The online alexithymia questionnaire was developed in 2005 and overcomes some general shortcomings of other questionnaires like Bermond-Vorst or TAS-20. Originally the questionnaire was done by Jason Thompson who intended to have a free alexithymia questionnaire available for the community.
This activity highlights the multiple dimensions of our identities. It addresses the relationships between our desires to self-define our identities and the social constructions that label us regardless of how we define ourselves.
The loss of a sense of one‘s identity is particulary strong in trauma. It may that person view herself as totaly worthless. If trauma was severe and started very early in the childhood one can develop even quite serious identiy disorder. Challenge core beliefs can serve as exploration of own incorporated beliefs, have an innerview to accept or deny them. In that way we are supporting the power of our conscious mind.
Important skill in any of stress management techniques is also meditation or exercise to witness oneself. The benefits of today‘s scientifically proven mindfulness techniques are many. Learning the practical tools is also very helpful when we or someone close to us experiencing trauma and it post effects.
When unpleasant events happen our automatic thoughts fill our mind. In the traumatic event our thoughts actually „kidnap“ our mind and restructure our whole mental course. Experienced and survived trauma leaves profound consequences in our memory and concentration abilities. When unpleasant events happen our automatic thoughts fill our mind. In the traumatic event our thoughts actually „kidnap“ our mind and restructure our whole mental course. Experienced and survived trauma leaves profound consequences in our memory and concentration abilities.
The participants listen to a story from different perspectives: facts, emotions and deeper sense. They practice listening actively and attentively to a person who is speaking and thus developing their communicative and conflict resolution skills.
Stress reaction we inherited from our ancestors because of it’s protective nature. At that time, stress reaction was vital to survival and physical safety. In the classic “fight of flight response” where adrenaline, cortisol and other stress hormones are mediated our predecessors are either defended themselves of flee. We experience the same reactions today. When a stressful event accurs as traumatic, body and brain respond immediately, often with negative emotions. So it‘s good to know how to recognize our external and internal sources of stress.
In this activity, the participants will learn about the perspectives of a person suffering from PTSD.
Posttraumatic stress disorder is one of the long term consequence of psychological traumatisation.Symptoms of PTSD could be a significant burden on everyday functioning within society , on the working place and within the family.
Role play about communication strategies in the support of refugees.
Role play about perception of social group.
Almost everyone has or will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime.
A trauma represents an injury- physical or emotional – to you or to those you love. It is important to know that trauma may be experienced also from witnessing injuries to others. When you experience a traumatic event, there are many reactions you may have. Such a stress can have complex after effects. While it is important to know, learn and build the capacities for resilience.
This activity focuses on practicing the non-violent communication step by step. Non violent communication focuses on strategies, that would allow people to collaborate in meeting the needs of both sides included in a conflict.
A group of participants is divided in two. One plays the role of people in distress while the other group must provide Psychological First Aid (PFA).
This is a short orientation quiz structured by PsyCom free tests, Arnold Lieber, MD. It consist of five questions on intensity of some posttraumatic symptoms.The test can get an assessment on the likelihood that someone is showing signs of post traumatic stress disorder. It indicates how much someone has been bothered by some posttraumatic problem problem in the past month.
Questionnaire secondary traumatization by Dr. Judith Daniels.
Our autonomic nervous system can be overstimulated by trauma. That means that your arrousal levels are chronically high, so they trigger and have serious impact to one‘s body. And the body needs soothing and care, otherwise the body don‘t have the reserve of enough energy to help you to heal. And sleep is an important precursor.
Writing a reflective diary is a powerful self-reflective and self-evaluation tool. Each individual has a different way of keeping a reflective diary. When working with people with PTSD, volunteers and other type of social helpers working in NGO sector, often experience distress. Writing a reflection log is very important tool for monitoring and evaluating own experience.
Group work is a valued working method. The most important is expperiental learning (learning from our experiences and from each other). Such methods are also intervision and supervision. Self assesment method allows members to acquire important information about one another, about their own perception of experiencing oneself and the group as a whole. On this basis interconnectivity and trust are built.
Working closely with trauma and stress clients, burnout is closely related. Burnout is ususaly defined as a condition when individual who works with the client/user becomes emotionally and physically exhausted due to the task permorming.
This activity lets you evaluate emotional overload level form inside-out.
The participants negotiate about who is going to buy the last special orange and thus practice expressing needs and listening to the needs of other people.
Neuroscience researches are showing that with our breath we can biologically regulate the body and the mind and calm the reactive core of the brain. Our breath has a dozen benefits for our helath and overall good mental well-being. When we are upset our breathing changes as well. The good news is that with the regulation and rhythm of our breathing we can influence our too active and aroused sympathetic nervous system, as a result of trauma.
Part of the exercise is to watch a short video (available on YouTube) showing the still face experiment. After viewing, think about how it relates to PFA and/or to personal experiences in crisis situations
The Depth and Breadth of "Multicultural" is designed to engage participants in a process of defining "culture" and examining its complexities. Particularly indicated to work with students.
Plutchik's wheel of emotions identifies 8 basic emotions including joy, trust, fear, surprise, disgust, anger, and anticipation. Combinations of these basic emotions result in advanced emotions, such as optimism, love, submission, awe, disappointment, remorse, contempt, and aggression. This Wheel of Emotions diagram beautifully depicts the relationships between each emotion in the form of a spectrum.
Our autonomic nervous system can be overstimulated by trauma. That means that your arrousal levels are chronically high, so they trigger and have serious impact to one‘s body. And the body needs soothing and care, otherwise the body don‘t have the reserve of enough energy to help you to heal. And sleep is an important precursor.
Participants of this exercise will learn about reasons to flee with the help of a case example focused on one conflict/country to explain the historic background of the conflict, the different actors involved in the conflict and their role, the human rights situation and its consequences for the civilian population, the role of the government and its allies and the attempts to overcome systematic violence.
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