Session 8 - Feelings, nothing more than feeeeeeeeelings...
Oct 4, 2017 9:39:23 GMT -5
John Craine, amydonaldson63, and 1 more like this
Post by sarahck on Oct 4, 2017 9:39:23 GMT -5
Openers – in the Facilitators’ Guide they suggest a kind of kick-counts-guided-meditation activity. Usually at this point we know each other pretty well so I often do something less meaningful like “favorite thing to eat at Thanksgiving” or “Favorite thing about summer” etc.
FEELINGS
In the Facilitators’ Guide there is a nice activity using the Feelings Dice that come in the Leaders’ Kit. I have never done this with a group, but seen workshop participants use it in a mock session. I like the way it gets patients to think about how their feelings may not be what they expect them to be or have felt in the past.
We have made cards with one of these emotions on them (for some of them I have made multiple cards with that emotion on them, because they’re so common).
Excited
Warm
Confident
Proud
Worried
Loving
Loved Unsure
Ready
Not ready
Scared
Nervous
Happy
Angry
Secure
Comfortable
Lonely
Attractive
Confident
Sad
Uncertain
I lay out the cards and the facilitator reads a statement (one at a time) from the Moms’ Notebook and the participants all pick a card (or cards) that fill the statement for them. Or, make up a new one if needed. And we go around the circle and tell each other what we picked and why.
This may be my favorite activity that we do in the entire Centering world. We have spent so many sessions together at this point that people often feel comfortable talking with each other more honestly and openly. And yet, we learn a lot about people here. It’s a very bonding experience, and often very moving. I love love love doing this.
There are also the postpartum depression continuum cards, which are really nice. I caution groups before we do it, though, that this isn’t a precise continuum – everyone’s symptoms may be different and the stages of the continuum aren’t neat and precise in real life.
POSTPARTUM ADJUSTMENT
In the Facilitators’ Guide there is an activity around the different demands on a mom postpartum, involving a bathrobe. I use this sometimes and it works well. Sometimes it makes the robe-wearer self-conscious to have everyone looking at her and plucking things off her, so choose someone who can handle it.
We also have a postpartum physical adjustment box. Here’s what it has in it:
Sitz bath*
Peribottle*
Perineal coldpack*
Dermaplast*
Breastpump*
Giant mesh underpants*
Colace
Ibuprofen
Maxipads
Water bottle
Tissues
Lanolin
Frozen peas
Breast pads
(*We got these items from our hospital.)
We pass around the box and everyone takes something from it. I introduce the topic by saying, “These are things that you might need to take care of yourself (not your baby, we’re talking about YOU right now) after you come home from the hospital.” And then we go around the circle and talk about what everyone has and why.
I find this activity extremely helpful, particularly most patients are moaning and complaining incessantly at this point about the aches and pains of late pregnancy and how much they want to go into labor and get it over with. This is a great REALITY CHECK, that unfortunately there are still aches and pains afterwards and maybe they shouldn’t be in such a rush to expect that having the baby is going to fix everything.
Also, I can use the tissues to bring up the postpartum depression discussion and often don’t even need to do the postpartum continuum cards.
FEELINGS
In the Facilitators’ Guide there is a nice activity using the Feelings Dice that come in the Leaders’ Kit. I have never done this with a group, but seen workshop participants use it in a mock session. I like the way it gets patients to think about how their feelings may not be what they expect them to be or have felt in the past.
We have made cards with one of these emotions on them (for some of them I have made multiple cards with that emotion on them, because they’re so common).
Excited
Warm
Confident
Proud
Worried
Loving
Loved Unsure
Ready
Not ready
Scared
Nervous
Happy
Angry
Secure
Comfortable
Lonely
Attractive
Confident
Sad
Uncertain
I lay out the cards and the facilitator reads a statement (one at a time) from the Moms’ Notebook and the participants all pick a card (or cards) that fill the statement for them. Or, make up a new one if needed. And we go around the circle and tell each other what we picked and why.
This may be my favorite activity that we do in the entire Centering world. We have spent so many sessions together at this point that people often feel comfortable talking with each other more honestly and openly. And yet, we learn a lot about people here. It’s a very bonding experience, and often very moving. I love love love doing this.
There are also the postpartum depression continuum cards, which are really nice. I caution groups before we do it, though, that this isn’t a precise continuum – everyone’s symptoms may be different and the stages of the continuum aren’t neat and precise in real life.
POSTPARTUM ADJUSTMENT
In the Facilitators’ Guide there is an activity around the different demands on a mom postpartum, involving a bathrobe. I use this sometimes and it works well. Sometimes it makes the robe-wearer self-conscious to have everyone looking at her and plucking things off her, so choose someone who can handle it.
We also have a postpartum physical adjustment box. Here’s what it has in it:
Sitz bath*
Peribottle*
Perineal coldpack*
Dermaplast*
Breastpump*
Giant mesh underpants*
Colace
Ibuprofen
Maxipads
Water bottle
Tissues
Lanolin
Frozen peas
Breast pads
(*We got these items from our hospital.)
We pass around the box and everyone takes something from it. I introduce the topic by saying, “These are things that you might need to take care of yourself (not your baby, we’re talking about YOU right now) after you come home from the hospital.” And then we go around the circle and talk about what everyone has and why.
I find this activity extremely helpful, particularly most patients are moaning and complaining incessantly at this point about the aches and pains of late pregnancy and how much they want to go into labor and get it over with. This is a great REALITY CHECK, that unfortunately there are still aches and pains afterwards and maybe they shouldn’t be in such a rush to expect that having the baby is going to fix everything.
Also, I can use the tissues to bring up the postpartum depression discussion and often don’t even need to do the postpartum continuum cards.