No Hope, No Strength

When I was studying counseling, there was one thing that kept on coming back, again and again. They told us, that when someone sits down across from you, the first thing you look for is not the solution to the problem but if they have hope. Does this person believe that God can help them? Not in general, but in this specific situation. Because if they don't, then no matter how many things you give them to do, they won't move. So what they taught us is that you don't start with homework. You start with hope.