I first heard about Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) in December 1996 when I attended a two-day introduction to this method of training given by Raymond Simpson and Hilary Kennedy, two psychologists who had brought VIG over to Scotland from the Netherlands, where it originated. The numbers of practitioners being trained in Britain has grown steadily and there are now about two hundred, using VIG in a variety of contexts.
Before I attended this introductory course I knew only that this method of training involved video, and it just looked at someone's strengths. I felt unsure about how you could help someone change without also talking about their difficulties , was this just brushing all those things under the carpet and simply 'looking on the bright side?'.
Exciting work
However, there was something exciting about the way the work was described on those two days, and together with a small group of colleagues I embarked on the training the next year. This lasted 18 months, with monthly supervision visits by Raymond Simpson.
During the course of this I became profoundly convinced about the power of video to bring about change , precisely because it did focus on strengths. Nothing was brushed under the carpet, but less useful ways of interaction fell away on their own. It was , and is , rewarding to watch people's views of themselves change through this process.
VIG does this not by teaching particular strategies, but through micro-analysing videotape frame by frame to heighten awareness of both the verbal and non-verbal communication skills which promote positive interaction. As mentioned above, tape is always used where interaction is going well.
I have used VIG in several nurseries in Southwark , initially in the South Southwark Nursery Project (described in Nursery World, 7 January 1999) and now in the Sure Start project in the north of the borough.
To give an idea of the detail involved in this way of working, the following is a description of 10 seconds of videotape. This was filmed one day in the room of one of these nurseries while the staff and children carried on their activities as normal. The staff member, Jennifer, was sitting at a table when Leon came up with a toy police helicopter and another child, Courtney, came over and attempted to snatch it from him.
10:49:50
Leon lifted his arms to keep the helicopter beyond Courtney's reach, saying 'Wait, wait, wait!'
In VIG you look first for the child's initiative, and then the adult's response. Leon's reaction to Courtney's attempt to grab the helicopter is his
initiative.
10:49:52
Jennifer said to Leon, 'He has to wait a minute.'
This is Jennifer's response. She is making eye contact with Leon , she is sitting on a child's chair and so is at his level , and says this in a way that sounds as though she is saying it to let him know she has heard what he has said, and she will uphold this 'rule' which will enable sharing. This is my hunch: in the feedback session with Jennifer I will need to ask her what was happening there , why she chose to say that rather than anything else.
Clearly I am in the position of just trying to guess: only Jennifer knows. Jennifer will say whether she was saying this primarily to let Leon know she was going to safeguard his turn, or if she was thinking more of helping Courtney know he would have a turn shortly, or whatever else.
10:49:54
Jennifer says, 'Is it your turn now, Leon?' as she puts her arms around Courtney. Leon moves away slightly, and plays with the helicopter.
In the feedback session I will want to ask Jennifer what was in her mind here. Was she reassuring Leon again that he could go on playing? Why did she put her arms around Courtney at that point? What did she think that Courtney was feeling that made her feel that would help? The answer to the question, 'Did it work?' is always 'Let's see what happened next'. Here it seems that Leon feels he can go on playing, and Courtney likes the physical contact, and climbs on to Jennifer's lap to ask for more.
10:49:59
Jennifer says to Courtney, 'It's a nice helicopter, isn't it?' as he climbs on her lap. Again, why did Jennifer choose to say this to Courtney? It seems to me that she is following Courtney's interest at this point , the helicopter , and by holding and talking to him in this way, she is giving him attention which he is enjoying.
The fact that he tried to snatch the helicopter has been ignored , will this make it more likely that he will try snatching again in the future, as he hasn't been made to realise it is wrong and reprimanded for it? This seems unlikely: what Jennifer seems to be doing is conveying the message that it is good to wait your turn , making the waiting rewarding. Again, it is crucial in the feedback session to find out what Jennifer was doing and why.
And so the piece goes on. The painstaking detail of the analysis in the feedback session means that 20 seconds of tape can easily take half-an- hour to discuss. Before the feedback session, through micro-analysing the tape herself, the VIG practitioner finds a section of no more than a few minutes where there is a pattern of good communication. She needs the feedback session to hear from the adult concerned why she did or said each thing, but the success of the interaction is already quite evident on the tape.
The VIG practitioner shows just this small bit of tape, stopping it almost frame by frame, after each adult response to a child initiation. It is for the person on the tape to say what is happening, and why she did or said something. The VIG practitioner may subsequently add her opinion but will always check whether this is right and, if not, will drop it.
It is a joint venture , by choosing the tape the practitioner provides a starting point for discussion, but the person on the tape holds the knowledge about what went on and why, and from there can take the discussion in whatever direction she wishes.
Self discovery
It is this self-discovery that is powerful , but it is self-discovery in the presence of someone who can highlight a subtle sensitivity to the child that might well otherwise be missed.
Through VIG, nursery staff have become aware of skills that they did not know they had and have become much more confident in their work.
Jennifer says: 'When I first started our training I was very apprehensive about seeing myself on video, but after the first session I relaxed, as we only concentrated on the positive aspects. It was encouraging to see that I was doing some things right, and to see the things that work. I know the training has improved my practice, and made me more conscious of how I talk to the children and build relationships with them.' NW
- The names in this article have been changed to protect confidentiality.
Deborah Fulford works as a child mental health worker at the Maudsley hospital's children's department and ran the South Southwark Nursery Project in London for two years. The aim of the research project was to help nursery staff respond to the emotional needs and behavioural difficulties of the children in their care. She is now using VIG at a
Sure Start project at Aylesbury Early Years Centre.
