Chapter Two
This Reflective practice session uses the Chris John’s model of structured reflection. His process was derived from a healthcare setting and is ideal for a chaplaincy team with a combination of chaplains and chaplaincy volunteers or even for personal reflection when the time is set aside to learn and develop. It can also be used in guided reflection which would lend itself to supervision or spiritual direction.
In a group this exercise requires at least an hour set aside for reflection, 90 minutes is even better. Give the participants the Cue questions beforehand and instruct them to select a recent encounter that can be described. assure them that each cue question bullet point does not need to be answered verbatim eg Casual – what essential factors contributed to this experience? Answer “The essential factors that contributed to this experience were [list] - this approach is not helpful. The bullet points are prompts not Q&As. The important direction of travel through the session is 1. Description of the experience, 2. Your Reflection, 3. Influencing factors affecting the encounter, 4. Could I have dealt with the situation better? 5. What should I Learn from this Reflective Practice?
Section 5 can be conducted as a plenary or remain in the comforts of the small group (2s or 3s).
Ensure that the case presented is anonymised.
In practice, it is better to for the group to be split into pairs or triplets. Instruct one person to present in the small group (2’s or 3’s) and the other to listen without comment, to note or notice without interjecting except for clarification. The listener should hold back from giving advice or sharing a similar experience in response.
The important thing is that the group is a safe space for everyone at every level to share and reflect.
This Chapter can be used over and over again with the facilitator honing and editing the bullet points to fit their scenario.
If the facilitator wishes to be more prescriptive about the themes for reflection, they can suggest a sentence to start the ‘description of the experience.’ The following suggestions have worked well:
A time when I felt as if I was thrown in at the deep end
A lesson that one patient taught me
The patient I will always remember
Why I come to work
When the chaplain (or volunteer, or their family) becomes a patient. Being on the other side.
When I made a mistake: speaking about the impact
Working at unsociable times
Cue Questions
1. Description of the experience
Phenomenon – describe the here-and-now experience.
Casual – what essential factors contributed to this experience?
Context - what are the significant background factors to this experience?
Clarifying – what are the key processes for reflection in this experience?
2. Reflection
What was I trying to achieve?
Why did I intervene as I did?
What were the consequences of my actions for:
Myself?
The patient/family?
The people I work with?
How did I feel about this experience when it was happening?
How did the patient feel about it?
How do I know how the patient felt about it?
3. Influencing factors
What internal factors influenced my decision–making?
What external factors influenced my decision–making?
What sources of knowledge did / should have influenced my decision–making?
4. Could I have dealt with the situation better?
What other choices did I have?
What would be the consequences of these choices?
5. Learning
How do I now feel about this experience?
How have I made sense of this experience in light of past experiences and future practice?
How has this experience changed my ways of knowing
Empirics – scientific
Ethics – moral knowledge
Personal – self-awareness
Aesthetics – the art of what we do, our own experiences
