Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) is a strengths based, short to medium term therapy which uses video feedback to promote strong, secure relationships.
This 10 minute video, produced by health visitors in Coventry and Warwickshire, interviews parents about their experience of VIG and the impact it had on them.
As outlined in the video, VIG can be helpful in a wide variety of circumstances including post-natal depression or anxiety, birth trauma where it is impacting on the relationship with the baby/young child and either/both of their parents, and low self-esteem and negative internal commentary regarding how you are managing as a parent.
It is widely used in perinatal mental health teams and parent-infant relationship teams across the UK to support parent-infant relationships and is a recommended intervention in 3 NICE guidelines (Autistic Spectrum Disorder in under 19s, Children’s attachment, and Social and Emotional Wellbeing: early years).
I am an accredited practitioner of VIG, registered with the Association for Video Interaction Guidance (AVIGuk), who set standards for the training, practice and continuing professional development of VIG practitioners.
What happens in VIG?
If we decide together that VIG is an approach that could be helpful to you, we will establish together what your goals are from the intervention. We will arrange a time for me to make a brief (approx 10 mins) recording of you interacting with your baby/child, either in person or remotely (via Zoom).
In between the filming and our next appointment, I will edit the recording, selecting a few stills or short clips that highlight what you are already doing to achieve your goals. In that next appointment, or ‘shared review’, we will look at the stills and clips together in detail, reflecting on what it was that you were doing that helped create the special moment and how you can replicate and build on this. The shared review can be in person or online (via Zoom).
Parents often feel daunted by the idea of being filmed and some worry that I won’t be able to find any ‘good’ stills or clips in the recording. Rest assured that I will support you in setting up the filming in such a way that we will always be able to find stills and clips to view together! I also recognise that some parents may find being filmed particularly challenging for a variety of reasons. I will be sensitive to this and work with you to find a way of using VIG that you can manage.
Towards the end of each shared review appointment, we will revisit your goals and decide together whether they need any changes and whether we will proceed to a further ‘VIG cycle’ (recording + shared review). An average VIG intervention usually takes about 3 cycles, with a gap of 1-2 weeks between cycles. However, each family is different and so we will decide together what is the best fit for your family and review this as we go along.
As we come to the end of the intervention, we will explore how what you have learnt over the sessions could be applied to other areas of your life (e.g. relationships with older children, other adults, work-life balance, community) and identify any ‘next steps’. You will also receive copies of your stills and edited clips to keep. Some parents find that a ‘top-up’ VIG cycle at a future point (e.g. starting nursery, or birth of a sibling) can be helpful to consolidate some of the learning in the light of new challenges, and I can offer this.