For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahveh, thoughts of shalom (peace), and not of evil, to give you tov (good) tiqvah (hope) in the end. “Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 29:11”

When I thought about a name for my therapy practice, one of my favorite verses in scripture came to mind (Jeremiah) 29:11. Like many of us, I often quote it to myself. When I learned the Hebrew word tiqvah and what it really means, the verse took on a whole new meaning. The English translation of the verse uses the phrase “to give you a good and expected end.” The word expected is translated from the Hebrew word tiqvah. However, the Hebrew word tiqvah isn’t limited to just “expected” or “hope.” It’s hard to hope or expect something when you don’t know what to hope or expect for.

The Hebrew word tiqvah comes from a root verb qavah (kä·vä), which means, “to hope, to expect, to wait or look eagerly for, to lie in wait for, to wait and linger for, to collect, bind together.” Tiqvah literally means, “to expect and wait for a particular outcome.” If we look at the meanings of the Hebrew characters which spell the Hebrew word tiqvah, then we understand what hope it is we are to expect. Tiqvah is spelled with the Hebrew characters Tav, Qoph, Vav, Ha. The Hebrew character Tav means, “the total sum of truth and perfection.” The Hebrew character Qoph means, “holiness and growth cycle.” The Hebrew character Vav means, “to add completion and redemption.” The Hebrew character Ha means, “to reveal life and light, through the breath inside of you.” In Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 29:11, Yahveh says that He has a plan for each one of us and that plan includes giving us tiqvah in the end.

The Hebrew characters teach us that all our worrying and fretting about how things are going to turn out is pointless because Yahveh has given us something to eagerly look for. He has given us the expectation of truth and perfection. He has given us the expectation of holiness and growth. He has given us the expectation of completion and redemption through His One and Only Son Yahshua. He has given us the expectation of Breath, which is His Holy Spirit on the inside of each of us. The excitement of that is the definition of hope. Bringing a genuine sense of hope and optimism into the therapy process is of the greatest importance in my work with clients. It’s important to remember that therapy is often the last resort for people who are struggling. By the time they land in our therapy room, they have exhausted other resources. When all other attempts fall short, the idea that things can actually improve, stories can be re-written, or inner peace and healing can be achieved is severely tested and pessimism is likely to set in. Therefore, the onus is often on the therapist to hold a sense of hope. Fortunately, there is Tiqvah I can infuse in the therapy process with the notion that there is truly a light at the end of the tunnel—and it’s not an oncoming train!

“You can’t rewrite your history, but you can change the story your future tells, and it’s beautiful”