40 The Butterfly Woman. Her good life.
TO THE TRAINER
PART II: THE TRAINING
The Butterfly Woman. Her good life.
Aim. To introduce the Butterfly Woman story and the five focus areas.
This will be the first mention of the Butterfly Woman. Signal that this story plays an important narrative part in the training. Invite the participants to engage with the story.
In addition, draw their attention to the five focus areas – her thoughts, her feelings, her breathing, her heart, and her body – because these are highlighted not only in the story but in many exercises and discussions during the training. They are‘ points of entry’ into problems and reactions that often emerge in the life of people who are traumatised.
Post the five focus areas on the wall where they are easily seen, and leave them there throughout the workshop. This will help you to use the flipchart for drawing as the story develops.
Emphasise that the story is a metaphor. It can be understood as a description of the course that a trauma takes. It shows what usually happens to a person after extreme stress. After describing her life before the event, it shows her survival reactions when the trauma happens, and her physical and mental reactions in the middle and longer term. These responses are described more formally in Part III.
Underline that people may react in different ways: the story provides a description of frequent patterns of reactions following trauma. Similarly, the interventions described are examples of possible approaches and tools for helping survivors to recover control and hopefully, after a while, some sense of dignity.
It is important throughout to emphasise that the story is used figuratively, to illustrate what happens after severe violations.
Begin with the good life the Butterfly Woman enjoys, because it is important to show she has good memories to reconnect to.
TEACHING INSTRUCTION.
The characteristics of the Butterfly Woman that are presented in the manual may not necessarily match expectations of appearance or behaviour in the region where the training occurs. If this is so, find locally appropriate descriptions. Your listeners will want to feel that the story is about real life,‘ about us’. To motivate and inspire, it should echo the culture and social norms and behaviour of those who are listening. Change and modify the story as you see fit, so that it makes sense to your audience.