Author: Guangming Daily Front Reporting Group
"The teacher is here, the teacher is here!"
On December 23, a group of five or six-year-old children immediately surrounded the tent as soon as several volunteers appeared in front of the tent.
This is a scene that takes place at a temporary resettlement site in Kexinmin Village, Dahejia Township, Jishishan County, Gansu Province. The purpose of the visit was to help the children deal with the psychological problems that have arisen or may arise through face-to-face methods.
On December 21, in Dasi Square, Dahejia Town, Jishishan County, Gansu Province, members of the psychological rescue team of the Second People's Hospital of Gansu Province took the children to play games. Photo by Guangming Daily reporter Liu Yuhang/Guangming Pictures
"After our investigation and assessment, we found that some of the affected people had psychological stress reactions after the earthquake. Children, in particular, need to be focused on. Ji Chunhui, a member of the volunteer team and captain of the Gansu Mingrui Psychological Aid Red Cross Volunteer Team, told reporters.
Dispel the gloom in the game
The children looked up at the "teacher", and they were full of anticipation. "In the past few days, we have done game activities together such as cat and mouse, drumming and passing flowers, singing, drawing, and even dancing 'subject three'. Jia Jingxia, a member of the Gansu Mingrui Psychological Aid Red Cross Volunteer Service Team, told reporters.
At the same time, Tian Tao, deputy head of the psychological rescue team of the Red Cross Society of Ningxia Autonomous Region, from Ning'an Hospital in Ningxia, was leading his team members to play games with children at another resettlement site a few kilometers away. "Especially the 'subject three' dance and cat and mouse, the kids loved it. Tian Tao said.
On December 23, at the resettlement site of Taojia Village, Dahejia Town, Jishishan County, Gansu Province, power workers of State Grid Gansu Electric Power Baiyin Power Supply Company were installing power equipment. Photo by Guangming Daily reporter Liu Yuhang/Guangming Pictures
Play therapy is a common form of psychotherapy. "Playing games with children to make them feel cared for can help them divert their attention, forget their fears, vent their stress and emotions, and dispel the inner gloom caused by the earthquake. Jia Jingxia introduced.
"We took our kids to paint yesterday. Jia Jingxia told reporters that painting can not only release emotions, but also show the psychological state of the painter. "The colors that children choose when they draw are also the colors of their minds. For example, some children are depressed or fearful and may choose cold or dark colors. The children in our resettlement site chose mainly red and green colors, and painted houses, green trees, flowers and the sun in their hometown, indicating that their psychological condition is not bad. ”
However, the situation of the children in the past few days was not as rosy as it is now.
"When we first started playing, a lot of the kids were in the tent and didn't want to come out. Tian Tao said that in the early days of the earthquake, the children were still in the acute stress reaction period, with numbness, nervousness, fear and other conditions. As a result, they carried out targeted counseling interventions. By building a trusting relationship with your child, they can step out of the tent and participate in activities, which will ultimately lead to further healing through play. During this process, they will also constantly observe the changes in the child and adjust the intervention in time.
For the volunteers who accompany and help them dispel the gloom these days, the children use their most respected title - "teacher".
Uninterrupted one-on-one communication
Not all children are suitable for play therapy, and this is the case with 14-year-old Yang Xiaojuan (not her real name). When the earthquake struck, she and her classmates had just run out of the gate when the dormitory behind her collapsed, and she sat on the ground, barely moving. To this day, she has not come out of the shadow of that day.
"We found that the psychological well-being of children, especially children under the age of 12, improved significantly through play activities. But some 12- to 18-year-olds have a richer and more delicate perception of the outside world, and the psychological damage is more difficult to heal. Ji Chunhui said that for Yang Xiaojuan's psychological counseling, she needs to avoid the surrounding interference factors as much as possible, "She is not comfortable with others present, and it is difficult to open her heart."
She separated Yang Xiaojuan's parents and stayed with Yang Xiaojuan in the tent for half an hour. At Ji Chunhui's suggestion, the two walked out of the tent and walked into the field together, chatting while walking. On the way back, Yang Xiaojuan's face was a little better.
On December 23, in Guanting Township, Minhe County, Qinghai Province, volunteers distributed free beef noodles to the affected people. Guangming Daily reporter Wang Wenjing / Guangming Pictures
Ji Chunhui told reporters that they plan to strengthen one-on-one psychological counseling for some special groups, such as people with greater psychological trauma, especially for those who lost their relatives in the earthquake.
"Some teenagers are less comfortable with too many people and are more comfortable with us one-on-one. Ji Chunhui said that the experience of psychological assistance in the past few days has made her more aware of the need to respect everyone's psychological feelings, and different people have different tolerance in the face of disasters.
Overcome the psychological difficulties with the affected people
At present, many professionals from Gansu Province and even the whole country are participating in the psychological assistance work in the Jishishan earthquake area in various ways.
The Gansu Provincial Psychological Counseling Volunteer Service Team has issued an initiative to more than 1,400 psychological volunteers in the province to provide psychological rescue services for the people affected by the disaster; the psychological rescue team of the Gansu Provincial Second People's Hospital and the Ping An Gansu Psychological Crisis Intervention and Research Center has gone to the four most severely affected townships and towns to carry out psychological assistance; and the Gansu Provincial Youth Volunteer Association's direct service team has set up a "Communist Youth League Day Care Station" 59 supervisors and 500 hotline members of the psychological assistance hotline platform of Northwest Normal University are online at any time to protect the mental health of the people in the disaster area......
"According to international scientific evaluations, 15%~20% of people will suffer psychological trauma after experiencing a major crisis such as a disaster. Most people are able to recover their mental health and even grow from a crisis. Wu Bo, head of the psychological assistance hotline platform of Northwest Normal University, said.
"Restoring mental health and growing is premised on having access to social connections and social support very quickly after a crisis. Wu Bo said that it is necessary to make them feel that they are not completely isolated and have not fallen into darkness after the disaster.
Ji Chunhui, who has been working in psychological counseling for 15 years, has a deeper feeling and understanding of his chosen major after experiencing the first earthquake psychological rescue in his life in the Jishi Mountain earthquake area. "Yesterday a couple of kids came up to me and said, 'Hug me,' and I felt both warm and distressed. She said.
When they finished the psychological support service and were about to leave, the children gathered around again.
"Teacher, will you come back tomorrow?"
"Come!" was the answer not only to them, but also to psychological aid workers everywhere.
(Members of the front reporting team: Chen Haibo, Zhang Zheng, Liu Yuhang, Song Xiqun, Wang Bingya)
Guangming Daily (December 24, 2023 03 edition)
Source: Guangming Net-Guangming Daily