Mental health and gender-based violence 2016 | Page 101

91
Recovery skills 2 ( continued )
SAID ALOUD
Aim . To practise exercises that strengthen a survivor ’ s awareness of her body , feelings , heart , thoughts , and breathing .
Trainer . Through the story , we can continue to explore useful recovery skills .
The Helper asked the Butterfly Woman : “ Do you feel any difference ?” “ Yes , I do ,” the Woman replied . “ Do you feel more or less overwhelmed ?” “ Less ,” the Woman answered , “ but still not completely here .” “ Then we continue ,” said the helper .
PART II : THE TRAINING
I will show you another exercise the helper believed would help the Butterfly Woman . It is a version of Grounding Exercise 1 , which we did yesterday . It helps us to stay grounded when listening to painful parts of the story . Are you willing to try ?
Grounding Exercise 7 . Feeling the weight of your body . ( 5 minutes .) This exercise helps survivors who are numb and frozen to feel grounded in the present .
• Feel your feet on the ground . Pause there for five seconds .
• Feel the weight of your legs . Hold that for five seconds .
• Try stamping your feet carefully and slowly from left to right , left , right , left , right . Feel your buttocks and thighs touching the seat of the chair . Hold that for five seconds .
• Feel your back against the back of the chair .
• Stay like that and notice if you feel any difference .
GROUNDING EXERCISE
Stop . Notice what you felt and how you feel .
Discussion . How do you feel after Grounding Exercise 7 ? ( 5 minutes .)
DISCUSSION
Trainer . I will go on .
The helper paused and asked : “ Do you feel more present or less present ?” “ Now I feel present ,” the Butterfly Woman replied . The helper said : “ Now you have practised and experienced some recovery skills that you can use when feeling overwhelmed and not present . Your homework now is to practise these skills every day when you feel calm and safe . Then they will become automatic and you can use them when you feel overwhelmed .”
Notice what we did together in each of these exercises . [ The Trainer points to the six points on the facing page .]
These steps are vital when you teach and learn new skills . The final step is to practise them , as the helper did with the Butterfly Woman .