Who are you? - Emergency Brake

How to use this manual
personal and some times very private. As a facilitator
you have to know this and reflect on how to handle it.
To work on the mental space you have some tools at
your disposal. The first and most important one is you.
This is a tool you have to get to know, and as you are
probably aware this is more easily said, than done.
When you start a process you have to believe/trust that
you can handle what might come out of the process.
You must know how to meet and deal with a child or a
teenager that is so full of emotions that they don’t have
the skills to cope. You are there to help make them feel
secure and make sure that the mental space is tough
enough to hold them as they experience themselves
and others.
The seed of a mental space is planted as soon as you
meet the group for the first time. Make sure that the
soil is fertile by creating a welcoming atmosphere. And
even if you meet for several sessions it is important to
give some time to settle down and prepare yourselves
for work. Check whether there are any questions or
thoughts from the last time or perhaps someone has to
share an important experience.
It is recommended that you warm up a little bit before
moving on to the method. For this there are plenty of
icebreakers you will know from your experience and
from other literature (see the reference section at the
end of this manual for some tips). The important thing
is to start focusing on the work at hand and to warm up
the body and mind. It is recommended that you choose
an icebreaker that is relevant for the method. On the
other hand, sometimes you feel that the group has to
calm down or they have to be energised, perhaps it
is important to work with the group dynamics or with
cooperation, and then of course, you should use an icebreaker
or energizer that works towards this.
When the mental space is established you can start to
work with the methods. It is as important to start an
activity with care, as it is to end it in the same way.
In each method sheet there is a suggested debriefing.
It is composed mainly of questions that can create an
interesting discussion in relation to the activity that has
been played out. In our understanding an activity is
not complete without the debriefing. These questions
are just suggestions and you will also be able to invent
others that fit to your group and the activity. It is very
important to acknowledge what happened in the group,
and what they thought about the activity. You should
always have some sort of evaluation which can help
participants and yourself to look at both the process
and the outcomes – and this can be very useful in
thinking of what action to take in the future. It can
be everything from answering the question ”How was
that?” to an advanced survey. The important thing is
that the group are given the possibility to feedback on
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Introductory part
Page
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