Three H Debrief

1. Form pairs or small groups of no more than six people.
2. Invite each person to reflect on one or all three aspects of their experience, according to three criteria:
   – Head – what new understanding, knowledge or skills did you discover;
   – Heart – what feelings and emotions did you experience; and/or
   – Hands – what practical action(s) are you now called to do.
3. After a few moments, invite each person to share their response/thoughts with their partner(s.)

Video Transcript for Three H Debrief
presented by Mark Collard

In your group of four I would like you now to reflect back on the morning and specifically look for ways in which each of these three occurred for you.

For example if you’re looking at heads, you’re looking at the logic. There’s a particular science perhaps to what occurred this morning. You can then share what you see in that.

There’s also the heart. That relates to feelings. What did you actually observe that you felt or actually observed in the sensations of other people?

And the final one was hands. What did you actively do? What did you physically and mentally and otherwise get actually involved with? If you needed to, think of it as got your hands dirty.

So you’re focusing now on reflecting back on what we’ve now experienced this morning, if you need to even yesterday, but with those three criteria, head, heart, and hands. And before you move on to the next one make sure you’ve got some ideas around each of them before you move on.

Got the basics? It’ll only take a couple of minutes but make sure each person has a chance to share. Go.

(people playing Three H Debrief)

This is a simple, well-structured technique for reflecting upon an experience.

Ask your group to form smaller groups of two people (pairs) but no more than five or six people.

Explain that you would like each person to reflect on their experience in terms of three primary influences:

• Head – what new understanding, knowledge or skills did you discover;
• Heart – what feelings and emotions did you experience; and/or
• Hands – what practical action(s) are you now called to do.

After a few moments, invite each person to share their thoughts and responses with their partner(s.) Allow several minutes for discussion.

If appropriate, invite a couple of volunteers to share the most significant parts of their conversation with the larger group.

One of the wonderful benefits of this reflection technique is that it guides your participants through a sequence, not unlike the familiar What? So What? and Now What? strategy.

For younger groups, you may wish to elaborate a little more, or use alternative language, to describe the three primary influences, eg what new information did you discover (head,) what emotions did you feel (heart) and actions are you going to take now (hands.)

For obvious reasons, the Three H Debrief could also be called the Heart, Head & Hands Debrief, or any other combination of words that start with H.

You could integrate Three H Debrief as part of a well-designed SEL program to develop your group’s ability to understand their emotions, thoughts and values and how these influence behaviour in different situations.

Specifically, this activity offers opportunities to explore and practice the following social & interpersonal skills:

Self-Awareness

• Identifying Emotions
• Linking Feelings, Values & Thoughts
• Identifying Personal, Cultural & Linguistic Assets
• Recognising Strengths, Prejudices & Biases
• Demonstrating Self-Confidence, Honesty & Integrity
• Experiencing Self-Efficacy

Social Awareness

• Taking Other’s Perspectives
• Demonstrating Empathy & Compassion
• Understanding & Expressing Gratitude
• Appreciating Diversity
• Respecting Others

Relationship Skills

• Communicate & Listen Effectively

Responsible Decision-Making

• Demonstrating Curiosity & Open-Mindedness
• Making Reasoned Judgements
• Promoting Personal & Collective Well-Being

You can learn more about SEL and how it can support character education here.

There is no specific health & wellness perspective to this activity other than promoting the benefits of self-awareness and sharing with others (see Social-Emotional Learning tab for more.)

If you can think of more explicit ways in which Three H Debrief could be purposefully integrated into a health and wellness program, please leave a comment at the base of this page.

• Biggest Impact: Describe each of the three aspects – head, hearts and hands – and ask people to consider which one of these areas they were personally most impacted.
• All G: Take a look at Three G Debrief for another useful, structured processing technique.
• Open the Virtual Adaptation tab to learn how to present this activity online.

• Allocate the participants of your virtual or remote gathering into unique breakout rooms of two people, and proceed as described above.

It may sound like…

• “THINKING BACK OVER [enter particular experience], I WOULD LIKE YOU TO SHARE WITH YOUR PARTNER YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT HOW IT INFLUENCED YOUR HEAD IN TERMS OF NEW KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING, YOUR HEART IN TERMS OF THE FEELINGS YOU EXPERIENCED, AND FINALLY, THE PRACTICAL ACTIONS THAT YOU WILL NOW COMMIT TO …”
• “WHEN YOU REFLECT BACK ON [enter particular experience], WHICH OF THESE THREE ASPECTS WERE MOST HEAVILY INFLUENCED – YOUR HEAD, YOUR HEART OR YOUR HANDS?…”