Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 601 Gradual Work Therapy

The first phase is to deepen and consolidate the consultation with Nan Zhuren today.

This also forms the basis for Nan Zhuren's subsequent intervention and treatment.

Bai Qinghua accepted the rigorous rationality of it without even having to think about it.

Weng Pingting paused for two seconds longer than the teacher before asking, "You just mentioned the first stage, so what about the second stage?"

Nan Zhuren had already planned it out: "The second phase mainly involves further increasing Li Lingling's exposure to the flood environment in a controlled environment, while also increasing her sense of control over herself."

"After confirming that her condition is stable and she can handle the tasks at this stage—" Nan Zhuren first stated this prerequisite with great care.

"I want to try to suggest to the person in charge here that Li Lingling be sent to provide medical support specifically for the disaster-stricken children here."

Nan Zhuren explained, “Although the children were also frightened, the overall atmosphere was more gentle and hopeful than in the adult injury area. Li Lingling’s job at this stage was to conduct daily health monitoring for the children, treat minor physical injuries, or organize some simple games and activities.”

"If she can do this part of the work well, then I can try to teach her so that she can provide other volunteers and staff with simple self-psychological adjustment tips—such as how to identify over-stress reactions and how to have a stable listening experience."

The arrangements for Nan Zhuren during this period.

“The workload of comforting children doesn’t necessarily have to be less than the workload of interacting with adults…” Weng Pingting retorted subconsciously.

However, thinking of Li Lingling's situation, Weng Pingting paused again.

Nan Zhuren then explained, "Communicating with children is a psychological transition for Li Lingling, because it allows her to connect with her past traumatic experiences."

“By interacting with children, especially successfully comforting frightened children, it is envisioned that Li Lingling will gain a new experience of ‘I can protect the vulnerable instead of being swallowed by disaster,’ which can directly combat her core trauma.”

“Moreover…” Nan Zhuren stated his reasoning, “Improving the child’s condition is also a form of ‘vicarious healing’ for Li Lingling, similar to ‘vicarious reinforcement,’ which is far more helpful to her than to adults.”

Vicarious reinforcement is a core concept in social learning theory, referring to a highly efficient learning method that does not require one to perform the behavior personally, but rather to guide one's own experience by observing the successes and failures of others.

In layman's terms, it means finding "role models".

The concept of "alternative therapy" is an extension of this. While not a strictly defined clinical diagnostic term, it is widely used in the fields of psychological counseling and trauma research.

By witnessing another "role model" with a similar traumatic experience successfully heal, the observer is also very likely to gain hope, strength, and positive change.

As an adult, Li Lingling now needs children as her role models.

Nan Zhuren's arrangement in this part is more solid in terms of theoretical foundation.

The senior students and teachers couldn't help but agree more.

Weng Pingting also understood the implication in Nan Zhuren's subsequent words: "You still want her to participate in our psychological assistance process?"

Nan Zhuren nodded: "Merely using 'role models' as a substitute for therapy is not enough. Li Lingling's original role confusion was very serious, so I hope to give her a powerful new identity that can integrate those confused roles—a psychological helper."

Nan Zhuren said, "The addition of this role should greatly enhance Li Lingling's sense of self-worth and self-identity."

"Moreover, helping others and imparting psychological knowledge is also a way for her to deepen her understanding of self-healing."

Many people have this feeling—when teaching others knowledge, they themselves can gain a completely new understanding of that knowledge from a different perspective. In school, teachers encouraged students to help each other solve problems, based on this theory—of course, it's also possible that some teachers were simply being lazy and wanting to save themselves trouble.

Weng Pingting now fully understood Nan Zhuren's intervention strategy and made a prediction for the next step: "If this phase goes well, do you want her to fully integrate into our team during this mission?"

……

Faced with her senior's question.

Nan Zhuren nodded readily and said, "Yes, anyway, our original plan required the cooperation of medical staff, didn't it? In fact, in many plans, we still need to prioritize medical staff."

Weng Pingting smiled: "So your third stage focuses on [meaning reconstruction]?"

They were right again.

Nan Zhuren affirmed, "When Li Lingling is in better condition, I hope she can accompany me to help some disaster victims or rescue workers who have complaints such as insomnia, palpitations, and stomach pain, but whose root cause is psychological trauma."

"She was responsible for assessing and interpreting the patient's physical condition, while I was responsible for the psychological aspect, and together we developed a comprehensive psychosomatic intervention plan."

Weng Pingting raised her hand, stopping Nan Zhuren from speaking.

She then turned to Chonghui: "Tell me, what is the basis for Zhu Ren's part of the plan?"

The big guy was stunned, and a familiar feeling, like being suddenly called on to answer a question in class, welled up inside him.

However, Chonghui's solid professional skills allowed him to quickly realize the answer, and Weng Pingting had already almost given the answer beforehand.

"In terms of meaning reconstruction... it transforms Li Lingling's identity as a nurse and her traumatic experiences from a source of pain into a unique resource and power for understanding and helping others."

Chonghui pondered for a moment and said, "This can effectively resolve her deep-seated [survivor guilt], because she is using this unique understanding to prevent others from suffering similar pain."

"Although this effect can be achieved to some extent in the second stage that Zhu Ren just mentioned, the sense of accomplishment that the adult world can provide is superior to that of the children's world on a more objective and macro level."

This answer was brief, but it hit the nail on the head.

Weng Pingting nodded slightly, indicating that Suan Zhonghui had passed the pop quiz.

Shi Qianqian, standing to the side, looked eager to try, confident that she could answer the same questions as Chonghui.

Therefore, she couldn't help but urge, "Zhu Ren, is this stage over? Is there a fourth stage?"

……

It really does.

Nan Zhuren pondered, “Intervention needs an ending. In the final stage, I hope that Li Lingling can have a ritualistic farewell to the past. Some things are not enough to exist only in cognition and thought; they need to be put to rest through behavior and language.”

Just like when we intervened in Nan Zhihao's case before, we asked him to "mourn" his parents.

“However…” Nan Zhuren shrugged, “the specifics of how to conduct this ceremony will depend on the circumstances at the time.”

(End of this chapter)