Lesson 393

It is all about feeling safe….’cultural safety’ is everything in terms of importance in our work. This is what a recent experience in a very unsafe environment has taught me.

Williams (1999) wrote…”an environment that is spiritually, socially and emotionally safe, as well as physically safe for people, where there is no assault challenge or denial of their identity, of who they are and what they need. It is about shared respect, shared meaning, shared knowledge and experience of learning together”

I am so grateful Alison, through her Masters designed by Professor Judy Atkinson, has made us very aware of cultural safety…that we have transferred this in an acutely intentional way into our workshops and into our lives…learning to walk our talk so that all people can feel safe and nurtured around us.

Alison has now laminated the below guidelines for us all in our workshops…

Six stages of Healing

 

1. Creating a culturally safe environment – Honesty, Respect, Integrity, Confidentiality, and Safety.

Honesty and Integrity – always speak your truth, and only share what level you are comfortable with at the time.

Respect – kind and considerate to yourself and to others in the group; be mindful to hold each other in unconditional positive regard…when speaking about another in the group, no naming, blaming or shaming.

Confidentiality – what is shared is the group, stays in the group. The part that can be shared and expressed is your own experience, and how you were impacted upon or triggered by another and what was your learning from that. Confidentiality is a sacred contract … “I have confidence in your ability to hold my sacredness and you have confidence in my ability”.

 

2. Finding and telling your stories, “everyone has a story, everyone deserves to be heard, everyone deserves to heal” Storytelling is a healing ritual from our collective Indigenous pasts. It is through deep listening and witnessing of the story that allows the storyteller to go deeper into their story and bring up the deep feelings.

 

3. Feeling the feelings, this is a time when we might ‘feel’ something for the first time, it is like ‘the quickening’, simply acknowledge them, give voice to them and allow the process to continue.

 

4. Making sense of the story, the more you give yourself space to process and others hold the space and support you, the more sense and meaning will be given to your story.

 

5. Being prepared to work through the multiple layers of loss and grief to acceptance…a true commitment to fully sitting in the fire to be transformed.

 

6. Reclaiming the sacred in the self. This is developed through the closeness of sharing.

Circle work is about deep listening and quiet still awareness, combined with a deep respect for each other’s stories. Always remember to honour others and acknowledge that everyone’s process is different, but just as important.

“I am no better or lesser than anyone”