Practicing When It's Easier

practice

Maybe you were around for the final week in our series Care IQ where Melissa Lock, Verlyn Hemmen, and Chris Lillehei helped us move from our Care IQ learnings into practicing and reflecting. Melissa and I also recently recorded a Scraps podcast where we intentionally crafted 3 care situations, acted them out, and got reflections on them from Kristin Williams as well as Verlyn and Chris Lillehei.

Groups have started this same process of role-playing, so we wanted to share this graphic tool as an easy way to dive into your own practice with others. Whether it’s with a real situation or one you’re making up to get practice (or a mixture of the two), we’d encourage you to put yourself into it and consider doing it with a couple others…maybe even regularly.

Thanks for caring!

Care IQ Reminders

Some situations go beyond regular friendship and care. They aren't going to be fixed. When you think you might be in a Care IQ situation, here are some key tools:

• Learn to ask, "What's my role?"

• Determine your boundaries. What can and can't, could and shouldn't you do? You aren't responsible for the other person's outcome.

• Listen. Not to fix or to fit them into your world of experience, but to understand their situation from their perspective; how they see/feel it. Validate Feelings, ask questions to better understand, ask 'What could I do that would be helpful to you today?'

• Widen the circle of care. Involve professionals, friends, family, employer, whoever seems appropriate. Check out Mental Health Connect as a starting point to help you connect to the most appropriate resources.