each other similarly remained, also in the subsequent training programmes. In some groups, the trainees reasoned loudly, laughing and gesturing broadly. After these two exercises the insight dawned that many everyday problems could well be reduced or solved by the trainees under their own steam. The exercise about safety helped the trainees discover that their own living envi- ronment and their colleagues were sources they could learn from. During the first exercises the trainees may still have failed to notice that they had started to learn a method that did not aim at quick fixes for a problem or a one-off performance. But they gradually found that the method meant to create a reliable foundation for cooperation and self-efficacy.
The tasks taught me that the trainees were capable of protracted concen- tration, which was another sign that they had been recruited in line with the agreed recruitment criteria. People severely suffering from memories of life-threatening experiences of violence are, according to the DSM criteria for a PTSS diagnosis, incapable of protracted concentration.
My conclusion was that support is gained when the trainees discover the effectiveness of the method for themselves. And that assessing the meaning of safety belongs with those directly involved, at grass roots level, where sup- port for social change starts.
6.4 The exercises and their significance for learning about the phases and principles
The phases. The first phase of group development, safety, further developed as the rules of behaviour were jointly formulated and as the concept of safety was methodically defined. The trainees learnt about this phase as I invited them to name any changes they observed.
The language problem inspired me to use symbols with which the trainees could commit a self-discovered answer or a complete exercise to memory. The circle, divided into six segments, represented the phases of sociotherapy. When the answers were given, I drew, as a reminder, the thermometer, the head and the thought bubble with a question mark in it, and a classic certifi- cate once the rules of behaviour were discussed. I put these symbols besides the phase of safety.
The principles. Procedures for the two exercises were in line with the second principle of sociotherapy, equality. The trainees gained experience in tak-
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ing responsibility for control over how things were done in the training: the third, fourth and fifth principle of sociotherapy. The joint assumption of re- sponsibility already occurred before I thematised this principle. This enabled trainees, through learning by doing; the sixth principle, to make discoveries, both alone and together, about the meaning of these principles. My request to be informed about social rules was, in fact, an instance of the ‘here-and- now’ principle applied.
6.5 Reflections on the role of the trainer
Without the immediate occasion, in Byumba, for asking about social rules, I might have started the training in a different way. I discovered there that the step-by-step plan to arrive at rules of behaviour played a structuring role for subsequent tasks and activities. And that is how I decided to start all other groups off with this exercise.
When I introduced the theme, I chose not to lecture. The trainees were used to following authorities, this was their socialisation. Lecturing would almost certainly lead to an acceptance of the rules of behaviour that I set, from hab- it, or out of respect for ‘a white woman from Europe’. But I had not come to be followed docilely, but because the various organisations wanted social change.
Adding a decision-making procedure to my request to be told the usual so- cial rules for groups gave every trainee an equal opportunity to participate in answering the question. At the same time, I found I had introduced a method that could later be used with the sociotherapy groups.
It was important that I led the exercise in such a way that we would be left with a manageable number of rules while I regulated its pace when necessary. In this way I established an acceptable level of safety, enabling trainees to continue their task and to gain some purchase in the group.
Through my exercises about rules and safety, I organised an experience about the meaning of values in social change. In one group I myself made this sub- ject an agenda item to be addressed the following day. In another group I set the agenda for the next day together with the coordinator.
At the beginning of the training I had argued in favour of starting with mixed groups so that the trainees would gradually learn to argue any wishes for
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