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Louise Yorke, 2018. The Jigsaw aka The Battle of Humpty 2018. Reformulation, Winter, p.43.
From our occasional series on CAT training, this article reports on a moment in time from the CAT psychotherapy training, illustrating one aspect of this post practitioner course.
IRRAPT is the well-recognised acronym for the Inter-Regional Residential ACAT Psychotherapy Training. During an IRRAPT residential in 2018, following a number of sessions around trauma and clinical complexity, a creative session required groups of three IRRAPT trainees, of which I was part with colleagues Amanda Copeland and Anna Tutin, to produce a short commentary on the concept of reparation.
Within the twenty-minute time allocated a number of ideas were discussed. Our group spoke about a device used by one of the therapists in their CAT work, the jigsaw analogy. The therapist asks the client to picture their goals visually and to consider therapy as a process whereby pieces of this picture, as a jigsaw, are put in to place leading from puzzle pieces at the start of therapy to a completed picture as therapy comes to a close. As the jigsaw activity was discussed, at the same time words came to mind that I wrote down as a poem. During the twenty minutes a poem was written. Back in front of the whole IRRAPT group the story of The Jigsaw was presented. As I read the poem aloud, colleagues took pieces of paper and ‘put together’ a pre-drawn jigsaw image of Humpty Dumpty.
The creative session was a helpful method through which to process some of the teachings and emotions around trauma as well as a means by which to share clinical ideas. This session had real strength and meaning across all of the groups who participated – the range of presentations involved storytelling, drama, mime and poetry.
Here we have reproduced the poem from our group, much of which was written at the time. The poem is read by a narrator, with a chorus of voices denoting the phases of therapy as punctuation between verses: Reformulation, Recognition and Revision.
The Jigsaw aka The Battle of Humpty 2018
Arms, legs, blood and gore,
Torn apart in the war
Of life…..
So many parts
Flung asunder
Do we go under ?
Can we survive ?
Are we dead ?
Remain alive ?
How do we find peace in this life ?
Is there ever an ending to
our trauma and strife ?
Can we put ourselves back-together
when we stumble and fall
Can we find the path ? Hear the CAT call ?
“Reformulation….”
Words first heard in the nursery
Can take hold in the mind.
Such damaging procedures
In those sayings and rhymes.
…..In the long battle of Humpty
The war rages on.
Unbearable terror
Never forgotten.
“Recognition…..”
For those caught in the conflict
Every man woman and child.
Come to know the peace process
Reflect - You could find
This life - can we fix-it?
Ask a question so strange.
Is there ever an exit ?
Puzzle pieces rearranged.
“Revision…..”
Now the Battle of Humpty
On some far distant field.
Snags, traps and dilemmas
Over time they are healed.
Hear these words now re-spoken Bringing hope from the pain. Change your lives by this token Meaning found in refrain:
Reciprocal voices,
Mapped with the therapy pen
Could put Humpty together again.
Louise Yorke