Getting Started
The first thing to do is acquire the “big picture” of in-person PFA, so you can then understand what we’re trying to provide online. While the exact steps of PFA as described in this video do not exactly match the ones we will teach you, watching it will give you a good summary.
MNSOTA Dept of Health Overview (start @ 0:50; stop @ 7:45)
Here is the overview of the steps (or “core actions”) you will learn in this course (adapted from www.ptsd.va.gov’s PFA Training Manual, Version 2):
- Engage and Comfort
Goal: Establish a human connection in a non-intrusive, compassionate manner
Goal: Provide a comforting emotional support and presence
- Stabilize
Goal: Calm and orient emotionally overwhelmed or disoriented survivors
- Identify Needs and Concerns
Goal: Identify the person’s immediate needs and concerns to tailor future helping
- Make Plans
Goal: Help survivors plan to address their immediate needs & concerns
- Inform about Coping
Goal: Provide information about stress reactions and coping to reduce distress and promote healthy functioning.
- Connect and Empower
Goal: Help establish brief or ongoing contacts with family, friends, and neighbors
Goal: Equip individuals to help those around them
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- Be flexible in the amount of time you spend on each core action, depending on what the survivor expresses as a need at the time.
- However, it is important to move through the core actions in this general order, first checking on matters like safety and stability (actions 2 & 3) before going on to matters like connecting and coping (actions 5 & 6).
- While you might steer the conversation just a little bit more than you would as a normal 7Cups Listener, it is still vitally important to listen more than talk.