On November 4th I had the pleasure of training two multidisciplinary groups of professional support staff and colleagues in Hamilton Township Public Schools, N.J. The agenda was “using the matrix for collaboration and consultation with teachers, students and parents”. The group consisted of learning consultants, guidance counselors,  student assistance counselors, school social workers and psychologists. While we all have different perspectives and responsibilities there is a shared common purpose: supporting and enhancing learning for students.

In performing our duties we are sought out by teachers and others to solve problems. Some problems require a brief intervention or suggestion, others more complex and challenging. The matrix was offered as a functional tool to assist the group in promoting psychological flexibility, especially with respect to difficult issues and situations. After asking for permission to show the audience the “psychological flexibility point of view” we spent the next three hours training and playing with the matrix.

Each attendee was initially handed a small whiteboard. My colleague and matrix savvy teammate Lynda Marasco along with talented school psych intern Ana Benalcazar facilitated the process and helped to move things along throughout the day.

Participants were led through their own matrix first. We then practiced presenting the matrix in pairs to learn how to “ride the matrix bike”. A few brave souls accepted the invitation to  come up before the group to “matrix” a colleague.  After a little ACT/RFT theory talk we then went through the matrix as a group. We “developed” a group identity, noticed internal obstacles, and identified toward and away moves relative to our collective mission.  I divided the group into subgroups and each was assigned a  “context” ( parent meeting, crisis, staff consultation, etc ) , using the matrix to come up with a shared purpose, consensus actions, and a way to monitor group progress. By the end of the training everyone had a five sense experience of giving and receiving the matrix and folks left buzzing about noticing their “toward and away moves”!

It was great to see the groups come together and engage in a flexible, collaborative process. This usually happens when you present the matrix. A good bit of creativity and fun showed up among participants as well.