"I don't know what people mean when they say they feel happy."
"I've been afraid my whole life."
"I can't imagine what it's like to not be depressed."

These statements have been made to me by people who have never known a moment of peace or joy in their lives. They survive each day knowing it will be another day of misery, and yet they persevere. The people who uttered the statements above are not without hope, though, or they would never have walked through my door. Their emotional responses, their thoughts, and their behaviors have become entrenched, and they see themselves not as whole human beings, but as wounded, barely functioning ones. The first thing I can offer them is hope of feeling better through changes in what they do and how they think. Hope for change is itself a powerful weapon.