ABSTRACT
The Turning In stage involves the transition of group members from the concerns and pressures of day-to-day work in healthcare to a reflective, perspective-taking mode. The National Health Service in the United Kingdom, for example, practitioners have had to deal in years with drastic cuts to services and staffing in the face of increasing demand. Staff coming into a reflective practice group from responsible and challenging clinical jobs are often stressed, and it can take a while for them to feel physically settled and calm. Some of the exciting new discoveries from neuroscience suggest why it is important, and also difficult, for healthcare staff to make the transition from a stressed, emotionally charged state to a more reflective and analytical one. Van der Kolk describes the way in which heightened stress activates the parts of the mind and body involved in defensive action and deactivates those parts which generate creative and relational thinking.
