The need for real time, day-to-day healing experiences required the development of an experience sampling methodology that preserves the trauma-informed safety for participants, promotes recovery, while also providing rice research data.
Photo-Experiencing and Reflective Listening (PEARL) is a process by which individuals can explore their reactions to the world around them and then reflect on these experiences with a trained, compassionate witness. It uses the benefits of experience sampling, mindful self-awareness, and trauma-informed interviewing to allow an individual to look at their environment in a new way and notice the people, situations, and environments that influence their thoughts and feelings about a particular topic.
In the PEARL, participants are asked to notice their day-to-day moments around them and capture them via photography. In this way, participants are able to recognize their experiences in the present moment and be mindful, in attempt to highlight inner self processes that may not be captured through typical question and answer interview formats. In our studies, we have found that this method facilitates problem identification and subsequent meaning-making through self-reflective techniques, allowing the participant and researcher to gain new insights about a phenomena of interest by discussing the daily experiences of the participant.
Watch a short video of the CENI-Pearl as a research and clinical instrument HERE.