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Practising tools and exercises
SAID ALOUD
Practising tools and exercises
Aim. To learn and practise tools and exercises that will make survivors feel stronger and help them to control their thoughts, body, breathing, feelings and heart.
PART II: THE TRAINING
Trainer. In effect, the Butterfly Woman must tell her body, and her thoughts, feelings, breathing and heart, that she is safe, that her trauma is over. She is a survivor. When she and a helper look at Figure 5 together( The Butterfly Woman gradually healing) and talk about the resources they can draw on, they are finding their way towards the healing process. The Butterfly Woman will begin to develop small plans of her own. She will remember skills and resources and strengths that she had. She will look for new tools to help her manage her life and feel supported in what she does. She will feel that she belongs, that she is no longer alone. She may feel that she is important to the other women who have survived, perhaps to all the women of the world who are overcoming injustice and violence.
For the rest of this session, and tomorrow, we will learn and practice tools that help survivors to stabilise themselves, using the five senses.
Do you remember when the Butterfly Woman had a flashback at the hospital? She was overwhelmed by fear and wanted to flee.
We are going to see what we can say and do, both to help survivors calm themselves when their memories overwhelm them, and to wake themselves up when they lack energy. As helpers, we should practise these skills with the survivor. We also need to check whether the survivor feels different and better afterwards. As in all cultures, we must adapt what we do to our culture. And, since every person is unique, we need to make the tools and exercises as helpful as possible by adapting them to the needs of each survivor.
[ The Trainer writes down five guiding questions.] To discover the effects of these techniques, we can ask these guiding questions:
• What happens in your body?
• What happens to your feelings?
• What happens to your breathing?
• What happens to your thoughts?
• What happens in your heart?
BREAK 15 – 20 MINUTES.