THE 2020

ONLINE AND
SELF-GUIDED
PFA MODULES
Supplemental to the SEES
Manual
 2020 Supplemental Self-Guided SEES Modules 1 - 4
Module I on PFA: Validating and Normalizing Feelings

By the end of the session, you should be able to;

 Identify feelings/reactions related to the pandemic/any form of disaster

 Accept that all feelings and reactions are normal and valid.

Introduction

How are you feeling today? You are now on page 1 of a set of pages that will contain modules
to help you talk about your experiences during the months of lockdown due to the pandemic or
maybe due to another disaster. I am sure you are eager to participate because there are many
things to talk about. There will be a total of 4 modules for you to answer in order to complete
this task.

You will be doing a lot of activities, and you will also learn from the readings and infographics
provided in this booklet. The aim of these activities is to help you feel better as you are
provided with ways to react to all the disruptions caused by the pandemic or the disaster. After
you are done answering all the 4 modules, you will need to submit these back to me so that I
can give you feedback on your answers. Let’s begin.

Look at the lines below. You are going to write a letter.

Pause and Think. Then write, My Dear Friend.

Using the lines on the next page, write to a friend about the following:

During the months of lockdown, what were the 5 routines or reactions you did at home? An
example would be; “I slept most of the time.” Or, “I watch television/GMA7/AbsCbn.” Others
may say,” Nothing. I help in the household chores.” Number them from 1-5, and write them
down on the front part of your letter.

On the back page of your letter, write to your friend about your feelings towards your
reactions or routines. An example of feeling would be; “I felt bored.” Or, “I felt afraid.” Others
may say, “I experienced anxiety.” You can repeat your feelings, but, you may not repeat the
routines or reactions. You can explain why you felt that way or why you reacted that way. You
do not need to write a long letter. A short one will do.

2
The 2020 O/SG PFA Modules Supplemental to the SEES Manual
Once you are finished writing, I would like you to read the information entitled Common
Reactions of Students to Stressful Events. Compare your feelings to the feelings written inside
the box. Are there commonalities? Were there feelings that you also felt but that you were not
able to mention in your letter?
Common Reactions of Students to Stressful Events

 feel a strong responsibility to the family.

 feel anxious brought about by uncertainty of the future.
 feel intense or prolonged grief for not being able to wake.
 may become self-absorbed and feel self-pity.
 may experience changes in their relationships with other people.
 may also start taking risks, engage in self-destructive behavior, have avoidant
behavior, and become aggressive.
 may experience major shifts in their view of the world accompanied by a sense of
hopelessness about the present and the future.
 may become defiant of authorities and parents while they start relying on peers
for socializing through social media.
 may feel guilty and anxious having been separated from their loved ones due to
lockdown.

I want you to know that all your feelings, all your reactions for the past days are valid. To
validate is to affirm that these feeling/s are happening. I want you to say to yourself, “ it is okay
that I felt this way. It is okay to not be okay’. I want you to know that all your emotions are real
and true. And that all of those, they are normal feelings. They are normal because other
people may also share the same feeling/s but the intensity of feelings is uniquely yours. Tell
yourself, “all these are normal feelings. Normal lang ang pakiramdam ko”.

Analysis

What are the common feeling/s to the usual routines of your everyday life? What are your
shared human experiences of Covid-19 or of the disaster that hit your town? Are they similar?
Are they dissimilar? Now that you have recognized your common humanity, you feel a sigh of
relief from knowing that you were not alone. You can empathize with each other. You accept
each other. These are all normal feelings to stressful situations..If you wish, you can take a
photo of the letter and share it with your friend. I hope this empowers you to go on living.

