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What is the
PEDRA Process?

SENT Cards: Sensations, Emotions, Needs, and Threats

The SENT cards are a set of four decks of cards printed with the physical sensations, emotions, personal and interpersonal needs, and fear-based threats that are most likely to be involved in a distressing experience or challenging decision.

 

The benefit of using these decks is that the cards externalize our internal experience and make it concrete, allowing us to literally hold our experience in our hands. This in turn allows us to take a small step back from our experience so we can work with it constructively instead of being held hostage to distress and conflict. 

 

One of the loveliest aspects of the cards is the realization that “if my physical-emotional-interpersonal-spiritual experience is printed on these cards, it means that I am not the only one; other people also experience and struggle with these things!” This realization normalizes our thoughts and feelings. It also confirms the importance of paying attention to our inner experience as a source of potential wisdom, and suggests that trying to ignore or suppress what is going on within may have been part of the problem. 

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The PEDRA Process is a structured, prayerful method for making sense of our experience. It helps us sort through the swirl of emotions and conflicting thoughts we have when we are distressed or puzzled by something that has happened. It is also a helpful tool when we need to make a difficult decision, especially when the outcome of our choices and responses are going to carry weight for us and those we love or serve. 

 

The PEDRA process invites users to be curious about their inner experience. It rests on the assumption that there are valid reasons for our distress or inner conflict that need to be understood as part of the process of resolving things. It also invites users to draw on their spiritual resources and faith, assuming that there is more going on within than merely a psychological dilemma or confusion. 

 

The process of exploration involves prayerfully asking several questions about our inner experience; “what is happening physically and emotionally?”, “What do I need when all of that is going on internally?”, and “What is stopping me from asking that my needs be met (or from giving myself permission to meet the needs I can address on my own)?” A set of resources have been developed to support people through the process of asking and answering these questions.

 

The PEDRA process can be learned in a one-on-one or group setting led by a trained facilitator. A group learning session can also be included as a workshop within one of our retreats.

 

Please note that exploring challenging experiences can evoke strong emotions. If you are someone who often has intense emotional responses, or if you are a trauma survivor who sometimes gets triggered by others’ comments or attitudes, a one-on-one learning environment offers better support than a group setting. 

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The PEDRA process is supported by a set of resources specifically designed to help users recognize and accurately label their inner experience. The purpose of the process is to assist people in resolving their distress or conflict so they can move forward.

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“WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?” CARDS

A valid and important question that often surfaces once we’ve made sense of our inner experience using the SENT cards is, “so, where do I go from here?” As a follow up, the “WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?” cards include three decks designed to help answer this question. The decks include:

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  1. Question cards have statements we may have been told (or have come to fear) are true about ourselves that we now choose to question. One of the Question cards says, “I have been told that I am too sensitive. Is this true? Or, is it more accurate to say, “I am not always too sensitive, and I am not too sensitive for everyone all the time!”
     

  2. Permission cards contain low-risk one-time experiments a person might invite or give themselves permission to try. One of the Permission cards says, “I give myself permission to simply say ‘no thank you’ when a request makes me uncomfortable, even when I can’t explain why I am uncomfortable.”
     

  3. Change cards list changes of attitude or behavior a person might make a commitment to practicing over time until it becomes part of who they are. One of the Change cards says, “I will learn to have the strength and courage to do the things that are important to me even if that means I am disappointing others by not doing what they expect of me.

 

The full set of cards will be available soon. In the meantime, a small deck of sample cards is included with the SENT cards. 

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