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Before starting :
• Always remember to invite the survivor to participate in a grounding exercise . Let it be an open invitation . If he does not feel ready to participate in an exercise , respect his wish . Remember that some survivors may me triggered by certain types of grounding exercises that suggest closing one ’ s eyes or concentrating on certain senses .
• Always invite the survivor to participate in an initial exercise . Leave it as an open invitation .
• If he does not feel ready to participate , respect his wishes .
• Make an agreement that he can stop the exercise , so that he has a retreat option .
• Let the survivor decide where you ( the helper ) sit and how close you can be .
HELP AND ACTION
ROLE PLAY EXERCISE
Explain to the survivor that , when he does basic exercises , he should :
• Choose a moment and a place in which he feels peaceful and safe .
• Be calm and ready to learn something new .
• Practise over and over again for a long period of time .
Role play to practise helping a survivor who has been triggered to return into the window of tolerance
This role play can be used to practise how to ground a survivor who is overwhelmed by his emotions . Ask a colleague to play the role of the survivor . Choose a trauma response and an initial grounding exercise ( in Appendix 1 ) that is appropriate to help the survivor return into the “ window of tolerance ”. By doing such grounding exercises , you as a helper can become familiar with what helps to bring a survivor down into his window or up into his window . Remember to physically brush off your roles and return to being yourselves when the role play is over . Discuss your experience of being in the role of a helper or a survivor . What worked well and what would you possibly do differently ?
Help to identify and manage triggers
If triggers are ignored , they are likely to become more frequent and intense . It is therefore important for survivors to :
• Identify triggers .
• Become familiar with them .
• Understand how they react to them .
Nevertheless , survivors will sometimes want to avoid or limit their exposure to triggers , in order to manage daily life and stay within their “ tolerance window ”. To do this , they can , for example , remove objects that tend to trigger them , or avoid certain situations . If crowded supermarkets scare a survivor , he can choose to shop when the supermarket is less busy .
However , survivors must also deal with reality . If they can teach themselves not to fear objects or situations that are triggering , they can begin to come to terms with their past and start to live more fully in the present .
Predict triggers or situations that are triggering : planning
When survivors are familiar with their triggers , they can foresee trigger situations and put in place strategies to manage them .