Please read the handout entitled: When Terrible Things Happen. I am certain it will help you
learn more about how you can help yourself.
 Module I Handout: When Terrible Things Happen

Immediate Reactions

There are a wide variety of positive and negative reactions that students can experience during and immediately
after crisis situations. These Include:

Domain Negative Responses Positive Responses

Cognitive Confusion, worry, self-blame Determination courage, optimism, faith

Emotional Shock, sorry, grief, sadness, fear, anger, Feeling involved, challenged, mobilized
numb, irritability, guilt, and shame
Social Fights with others or does not speak Seeks out others who can help them, helps others
with others in need
Physiological Tired, headache, muscle tension, Alertness, readiness to respond, increased energy
stomachache, difficulty sleeping, fast
heart beat

Common negative reactions that may continue include:

Intrusive reactions
• Distressing thoughts or images of the event while awake or dreaming
• Upsetting emotional or physical reactions to reminders of the experience
• Feeling like the experience is happening all over again (“flashback”)
• Avoid talking, thinking, and having feelings about the traumatic event
• Avoid reminders of the event (places and people connected to what happened)
• Restricted emotions; feeling numb
• Feelings of detachment and estrangement from others; social withdrawal
• Loss of interest in usually pleasurable activities

Physical arousal reactions

• Constantly being “on the lookout” for danger, startling easily, or being jumpy
• Irritability or outbursts of anger, feeling “on edge”
• Difficulty falling or staying asleep, problems concentrating or paying attention

Reactions to trauma and loss reminders

• Reactions to places, people, sights, sounds, smells, and feelings that are reminders of the disaster
• Reminders can bring on distressing mental images, thoughts, and emotional/physical reactions
• Common examples include: sudden loud noises, sirens, locations where the disaster occurred, seeing
people with disabilities, funerals, anniversaries of the disaster, and television/radio news about the
disaster

Positive changes in priorities, worldview, and expectations

• Enhanced appreciation that family and friends are precious and important
 • Meeting the challenge of addressing difficulties (by taking positive action steps, changing the focus of
thoughts, using humor, acceptance)
• Shifting expectations about what to expect from day to day and about what is considered a “good
day”
• Shifting priorities to focus more on quality time with family or friends
• Increased commitment to self, family, friends, and spiritual/religious faith

When a Loved One Dies, Common Reactions Include:

• Feeling confused, numb, disbelief, bewildered, or lost
• Feeling angry at the person who died or at people considered responsible for the death
• Strong physical reactions such as nausea, fatigue, shakiness, and muscle weakness
• Feeling guilty for still being alive
• Intense emotions such as extreme sadness, anger, or fear
• Increased risk for physical illness and injury
• Decreased productivity or difficulties making decisions
• Having thoughts about the person who died even when you don’t want to
• Longing, missing, and wanting to search for the person who died
• Children and adolescents are particularly likely to worry that they or a parent might die
• Children and adolescents may become anxious when separated from caregivers or other loved ones
What Helps

• Talking to another person for support or spending time with others

• Engaging in positive distracting activities (sports, hobbies, reading)
• Getting adequate rest and eating healthy meals
• Trying to maintain a normal schedule
• Scheduling pleasant activities
• Taking breaks
• Reminiscing about a loved one who has died
• Focusing on something practical that you can do right now to manage the situation better
• Using relaxation methods (breathing exercises, meditation, calming self-talk, music)
• Participating in a support group
• Exercising in moderation
• Keeping a journal
• Seeking counseling
What Doesn’t Help

• Using alcohol or drugs to cope

• Extreme withdrawal from family or friends
• Overeating or failing to eat
• Withdrawing from pleasant activities
• Working too much
• Violence or conflict
• Doing risky things (driving recklessly, substance abuse, not taking adequate precautions)
• Extreme avoidance of thinking or talking about the event or a death of a loved one
• Not taking care of yourself
• Excessive TV or computer games
• Blaming others Source: Brymer et al., 2012
ABSTRACTION/REFLECTION

Now that you knew that what you were feeling or how you were reacting was similar to the one
on the list, how do you feel now about yourself? Always remember that your reactions to the
stressful situation are normal at the moment or until about three months. Most young people
will react in the same manner. You are not being crazy when you have those feelings. Also,
the next time you feel that way, try to take ten deep breaths. Slowly. And then try to do letter
writing and send the letter to your close friends. This will help you calm down. Can we try to do
that together? Count 1-10 as you breathe in and out.

