76 Introducing recovery skills
TO THE TRAINER
PART II: THE TRAINING
Introducing recovery skills
Aims. To deepen the group’ s understanding of the helper’ s role. To bridge today’ s discussion with earlier discussions.
This session connects earlier discussions of helpers’ qualities to learning new skills and exercises. If the group worked very actively on the first day, shorten the exercise, for instance by skipping Figure 6 and simply adding new elements to the original Helper( Figure 1) drawn on Day 1.
DISCUSSION
Discussion. The qualities of a helper in your society.
Ask the participants to break up into small groups. Give them time to discuss the role of a helper. Then invite them to share what they have said with everyone in plenary.
EXERCISE
Exercise 7. The qualities of a helper in your society.
Draw a new Helper on the flip chart. The new Helper is culture-specific. List her important qualities – both the qualities mentioned in earlier discussions and those identified during the Exercise. Tell the group that the drawing is a useful reminder of the skills that helpers need.
How can knowledge of the human rights-based approach become a useful asset?
Ask the participants to make a copy of the drawing and hang it in their workplace( or another place they choose) to remind them of the Helper’ s qualities.
Draw Figure 4. The Butterfly Woman experiences triggers and flashbacks some time after the trauma. At first, draw the Butterfly Woman without antennae or ground below her feet.
Write down a list of her symptoms.( She feels alone, is in inner darkness, her heart is asleep, she has bad thoughts and nightmares, she is afraid, angry, hopeless, says“ I am bad”,“ I am dirty”, etc.).
DISCUSSION
Discussion. Responding to a survivor’ s needs.
Develop a scenario. The survivor is seeking help and begins to talk about how she feels. Ask the participants to say how they have responded in such situations. Get them to talk about their personal meetings with survivors. What is their experience? Can they share it?
Add their answers to the list.