“I Hate Sim!”—Using Psychotherapeutic Concepts to Help Educators Attend to Challenging States of Mind During Simulation Prebriefs

Abstract

Summary Statement This article outlines the theoretical development of an approach to simulation prebriefing that we have adopted at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. Many educators struggle with anxious or reticent learners during simulation. This reticence often becomes apparent first during the simulation prebrief. Previous work highlights key points to cover in a prebrief. Less work has been done on the dilemma of how to engage such learners while also attempting to maintain a pedagogically effective stance for the entire group. This article pulls together current best practice guidance on prebriefing before exploring pertinent concepts from psychotherapeutic and pedagogical domains—the therapeutic setting, the therapeutic stance, and epistemic trust—which we believe can usefully and practically be applied to simulation practice in the service of engaging reticent learners while enhancing the psychological safety of both learners and educators.