Moving From Despair To Hope
My Reflection After Seeing the Film, The Correspondent
On 31 March 2025, I attended the Q&A and Special Introduction preview screening of the the film, The Correspondent.
Based on the true story of Australian war correspondent Peter Greste's imprisonment in Egypt in 2013. Staring the Australian actor Richard Roxburgh who plays Peter Greste.
I share my reflections on the film's central issue of injustice and how Peter moves constantly between despair and hope.
I talk about what psychologist Martin Seligman and neuroscientist Steven Maier discovered called the “hope circuit” in the brain. They highlight that optimism can be learned. Pessimism and helplessness are default responses to stress, but by practicing optimism, we can “light up” this hope circuit in the medial prefrontal cortex.
Franco Greco
Your Psychologist Elsternwick