57
Practising the story
SAID ALOUD
Practising the story
Aim. To show that a story becomes healing when it helps us understand our reactions.
Trainer. I said before the break that the story we are telling you can be a healing story. A story becomes healing when it leads us to understand our reactions and emotions and why people react as they do. In this way, it restores hope and meaning. At that moment it begins to heal.
PART II: THE TRAINING
I want you to retell the story to each other. Remember to use general terms, and include no traumatising details.
Role Play 2. Retelling the story.( 20 minutes.)
Break into pairs for this role play exercise. One of you will be the Helper and the other the Survivor. Do not choose to describe a very complicated or challenging situation. The aim is to learn a new skill. A complex example may be disturbing or may make learning difficult.
ROLE PLAY EXERCISE
Sit facing each other on chairs or on the floor. Say to the Survivor that you want her to listen carefully while you tell her a story about the Butterfly Woman. Then tell her the story in your own words.
Before you start, look at Figure 2 on the wall( the Butterfly Woman, capable and in good health) to help you remember. Make sure you include the Butterfly Woman’ s good life at the start. Encourage the Survivor to listen to you. Enthral her. Persuade her that you want to share something very important with her. The story should calm her heart and should not make her feel bad.( See Section 9 of Part III for examples of role play.)
At the end, the Trainer will tell you to come out of your role. Stand up, stop being the Survivor or the Helper, remove the scarf( if you wear one), brush your role off, and say aloud:“ I am( me)”.
Discussion. Use of metaphor.( 15 minutes.)
DISCUSSION
Discuss what you felt when you told the story. What did you feel when you listened? What happened?
Discuss what happened mentally and physically to the Butterfly Woman. What disappeared after her trauma and what new things appeared? What happened to her body, her heart, her breathing and her thoughts? What happened to her hopes about the future? Can she recall good memories from her past?
Does the metaphor of the Butterfly Woman work? Do you think a survivor will recognise her own reactions in those of the Butterfly Woman? Will she understand that she is not alone?
Do you agree that other women react and feel in the same way the Butterfly Woman does, and that her reactions are natural and often occur after such an experience?
Trainer. We have looked at different reactions to trauma. We saw how the Butterfly Woman tried to flee, wanted to fight, and experienced freezing or numbing. We saw how she tried to play dead and submit, and how all these responses are ways to survive. People and animals respond to fear in similar ways. These are automatic responses to threat. Our bodies make smart use of different responses to survive.