APPLICATION

Today you learned that our reactions to the stressful events of Pandemic or any other form of
disaster were normal and valid. How does this new learning that my reactions and feelings
toward Covid-19/disaster were normal after all help me?

How can you apply this learning to your life especially after experiencing such a pandemic?

Closure

Read your letter again. Compare how you feel now that you know that those feelings were normal and
valid? Say to yourself: my feelings are valid. My reactions are normal. My feelings and reactions are
valid and normal.
 Module II on PFA: Calming Down and Managing one’s Emotions and Thoughts

Objectives By the end of this module, you should be able to

 Identify positive ways to manage one’s emotions
 Practice calming down using a diaphragmatic breathing and the 3C’s of Feelings and Thoughts
 Be able to practice reframing one’s thoughts

Materials ball, paper, pen

Introduction

So far, we have discussed your routines and feelings during the past few months of pandemic.
Today, we shall focus on how to manage your feelings.

Remember when I asked you to identify your feelings and reactions to Covid-19/disaster? Can
you recall what those feelings were? Now. I want you to consider some ways to help you
manage your feelings of stress and anxiety

I want you to stay outdoors and play, “Catch the Ball” with your sibling or friend. If it is not
possible for you to do this with someone, you can also just throw the ball towards a wall then
catch it. After throwing and catching the ball for a while, think, “what am I catching”?

Imagine that what you are catching are feelings. Those were some of the feelings you caught
during the lockdown/pandemic/disaster. They are feelings of fear, boredom, anxiety, etc. Stop
playing for a moment. You accepted the ball. Hold it. Look at it. Accept the feeling. Say to
yourself, “Yes, I was feeling afraid.” Or “Yes, I was feeling anxious.”

Catching your Feelings It is always good to catch what you are feeling. It is a normal and
valid feeling. It’s okay to Not feel okay. But they are real and true only as the not-so-normal
situation that triggers it.

It is ok to not feel okay, in a not-so-ok-situation like the pandemic or any disaster. Now, I want
to invite you to do some diaphragmatic breathing. Breathe in (Inhalation of Air). A very slight
pause before you exhale. Breathe out (exhalation of air). Breathe in (inhalation of Air). A very
slight pause before you inhale. Breathe out (exhalation of air). Release all the feelings.

Check your Feelings Were those feelings helpful to me? You will probably answer with both
a yes and a no. That means that some of your feelings were helpful but others were not. For
instance, if you keep feeling fearful, do you need to stay in fear for long? How helpful is fear to
you? How accurate or appropriate is the feeling of anxiety, now? How helpful is it to always be
worrying about things? While thinking about this, Breathe in and Breathe out (5x).
Change that Feeling In this part, I want you to think of something else to help you feel
better. This means that you can replace that feeling. Some feelings are productive and useful
while some may be unproductive and useless. It is because they are no longer appropriate to
the situation. You have the power to change your feelings by actually changing your thoughts
about the feeling. This process is called REFRAMING.. Where is the feeling coming from? Or,
you can ask, “Where is the ball coming from?” Why did it hit you? How do you manage your
feelings? You can manage it by changing the name of the ball into feelings of gratefulness,
understanding, happiness, and contentment. Breathe in. Breathe out (5x)

Alternative Activities

You can also do other breathing exercises, yoga poses, tai-chi with humor injected into it,
engaging in sports but in a non-competitive manner, or dance moves using both slow and fast
beats.

ANALYSIS

What do you feel? What do you think was the point of Catching, Checking and Changing your
feelings?

What was the reason why you had to reframe your thoughts?

