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Recovery skills 2( continued)
TO THE TRAINER
PART II: THE TRAINING
Aim. To practise exercises and skills( including alternatives) that strengthen awareness of the here and now.
After teaching several exercises, it may be useful to rehearse them or do some alternative exercises, to establish what the participants find most helpful. Make sure they feel they are acquiring skills and techniques they can use in their work with survivors and that they can do the exercises themselves. They need to feel confident that they can deal with triggers and overwhelming feelings, and assist survivors to reconnect with the here and now.
Remind the participants that repetition and practice are essential.
KEY POINT
The story shows that
• If one grounding exercise does not work, you can try another.
GROUNDING EXERCISE
Grounding Exercise 8. Straightening the back. Lead the exercise yourself.
Ask the participants to collapse their chest and upper back. Ask them to notice how this affects their breathing, their feelings, their bodies and their thoughts. Ask them to say:“ I’ m so happy!” several times while being in a collapsed position. Ask them if the statement matches their inner state at that moment. Then ask them slowly to lengthen their spine until it feels comfortable. Ask them to notice how this affects their breathing, their feelings, their bodies and their thoughts. Ask them to say the sentence:“ I’ m so sad”. Ask them if this sentence matches their inner state at that moment.
This exercise shows how directly our bodies can affect our state of mind. It will help the participants to become more aware of survivors’ body posture and how it can affect the healing process. We carry ourselves with our spines. Collapsing our spine can be the body’ s reaction to danger, and it can affect our posture. By changing our posture we give ourselves new strength and can more easily contain and manage our experiences. It is as though we offer ourselves a stronger back and reconnect with our bodily resources.
Give the participants a chance to comment on the exercise.