CHI's communications team goes into the field!
Oct 2, 2015 15:19:40 GMT -5
John Craine, Tanya Munroe, and 1 more like this
Post by ssweeny on Oct 2, 2015 15:19:40 GMT -5
Shannon here from Centering Healthcare Institute's (CHI) communications team! Along with Shannon Sullivan from CHI, I had the pleasure of traveling up to Lebanon, NH to Dartmouth Hitchcock to observe two CenteringPregnancy® groups and take some photos and quotes for some of our upcoming projects. I was excited and nervous because I didn’t want us to be intrusive but in the two years I have worked for CHI I have never been able to see a group in action and I was beyond excited.
We drove up to beautiful Lebanon, NH and walked into this incredible Women’s Resource Center where the Centering® space was. The room was an actual circle! The wall was rounded and it was full of yoga balls, comfortable chairs, healthy snacks and everything a Centering room should be. We were able to meet the women that ran the center and the co-facilitators for the Centering groups, they were welcoming and so enthusiastic about Centering.
The moms and partners started filtering in, this was their eighth session so they were pretty far along in their pregnancy. Almost every mom had a partner come with her, everyone was incredibly engaged and the families had a bond and trust in the group. They trusted one another to ask personal questions, they all participated; they were all a mix of excitement and nervousness and shared this safe space in their Centering group. This was so much more than they would have ever gotten in a one-on-one visit.
When asked what they would do if they ever felt down after they gave birth one mom said, “well I’d call these guys!” She was referring to her new Centering friends. One of the facilitators, Steph, expressed how much of a difference Centering has made on the patients. “These families would never know each other otherwise; it’s incredible to see the relationships they build.”
The facilitator, Jess, used the facilitative leadership like I have never seen before. She let the group chime in before she ever answered a question, even though she always knew the answer. She made sure to engage with every member of the group and made them all feel heard and welcomed. What I like to call a Centering Superstar!
Each one of these families reenergized me about my work and reminded me how amazing our practice sites are. The work they are doing makes me want to work even that much harder to spread Centering to every practice and I cannot wait to go back for the reunion!
We drove up to beautiful Lebanon, NH and walked into this incredible Women’s Resource Center where the Centering® space was. The room was an actual circle! The wall was rounded and it was full of yoga balls, comfortable chairs, healthy snacks and everything a Centering room should be. We were able to meet the women that ran the center and the co-facilitators for the Centering groups, they were welcoming and so enthusiastic about Centering.
The moms and partners started filtering in, this was their eighth session so they were pretty far along in their pregnancy. Almost every mom had a partner come with her, everyone was incredibly engaged and the families had a bond and trust in the group. They trusted one another to ask personal questions, they all participated; they were all a mix of excitement and nervousness and shared this safe space in their Centering group. This was so much more than they would have ever gotten in a one-on-one visit.
When asked what they would do if they ever felt down after they gave birth one mom said, “well I’d call these guys!” She was referring to her new Centering friends. One of the facilitators, Steph, expressed how much of a difference Centering has made on the patients. “These families would never know each other otherwise; it’s incredible to see the relationships they build.”
The facilitator, Jess, used the facilitative leadership like I have never seen before. She let the group chime in before she ever answered a question, even though she always knew the answer. She made sure to engage with every member of the group and made them all feel heard and welcomed. What I like to call a Centering Superstar!
Each one of these families reenergized me about my work and reminded me how amazing our practice sites are. The work they are doing makes me want to work even that much harder to spread Centering to every practice and I cannot wait to go back for the reunion!