ABSTRACTION

Can you compare how you feel right now with how you felt before we started with the activity?
Do you see some changes? Are the feelings positive? What are these new changes in the way
you feel at the moment?
Use the columns below labeled with the words “Before” on one side and “After” on the other
side. Under the word Before, write your feelings during the pandemic/disaster. Under the word
After, write your feelings at this very moment, after going through the Catch, Check and
Change Exercise.
 BEFORE (my feelings during the AFTER (my feelings right now)
pandemic/disaster)

APPLICATION
How can you apply your newfound knowledge to your daily life? After going through the
activity, I learned that the feelings that I CAUGHT could be…

After a while, I CHECKED the feelings and realized that I could…

And so I CHANGED my feelings into the following:

Tell yourself: The next time when I experience intense feelings, I would take a deep breath 5X
to calm down, and then check, change the feelings by reframing my thoughts.

CLOSURE

As a way to close the session, repeat this line to yourself: “Emotions can be caught (like in a
ball), checked (on helpfulness or usefulness and accuracy) and changed.”
 Module III on PFA: IDENTIFYING and ADDRESSING NEEDS

Objectives: By the end of this module, you should be able to

 To identify one’s current needs and those of one’s family
 Become aware of the various institutions, departments and centers present within the school
environment or the immediate community
 Take note of the important numbers and information regarding who to approach for their needs

Materials: pen

ACTIVITY Saan ka Pupunta?

We have discussed about feelings, thoughts and how to accept and reframe them. Today, you
will learn about how to refer people in need. I want to show you the List of Emergency Contact
Numbers and Information. Please detach this list from this module set and place it somewhere

List of Emergency Contact Numbers and Information

Organization Contact # and Address Contact Person

Barangay Health Office

Barangay Disaster Team

DSWD office

Hospital

Psychologist or Social
Worker

Covid Screening Center

Your School

in your home where it would be visible to all members of your household. The list contains
numbers, names, and addresses of certain government and non-governmental offices that we
may all approach in order to have our family’s needs addressed. You can add other
emergency contact information to this list.

Let us now discuss the list of common needs of people after they have experienced a disaster:

List of Common Needs of Survivors after a Disaster or Pandemic

General To find missing family members, to provide medical assistance to those who
were hurt, to gain access to list of casualties, to know how many were
affected, to provide proper burial facilities for those who have passed on
 Food and Water To provide waterline to homes, to gain access to source of water for multiple
purposes, food for x number of days

Family Goods Blankets, clothes, beddings, tarp, flashlight, storage boxes, underwater,
dignity kits, disinfectants/alcohol

Fuel For vehicle, gas for cooking, for kerosene lamps

Shelter Temporary shelter, building materials to be used for repairs

Would this list be complete? What do you think are the needs that are missing? Let us talk
about the needs of people during a pandemic. Look at the table below to find out how best to
access these needs:

List of Common Needs During a Pandemic and How to Access Them

Relief Goods To receive relief goods and “ayuda” or from the Barangay
level, City Mayor, and DSWD.
Selling of Product and Is your family involved in selling some products or goods?
Goods They too, need to get permits to travel and to sell their basic
goods and commodities. Go to your Barangay Center to issue
the permit.
Transportation within If you need to travel within your area of vicinity, go to your
your area. Barangay Center and ask for permission to go to a Grocery
Store, Market place, Supermarket or Pharmacy store. A
quarantine pass is issued by your Barangay. Wearing face-
mask is always needed.
Transportation outside Go to your Barangay Center to get a travel pass that will
your city or allow you to pass major thoroughfares. Make sure you are
municipality. Covid-free. Make sure also that you wear your face-mask.
They also provide you with vehicles.
Cash Assistance or The DSWD releases cash amounts in three tranches to poor
Social Amelioration but deserving families. Contact your local DSWD.
Program (SAP)
Cash Assistance to Overseas Foreign Workers (OFW) and workers who have
OFW been displaced may avail of Government Cash Aid by the
DOLE.

