← The Phase 4 guide← The Phase 1 guide
In the room
If this comes up
Practicum is real work with real material, and sometimes more arrives than either of you expected. None of this is a protocol. It is what usually helps, and when to bring someone else in.
Your partner is flooded
More activation than they can stay with: breath going high and fast, tears that keep building, a look of being swept along rather than processing.
- Slow your own voice and breath first. Your nervous system is half of the frame.
- Say what is true and simple: you are here, they are in the room with you, there is no need to go further right now.
- Widen the gaze. Let the eyes come off the spot and take in the room, or move to a resource spot if you have one.
- Bring attention to something orienting: feet on the floor, the weight of the chair, the sound of the room.
- Do not chase the material. Nothing has to be finished.
Your partner goes far away
Flat affect, a long silence that has gone still rather than deep, eyes unfocused, answers that arrive from somewhere else.
- Say their name. Invite them to look at you, and to notice you looking back.
- Ask for something concrete: what colour is the wall, how many windows, what can you hear.
- Movement helps: feet pressing the floor, hands on the arms of the chair, a stretch.
- Come back to the room before you talk about what happened. Debrief afterwards, not in the middle.
- Call a facilitator over. This is a good reason, not an interruption.
Something opens in you as therapist
Your own material can surface while you are in the chair. That is information, not a failure.
- Stay with your partner. Finish the round if you can, and set your own thing aside for a moment.
- Name it afterwards, to your partner, a facilitator, or the group. You do not have to explain the content.
- Take the next round as client if you need it, or take a break instead. Both are fine.
You are on Zoom and something is happening
- Message SooNa. She can bring a facilitator into your breakout immediately.
- Message the host in the Zoom chat. A facilitator can be brought into your breakout immediately.
- If a connection drops mid-process, the person left behind should stay put rather than chase; reconnection is usually seconds.
- Before you begin, agree what you will do if you get separated: who calls whom, and how you close a round early.
When to bring someone in
Any time you are unsure. Facilitators circulate through every practicum and would much rather come over early than hear about it afterwards. Raise a hand in the room, or ask in the Zoom chat.
For anything outside the training day: ruthie@bipocbrainspotting.com.