This Target Practice exercise is useful for the following purposes:
1) Rehearsing a future event, trying to use the behaviours which are deemed to be best for achieving the person's objectives. (Future role-play)
2) Devising an action plan to achieve a particular objective.
You may decide to use the whole of a session in this way. The client uses the two cushions by sitting on one cushion when operating in their Person and on the other cushion when distressed or Patterned. The assumption behind the technique is that people will be more effective if they are able to both rehearse the skills involved and deal with the Distresses and Patterns which prevent full access to their skills.
PROCEDURE:
1. The exercise is best done using another person as counsellor or support.
2. The client uses the physical props of two chairs or two cushions or two marked areas on the floor. One cushion is designated as the PERSON cushion--for use when the client is being rational and has access to all their strengths and skills. The other cushion is designated as the PATTERN cushion--for use whenever the individual becomes Distressed or Patterned.
3. The client starts by sitting on the Person cushion and proceeds to act and talk through the future event as they would wish it to occur. The counsellor may be asked to play a role, or just to prompt the client to talk in the present tense and add appropriate actions. If the client becomes distressed then they should immediately move to the Pattern cushion. The counsellor should watch for distress cues, and prompt the client to move if they don't do so spontaneously. (Typical signs of Distress are hesitations, stumbling over words, self-putdowns, apologetic tone of voice, aggression.)
4. When on the Pattern cushion the client's aim should be to return to the Person cushion as soon as possible; they are not trying to work on the Distress any more than necessary. This may be achieved by Discharging, or saying, 'What's Left Unsaid,' or Attention Switching, or taking a Direction against the Distress. The client is trying to rehearse the future situation as they would like it to be, including climbing out of any restimulated Distress they find themselves dropping into.
5. The client moves back to the Person cushion as soon as possible and continues rehearsing. Then back to the Pattern cushion if more Distress arises.
If the client is trying to action plan then they use the Person cushion for sorting out their priorities and detailing action sequences. The counsellor can help by pushing the client to give details and fix times. In the same way as with the Future Role-play, on displaying any signs of Distress the client should move to the Pattern cushion.
This technique is most likely to be useful when the distresses the client hits are ones which they have already worked on, otherwise the session is likely to become a discharge-inducing one, rather than a future rehearsal one.
Go to previous page. Go to next page. Return to How to Change Yourself & Your World.