– Reflections on a training course in psychological defusing for hospital managers. 

”It was several years ago, mind you, but I still remember it clearly”

I have heard that phrase countless times from experienced professionals talking about past incidents that have made a particular impression. Perhaps because the case was deeply tragic or grotesque. Perhaps because the child or elderly person involved was exactly the same age and gender as one’s own child or parents. Perhaps because one had felt forced into a position of passivity and powerlessness, having been ready to help but, for various reasons, not being allowed to do so. Perhaps one was completely alone and felt threatened and terrified in the situation. Or perhaps the person involved had no relatives and was deeply lonely, but as a professional, one found it difficult to work out how best to support them. Perhaps you were the subject of an unpleasant complaint, which had, moreover, been handled extremely poorly, so that it continued to haunt you and create uncertainty in your work…

I call it ”The cases you never forget”, when I’m teaching and talking to my students about the mental ‘backpack’ of experiences that each of us, as professionals, carries around with us. I always encourage my students to set aside some time one day afterwards to share “the case one has never forgotten” with others – perhaps at Fiskerbænken. In my experience, such a ”follow-up visit” Looking back at the past can be a way of repairing the old scratches, dents and damage that those experiences left on our mental veneer.

I was reminded in the most beautiful way the other day that it is never too late to come to terms with past experiences, when I was teaching all the managers at a hospital the psychological defusing method. A method which – in a nutshell – involves facilitating group discussions for staff who have been involved in a traumatic incident. The training was spread over two days, with time set aside to practise the method between the first and second days. On the first day, I had arranged for the managers to practise a hypothetical scenario with a small group of staff members, so that they could familiarise themselves with the phases and process of defusing.

And then it happened again!

A manager explains how the staff had suggested revisiting a two-year-old incident which, at the time, they hadn’t managed to address or discuss. The manager was fully on board with this and then used that specific past incident to defuse the situation with the small group of staff. Afterwards, everyone agreed that it had made sense and provided an opportunity for meaningful reflection and learning. That’s the way to do it!

It is never too late to make amends for past events – they can be a rich source of lessons that can benefit the challenges we face today.