Session 2: B***h session, y’all. Oh, and dental care.
Sept 8, 2017 10:39:31 GMT -5
John Craine, Tanya Munroe, and 2 more like this
Post by sarahck on Sept 8, 2017 10:39:31 GMT -5
Have you ever unloaded over coffee or wine with a friend and felt SO much better afterwards? Putting your concerns, worries, and annoyances into words and saying them out loud, and knowing your buddy heard you and commiserated just HELPS, doesn’t it?
I don’t know why – why do human beings feel so much better knowing that others care about our troubles? Why do we feel even MORE better knowing that someone else has the same complaints? Do y’all know? Because it sometimes feels like we’re super selfish beings to have such a primal need to be heard and know that others are suffering too.
ANYhoo, welcome to Session 2, also known as the session in which patients get to b***h about all the “common discomforts” of being pregnant. I say that like it’s a bad thing, but patients love it. I watch patients’ faces and can see the relief that they get when they sense that this is a place where, not only do we let them complain, but we actively encourage them to, listen, and try to help. I imagine that they’re surrounded by people that don’t want to hear about all these problems, or are tired of hearing about them, or can’t relate. Not the case in Centering! This is the moment at which I think many of them decide they’re going to like Centering, and are willing to come back.
So how do you tackle the Common Discomforts conversation? Here are a couple of ideas, both of which are from the Facilitators’ Guide:
1. Give everyone a discomfort without letting them look at it. Have their colleagues suggest remedies for that discomfort until the person can guess what the discomfort is. You could do this by having patients get up and mill around with the discomfort taped to their back, or in the circle one-at-a-time have their neighbor hold the card over their head and everyone in the group call out suggestions. The milling around can sometimes get loud and disorganized, so I tend to keep everyone seated in the circle and do it the second way.
2. Charades! Give everyone a card and have them take turns acting out their discomfort until the group guesses it. This is a LOT of fun when groups get into it – some of my favorite stories and loudest laughs have come from this. And most of the time it works.
Except, of course, when it doesn’t. Remember, this is only session 2 and it will be the first session for a good many patients. Asking them to get up and act silly in front of strangers is not cool for some of us. Make sure you give them a choice to pass if they need to (although if you open that can o’ worms, most people will try to pass). Also make sure that the facilitators go first, to set the tone that we ain’t gonna judge nobody for their charades skills, this is just a fun game and everyone’s welcome to be as goofy as they wanna be.
I don’t have any other games to add to these – we almost always stick to charades. I will add, however, the four cardinal things to the follow up discussion about each of the common discomforts as they are identified:
1. Who has this discomfort? (Because of aforementioned relief we feel when we realize that we’re not the only ones suffering. Also, it proves to those divas who think they’re the only ones who have ever had a pregnancy discomfort that they’re not so special.)
2. What causes it? (Because understanding the “why” helps with the following)
3. What helps with this? What can you do to alleviate this? (Obvs)
4. When do you worry? When is this no longer a normal discomfort of pregnancy? (To decrease unnecessary triage visits but at the same time let them know when they do need to call or come in. Also, because “WHEN DO I WORRY?” is the dominant theme of pregnancy)
Honestly, most of the Session 2s that I have ever done get completely taken up by this conversation. Don’t get pregnant women STARTED on aches and pains, y’all.
But, we are supposed to also discuss oral health, which is also very important. The Facilitators’ Guide suggests using the Agree/Disagree cards for this, which is fine. I don’t usually use those because they feel kind of dry and dull. If you do use them, please remember to introduce them by saying that there are lots of different ideas and not every question has a clear right and wrong. And, after each statement as people in the group why they agree or disagree, so that you can further the discussion (i.e. don’t just read, have them hold up their cards, and then move on).
I haven’t figured out a more interactive or exciting way to discuss oral health. I usually bring it up by pointing out that there is an association between tooth decay and prematurity and saying “Isn’t that weird?!” And then trying to pull that out into a longer discussion about how, and what to do about it. Any other ideas?
I don’t know why – why do human beings feel so much better knowing that others care about our troubles? Why do we feel even MORE better knowing that someone else has the same complaints? Do y’all know? Because it sometimes feels like we’re super selfish beings to have such a primal need to be heard and know that others are suffering too.
ANYhoo, welcome to Session 2, also known as the session in which patients get to b***h about all the “common discomforts” of being pregnant. I say that like it’s a bad thing, but patients love it. I watch patients’ faces and can see the relief that they get when they sense that this is a place where, not only do we let them complain, but we actively encourage them to, listen, and try to help. I imagine that they’re surrounded by people that don’t want to hear about all these problems, or are tired of hearing about them, or can’t relate. Not the case in Centering! This is the moment at which I think many of them decide they’re going to like Centering, and are willing to come back.
So how do you tackle the Common Discomforts conversation? Here are a couple of ideas, both of which are from the Facilitators’ Guide:
1. Give everyone a discomfort without letting them look at it. Have their colleagues suggest remedies for that discomfort until the person can guess what the discomfort is. You could do this by having patients get up and mill around with the discomfort taped to their back, or in the circle one-at-a-time have their neighbor hold the card over their head and everyone in the group call out suggestions. The milling around can sometimes get loud and disorganized, so I tend to keep everyone seated in the circle and do it the second way.
2. Charades! Give everyone a card and have them take turns acting out their discomfort until the group guesses it. This is a LOT of fun when groups get into it – some of my favorite stories and loudest laughs have come from this. And most of the time it works.
Except, of course, when it doesn’t. Remember, this is only session 2 and it will be the first session for a good many patients. Asking them to get up and act silly in front of strangers is not cool for some of us. Make sure you give them a choice to pass if they need to (although if you open that can o’ worms, most people will try to pass). Also make sure that the facilitators go first, to set the tone that we ain’t gonna judge nobody for their charades skills, this is just a fun game and everyone’s welcome to be as goofy as they wanna be.
I don’t have any other games to add to these – we almost always stick to charades. I will add, however, the four cardinal things to the follow up discussion about each of the common discomforts as they are identified:
1. Who has this discomfort? (Because of aforementioned relief we feel when we realize that we’re not the only ones suffering. Also, it proves to those divas who think they’re the only ones who have ever had a pregnancy discomfort that they’re not so special.)
2. What causes it? (Because understanding the “why” helps with the following)
3. What helps with this? What can you do to alleviate this? (Obvs)
4. When do you worry? When is this no longer a normal discomfort of pregnancy? (To decrease unnecessary triage visits but at the same time let them know when they do need to call or come in. Also, because “WHEN DO I WORRY?” is the dominant theme of pregnancy)
Honestly, most of the Session 2s that I have ever done get completely taken up by this conversation. Don’t get pregnant women STARTED on aches and pains, y’all.
But, we are supposed to also discuss oral health, which is also very important. The Facilitators’ Guide suggests using the Agree/Disagree cards for this, which is fine. I don’t usually use those because they feel kind of dry and dull. If you do use them, please remember to introduce them by saying that there are lots of different ideas and not every question has a clear right and wrong. And, after each statement as people in the group why they agree or disagree, so that you can further the discussion (i.e. don’t just read, have them hold up their cards, and then move on).
I haven’t figured out a more interactive or exciting way to discuss oral health. I usually bring it up by pointing out that there is an association between tooth decay and prematurity and saying “Isn’t that weird?!” And then trying to pull that out into a longer discussion about how, and what to do about it. Any other ideas?