When Someone Gets Trigerred

As a facilitator, there is only so much you can control about the space you hold for others.

And sometimes people get triggered.

That's what happened this morning.

What my co-facilitator and I thought was an inspiring look at iconic women, turned out to be a major trigger into compare and despair.

Luckily for us, we have created a space where we share what's really going on in our hearts, so when it came time for one participant's check-in, she shared her truth fully.

We could have left it as a check-in and moved into our pre-planned agenda, but we didn't.

We pushed aside our agenda, and met this participant, and the topic head on.

She wasn't alone in her feelings.

We talked about comparison.
We talked about intention versus impact.
We talked about being trauma sensitive, trauma informed, and trauma focused.

We spoke from both our heads and our hearts.
We cried.
We read poetry.
We held silence.
We empathized with one another.

Eventually we found ourselves in gratitude.

And an hour after we started, we finally got back to our agenda.

I believe that all good facilitation starts from a place of care and connection with the participants.

Unless we have that, no techniques, strategies, or agenda will create the magic we hope for.

How comfortable are you to address the truths of the heart while facilitating?

Originally posted on LinkedIn with comments.

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