What is it ? Well ! One could think about another new kind of "Group Therapy". Yes and no : It adresses our everyday trouble and pains. It does'nt pretend to cure, but offers care and welcome, and the sharing of real life experience. It's first aim is the promotion of health, in a coparticipative way.

It was created some 20 years ago by Dr Barreto, in the North-Eastern Brasilian city of Fortaleza, inside the Quatro Varas Project. The main idea is that where there are problems, there are also solutions, that deprivation and ordeals generate competence, and that sharing these may help individuals, families and communities to cope more efficiently with problems. The theoretical bases of ICT are: the theory of communication, the systemic thought, the pedagogy of Paulo Freire, the theory of resilience and the cultural anthropology.

The group is carried out in 6 steps :  welcome, choice of theme, contextualization, problematization and sharing of experiences and solutions, closing ritual, time for reflection between facilitators. You can here have a look on a video with subtitles in english. During the introductory phase, the rules are clearly stated: speaking "I", no advice, judgments or interpretations, be silent and listen, use all means provided the culture as songs, poems, proverbs, jokes, etc... The democratic choice of the topic ensures that the focus will be on what really interests most of the people present. During the "contextualizing" step,  the person who proposed the topic is invited to give more details about her situation, emotions, what and who contributed to the problem, and what was done to overcome. The entire group may ask questions in order to clarify the situation, in a systemic perspective. Then the facilitator asks the group: "Who among you already experienced a similar situation and what did you do cope, to overcome ? " : Everyone can become aware of the many possible outcomes and solutions, promoting resilience and self-esteem. The closing ritual will consolidate links between participants and highlight the "pearls" born of life experiences. The evaluation enables the facilitators to have a critical view on the session, and collect data for further research.

"Dear Riccardo and dear Prof. Barreto,

I am very happy to share with you, that I was allowed to hold a very vivid 5-days-TCI-Training in Pedjikent, Tadjikistan, from the 10.7.- 14.7.2017.

The organizers were Simon Greuter, www. agens.one, Switzerland, and Salomat, head of the NGO Nuri Umed („Beam of hope")  in Tadjikistan. 

We had 30 members.

The languages were German, English, Russian and Tadschikisch (Farsi) with someone traslating for the participants. Because most of the members have little money, it was helpul that we could provide a form of project financing which allowed all members to do the training for free, including lodging, meals and two excursions. An exception were three representatives from Caritas Germany, who got the training paid by their institution.

All the members work in a social context, such as social work, shelter for battered women, pediatrist…and they come from all over Tadjikistan.

From the very first moment on I got the impression that they understood the spirit of TCI and we could spent five labor intensive days, but also full of laughter and music. 

The training included a lot of practical exercises in the big group as well as in smallgroups, theory and additions, based on my  seven years of experience of my group in Basel. 

For example I find it helpful to introduce the Salutogenesis model of Antonovsky in order to underline the preventative aspect of health of this work. I introduced them to the history of Paolo Freire.

Besides the training there were two excursions in the near surrounding, one evening with traditional live music and dancing and a visit to a center for handicapped children. So the days varied and there were many possibilities to get to know each other.  I was impressed how the members brought spontaneously dances, songs, games. Twice they created out of the blue role playing.

I am very grateful for this experience and very curious how they will implement it.

The first groups are already taken place, as you can see below the photos and record.

 The next training / supervision modules are planned for august 2018 and 2019.

The members found according to their political and health system a translation of Therapie Comunitaria Integrativa  in their language, which means literally „ to make the community more healthier“. I think that’s a wonderful name. The abbreviation is: MCч.  It is a special J which does not exist in our alphabet. "

Kind regards"

Ulrike

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