Now look at the Needs Form below. On the first column, list down all the members of the family
whom you live with. On the second column, identify the immediate needs of this person that your
family cannot address as of this moment. On the third column, identify where you can refer this
person to or who you can approach in order to ask for help regarding the needs of this person. If you
do not know anyone who can help that person, just leave it blank first.

Needs Form

Family/Relative/Friend Current Immediate Need Refer to

Congratulations on being able to identify where you can refer your loved ones to in order to get help. It
is not easy to be able to do this so if you were able to do so, then you did a great job!
Can we talk about what you think your own needs are? Who can you approach in order to address your
own needs?

ANALYSIS

Why do you think it is important for all of you to learn about whom you can go to for your own needs
and the needs of your family?

Why do you think it is important for you to learn about whom you can go to for your own needs and the
needs of your family?
I would like to commend you for knowing whom you can approach in times of need. I am happy to know
that they too have a good support system in you. It’s good to know that they can depend on you.

ABSTRACTION

Think about news reports that showed how at times, even these linkages could not do their
responsibilities efficiently. Why do you think these groups had a hard time? Can you also recall some
great or good stories about how other groups were able to help you very well?
 Module IV on PFA- SOURCES OF STRENGTHS

Rationale

The aim of this module is to encourage you to revisit your strengths in order to support your self-
efficacy to deal with their situation. In order to encourage a hopeful outlook, the module serves to
reinforce sources of support and internal and external resources.

Activity: Ang Saranggola at Ako

Objectives: By the end of this module, you should be able to

 Identify personal, social, and emotional sources of strengths during and in the aftermath of the
disaster/stressful situation
 Identify your internal and external sources of strength

Materials: markers/crayons, pen

Introduction

Hi! During the first day, we discussed validating and normalizing our feelings. Last Tuesday, we talked
about how to calm down and manage our feelings. Yesterday, we talked about our needs and how to
address them. How are you today? You just have one last module to do before you reach the end of
these PFA sessions. Today, we will focus on your sources of strength. This is our way of reminding that
you have resources within yourself or with others that have allowed you to begin to face the new
normal-your process of recovery.

One the next page is a drawing of a kite or what we call a saranggola. Another name for it is, Guriyon
or Bulador. Among the Cebuanos, it is called Banog-Banog. Can you tell me what makes it go up in the
air? You are right, it needs the wind to go up in the air. What can make it strong enough to not break by
air? It needs good needs a strong brace. It needs good material. It needs a line or a long string. The
paper must be properly glued. And it needs a strong brace.

Just like a kite, you too have what it takes to fly. On each part of the kite’s diamond, Kindly write down
what you think are your sources of strength. What makes you strong despite what you have gone
through during the past few months of pandemic? An example would be, “ang pagiging matatag, buo
ang loob, masayahin, at may tiwala sa sarili.”

Can you also identify what or who acts like the wind for you? Who provides you with support? Who or
what helps you soar? On the areas outside the kite, write down the names of these people or things
that act like the wind for you.

Take time to color your drawing. Below it, write a brief explanation about your sources of strength and
the people and things who act like the wind to help you fly or soar.
ANALYSIS

What have you realized about yourself after drawing the kite?

ABSTRACTION

How are you similar to the kite? What are your strengths as a person?

APPLICATION

The next time you feel weak, imagine your saranggola in order to remind yourself that you have a
number of sources of strength? Finally, can you write a poem with one stanza and 4 lines (isang
saknong na may 4 na linya o taludtod ng tula) about your sources of strengths?

Example: Ang Saranggola ko at Ako

Ang saranggola ko at ako
Parehong-pareho
Ako ay Matatag, Sya rin ay Matatag
Ako ay di Babagsak, sya din ay di
babagsak
Tangayin man ng
hangin Hinding hindi
matitinag!

CLOSING

Facing the mirror, read and recite out loud the poem you have written about your sources of strength.