56 Practising the story
TO THE TRAINER
PART II: THE TRAINING
Practising the story
Aim. To show that a story becomes healing when it helps us understand our reactions.
Explain why we say this story is a healing story.
ROLE PLAY EXERCISE
Role Play 2. Retelling the story.
Ask the participants to retell the story in pairs. If time is available, allow the pairs to swap roles so that each participant can experience being a teller and a listener. Give the person who plays the Survivor a scarf, to identify the role she is playing.
After each role play, make sure the participants come out of their roles. Ask them to brush off their role( by physically taking off the scarf and brushing off their clothes and bodies). Ask them to say:“ Now I ´ m no longer the Survivor( or the Helper). I am myself”. They should say their names out loud.
After the role play, ask the Helpers to say what they learned when they told the story to the Survivor; and what the Survivors felt when they listened.
Pay attention to the responses of the participants. If any have survived GBV, they may need to ground themselves during this exercise.
DISCUSSION
Discussion. Use of metaphor.
Reflect together with the participants. Ask them to tell you whether they find the metaphor of the story useful and valuable. If they do not, explore its weaknesses. Should the details of the environment be different? Were the reactions of the Butterfly Woman convincing?
Discuss how the participants would change, embellish and improve the story, if they used it as helpers.
Invite them to find effective ways to discuss the characteristics of the traumas that they come across in their own work, and identify problems that might occur if they used this story in their work context.
It is important to make sure that everyone understands that people react naturally in different ways when they cope with traumatic experiences.
TEACHING SUGGESTION.
After the discussion, take a lunch break. Let the participants stretch their bodies and walk around a little. Before the session restarts, allow time for a grounding and breathing exercise, to get the group back on track.