Fear and hope are powerful forces that shape how individuals and organisations respond to change. In Solution Focused practice, we often lean into the energy of hope, exploring what’s possible, what’s working, and what we want more of. Yet fear also carries valuable energy. It signals what’s at stake, clarifies what matters most, and prompts us to prepare and protect. The real art lies not in choosing between them, but in holding both as part of the same landscape of human experience.

In this session, Annie and Ania invited the audience to explore how Solution Focused practitioners can work with the polarity of fear and hope by harnessing the energy within the struggle to fuel the momentum of hope.

Participants playfully experienced how stories of the future can be woven through the tension between these two forces in solution-focused conversations. Together, the facilitators unpacked this “weaving experiment” to further examine how to navigate the polarity with skill and empathy, so that both fear and hope become catalysts for meaningful, sustainable change.

As practitioners, we can be tempted to bypass fear, rushing toward the clarity of hope or the vision of a preferred future. But what if, instead of avoiding fear, we chose to integrate it, using its energy to enrich the conversation? This begins with a gentle shift: acknowledging struggle with empathy whilst opening the space with SF questions. Asking “What helps you get through moments like these?”, “If …(the fear) could talk, what would it be warning you about, and how might you respond to that wisely?” or “What would be a small sign that things are beginning to shift?” reconnects clients with their inner resources, past successes, and emerging possibilities. In this way, agency arises from the tension between fear’s grounding roots and hope’s unfolding wings.

Intertwining fear and hope is just one example of how Solution Focused practice embraces the interplay of polarities to craft new, empowering narratives, stories that transform tension into movement, meaning, and renewed possibility. This session might gently challenge a familiar SF instinct: the rush toward hope. Instead, it invites you to pause, linger, and even use the dynamic tension between the two, tapping into the full energy each offers.

As you watch, notice how this balance can open richer conversations, deeper connections, and more sustainable change. Enjoy (and don’t miss the surprising ending!)