Video-feedback technique: what it is and how it is used in education and parenting.

A resource for improving child-rearing and parenting methods in the family environment.

Seeking professional help to improve one's own parenting style is always useful and necessary, even if you are a good parent. However, sometimes it is not possible to be fully aware of what you are doing wrong in parenting.

One of the techniques that help you to be aware of mistakes when interacting with children is the video-feedback techniquewhich basically consists of recording an everyday situation between the adult and the child and analyzing what may be going wrong.

Thanks to the development of mobile devices and video cameras, this technique has been gaining more and more use in the therapeutic field. If you want to know more and, in particular, its usefulness with troubled children, read on.

What is the video-feedback technique?

The video-feedback technique is a type of intervention, used in both clinical and social psychology, which is used to record a person's behaviors, detect those that may be a problem and make him/her see, by viewing the recorded video, what needs to be changed.

In the field of child psychology and, especially, in relation to social services, the video-feedback technique has an outstanding use when detecting situations in which a negligent parental style is being carried out. Thus, by means of this tool it is possible to capture situations that may be an impediment to the correct development of the child or even pose a or even pose a risk to the child's own life.

Watching the video allows the development of a shared space between the child and his or her caregivers, fostering empathy and sensitivity on both sides. Thus, parents, once they are aware of how the child feels or what were the problems that prevented him/her from developing properly, are able to change their parenting style in favor of a better growth of their offspring. All this is done while the therapist emphasizes the positive aspects of the adult-child relationship.

How is the application of this technique developed?

Nowadays, recording quality videos in therapy is quite easy for professionals, thanks to the availability of high quality cameras. Moreover, the videos can be easily managed, showing the sequences in which the problem behavior takes place. It should be understood, however, that not just any type of recording is valid. The recording itself should be structured appropriately, according to how the therapy is expected to unfold and those behaviors that are considered relevant to highlight.

During the first two sessions, the focus is on the child's behavior, and in the following sessions, the relationship between the caregiver and the infant is analyzed. By starting with the child's behavior rather than the adult's, it is possible to establish a more solid foundation for the child's behavior, an appropriate alliance between caregiver and therapist can be more solidly established.. This is because the parent or legal guardian does not feel attacked at the beginning of therapy, and therefore does not feel that he or she is being held solely responsible for what is happening to the child.

Thus, by the third and subsequent sessions, the alliance between the professional and the parents is sufficiently comfortable and secure to be able to make the parents behave with total naturalness, showing without makeup their own parental style and allowing the therapist to change what is necessary.

Theories that support this technique.

The application of this technique is based on two theories that have been fundamental in explaining the emotional development of children, as well as helping to better understand how infants perfect their social interactions. Thus, the following two psychological theories can be highlighted as the basis.

1. Attachment theory

The video-feedback technique has been elaborated taking into account attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth..

One of the pillars of the theory is that infants seek security and care from adults, looking for those caregivers who offer them these aspects.

The behavior of these children will depend on their relationship with their caregivers.. Ideally, their parents should be a source of security, care and love. In this way, an intimate and warm relationship will be established, which will result in a correct emotional development for the baby.

According to this same theory, in order to develop a secure attachment, it is necessary that the child's caregivers have the ability to adequately and accurately perceive the signals emitted by the child and know how to respond to them.

The objective of the video-feedback technique is to get the child to establish a secure attachment with his caregivers, first detecting possible negligent behaviors carried out by their parents or legal guardians. legal guardians.

2. Social learning theory

Albert Bandura's social learning theory has also been related to this type of technique. According to the theory individuals learn by observing how others are rewarded for behaving in a certain way..

Many parents, either through ignorance or negligence, do not know how to deal with their children's negative behaviors, and only apply punishments to see if they can extinguish them. Interventions using video-feedback allow parents to show what aspects of their parenting style were not working and, by encouraging the positive, to change their children's behavior in the most appropriate way.

Also, by viewing examples of what should be done, parents who come to therapy can learn through observation how to behave appropriately with their children.

Key aspects when applying this type of technique

The application of interventions that make use of video-feedback techniques is not as simple as it may seem. For this, it is necessary to take into account a series of key aspects in order to get the most out of the technique.

One of the main factors to take into account is the relationship between the caregivers and the therapist. This is crucial in order to ensure the necessary duration of therapy, encouraging the involvement of parents or legal guardians in changing their parenting style and modifying undesired behaviors in the child. It is very important to make the caregivers see that the therapist seeks the same as them, the wellbeing of the child and to promote his or her proper emotional development.

To this end, it is necessary for the therapist to show support for the family, it is necessary for the therapist to show support for the familyThe therapist should be non-judgmental in the event that a mistake has been made before coming to therapy. The members of the family should feel listened to, so it is very helpful to dedicate some time to each of them to talk about possible problems they have experienced, which could explain certain failures in raising children.

The application of this technique should be done in a pleasant and fun way, as long as it is not a case of real child abuse. Parents should not feel guilty and see the therapy as a kind of punishment for not having known how to provide their children with a secure attachment.

While the intention of this type of technique is to improve the behavioral aspect and to make both parents and children see what had not been working so far, it is also to improve the behavioral aspect and to make parents and children see what had not been working so far. what had not been working so far, it is very important to emphasize the positive points, such as the fact that they have been given a roof over their headsIt is very important to emphasize the positive points, for example, that they have been given a roof to live under, clothes, food, Christmas presents...

Support technique for adopted children

The social and emotional development of adopted children is influenced by the experiences before the adoption. During this time, they may have suffered all kinds of abuse. But it is not only the period before adoption that may have influenced them. There are also the experiences during the first few months with their new parents which, depending on how they handled these new caregivers and the way the infant behaved, may or may not have been a source of difficulties.

There is ample research in the field of psychology that supports that adopted children may suffer developmental delays, including psychomotor, cognitive, emotional, attachment and social relationship difficulties. However, if adopted by families who know how to provide appropriate stimulation, these children show outstanding development.

In spite of this, it is very common among adopted children not to develop secure attachment and, as a consequence, to suffer and, as a consequence, suffer from some behavioral problems. Interventions focused on improving parental style, such as the video-feedback technique, are of great help in families with adopted children, fostering an improvement in the emotional and social development of this type of children.