94 Recovery skills 2 ( continued )
TO THE TRAINER
PART II : THE TRAINING
Aim . To use role play to integrate exercise skills .
The group has practised different exercises that help to calm or re-energise a survivor who is dysregulated .
A survivor is dysregulated when her emotional responses are poorly regulated ; her emotional state is labile and she has mood swings . This often occurs when a person is overwhelmed ( hyperactivated ) or very low ( hypo-activated ), or swings between both states . For more information , see The window of tolerance on pages 72-73 .
To fully integrate these skills , helpers need to practise them , as they would with survivors . Role play is one way to do this .
ROLE PLAY EXERCISE
Role play 5 . Calming triggered survivors , energising under-active survivors .
Divide the participants into pairs and ask one to play the Helper and the other a survivor . Ask them to practise some of the exercises . Invite the participant who plays the Survivor to pretend to be in a triggered or a passive state .
At the end , make sure to tell the participants to come out of their roles . Ask them to brush off the person they were acting , and to say aloud : “ I am no longer the Helper or the Survivor , I am [ me ]”.
DISCUSSION
Discussion . Sharing experience after Role Play Exercise 5 . Questions might include :
• What kind of grounding exercise did you use and why ?
• Did you observe any reactions ? What kind ?
• With a human rights-based approach in mind , what would you do if a survivor is not willing to participate ?