Baby Watching Group (The wonders of combining Watch, Wait, Wonder and VIG)

 

A collaborative project led by an AVIGuk trained Supervisor and Senior Family Worker within the Fields Children’s Centre, Cambridge in 2018            

By Dr Miriam Craddock

 

Introduction

Two practitioners (a trained Video Interaction Guidance and a Senior Family Worker, both trained in Video Interaction Guidance - an evidence-based intervention using short stills and film clips to promote attunement - attended a two-day training course run by Monika Celebi based on the book ‘Weaving the Cradle – Facilitating Groups to Promote Attunement and Bonding between Parents, Their Babies and Toddlers’

• To observe and reflect on the psycho-physical responses evoked by being in a group, and by working with babies and toddlers

• To notice anxiety and practise ways to manage anxiety

• To learn about the impact of toxic stress on parents, babies, toddlers and facilitators, and how to nurture its opposite: a calm and connect system.

• To experience attunement via embodied mentalization and strength-based video feedback.

• To reflect on recurring themes, on the needs of parents, babies and toddlers, and on the role of the group facilitator.

 

As highlighted in Chapter 17 p. 215, Celebi (2017) states that  ‘Soothing and regulating babies is the first task of any parent and a central theme of all parent-baby and toddler groups. Practising gentle, apparently simple, repetitive movements such as rocking and humming lullabies in a group (as termed ‘Musicality’ by Colwyn Trewarthan) can have a profound effect, with all participants connecting on a primitive level of togetherness, which strengthen the sense that the group is a benign container.’

 

The training course drew on these principles as well as drawing from literature on mindfulness, such as pausing (at regular intervals) and ‘being in the present moment,’ noticing breath, posture, and any recurring patterns of thoughts, feelings, judgements and behaviour, to model the calm and connect system that will be replicated in the groups the facilitators will go on to lead.

 

Celibi (2017) expressed the view (p.219-220) that ‘Watch, Wait and Wonder (WWW) is an approach to teaching attunement that was developed originally by Nancy Cohen et al. (1999) and further extended by others (Celebi 2014; Zilibowitz n.d.). It suggests a slowing down, giving space and being curious before intervening. We use role play where participants literally step into a parent’s or baby’s/toddler’s shoes in a pretend Watch, Wait and Wonder situation, where the pretend parents are asked to follow their pretend baby’s lead for five minutes. This can be a challenge for some, who may tend to show and teach rather than sit back and wait. It can also bring much laughter and playfulness as participants are allowed to be and feel like a baby again. It is also a good starting point for reflecting on what it feels like to be a baby with a depressed parent/s, who is preoccupied and cannot attune. We film the WWW exercise, look at best moments together and give participants strength-based feedback, based on the principles of attunement, interaction and guidance.’ This approach aligns closely with the intervention of Video Interaction Guidance which is based on the theoretical approaches of primary and secondary intersubjectivity, and mind-mindedness, and on the attuned principles which were developed from an ethnographical approach through observations of video. The principles of attunement are grounded in the observations of attuned interactions of animals and humans, in their natural environment (Kennedy, Landor and Todd, 2015).

 

Aims and aspirations

With this in mind, a group to promote attunement and bonding between parents and their babies, using film to reflect on moments of vitality together in a supportive setting, facilitated by practitioners with experience of using Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) was jointly set up in a local Children’s Centre, to enhance relationships between and within the mother and her child relationship (four dyads) and the principles of Watch, Wait and Wonder were used alongside VIG. By using VIG and Watch, Wait and Wonder to support positive parent-infant relationships, the group aims were enabled to:

• Enhance parental sensitivity and attunement

• Promote parental responsiveness and reduce intrusiveness

• Increase positive affect and pleasure within the relationship

• Encourage a more secure attachment

 

As stated in the introduction above, prior to setting up the group the lead practitioners had attended the two-day training course led by Monika Celebi to learn how to facilitate parent baby groups (December 2017). The training aims introduced professionals to core concepts and clinical practices of facilitating parent baby groups and expanded practitioner’s sensitivity, self- awareness and skills, familiarise them with theoretical frameworks and increase practitioners’ understanding of a reflective space for the setting up and running of groups.

 

This Watch Wait Wonder Parent Group was run over 6 weeks at the Fields Children’s Centre between February and April 2018 for 1 hour/ week with four dyads (parent-child relationships), supported by a VIG Supervisor, Senior family worker and family worker who is trained in baby massage. The VIG Supervisor then edited the films taken within the group to show only moments of vitality and connection between parents and their babies; thinking both about the VIG Communication Principles (being attentive, encouraging initiatives, receiving initiative, attuned interaction, guiding, deepening discussion) and the relational goals of each parent. These films were then shared in the group to co-create and enhance a shared learning experience.

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Each session was run over the course of 1 hour, and followed the structure:

• 10.30 Tea and welcome

• 10.35 Sing the Hello song (5 minutes) “Hello ‘Mum’ Hello ‘baby,’ Hello everyone it’s nice to see you here.”

• 10.45 Gentle introduction “How has your week gone?” before Tommy thumb song

• 10.45-11.00 “A lovely moment for each parent” Looking at the images together in a containing circle, sharing of the positive images / short films (1-2 images/ films for each dyad).

• 11.00-11.05 Watch, Wait, Wonder “We’ll just spend a bit of time watching the babies.”

• “Let’s watch the babies” (practitioners model the principles of WWW)

• 11.05-11.10 Spend 5 minutes wondering together (“Did that feel like a long or short time? What did it feel like? Did you notice…? What was it like when…baby gave you that big smile? If baby had words what might he/she say? What might baby be thinking/feeling? I’m noticing how much he/she is enjoying looking at you. “I wonder what he/she would say?”

• 11.10-11.15 Baby massage/ positive touch led by a Family worker from the Centre

• 11.15 Repeat 5 minutes of ‘Watching’

• 11.20 Repeat 5 minutes of ‘Wondering’

• 11.20-11.25 Sing the Goodbye song/ River song, e.g.  “Bye bye ‘Mum’ bye bye ‘baby,’ bye bye everyone, we hope you’ve had some fun/ it’s time to say goodbye.”

• 11.30 Home time: “What will you take into everyday life?”

 

Evaluation

In order to measure impact, Target Monitoring and Evaluation (TME) was chosen as an effective evidence-based outcome measurement for relational goal setting pre- and post- the project to evaluate impact. A relational goal (or helping question) was set with each of the four dyads and scaled on a scale of 1-10.

The relational goals are illustrated below.

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Summary of impact measure of group

Change through strengths-based goals focused on relational attunement

 

Dyad 1 N and C (11 months)

N’s Goal: I’d like my baby to be calmer

N’s helping question: What is it that I’m doing when my baby is calmer? (Baseline=3, Achieved=8) 

 

Dyad 2 L and F (8 months)

L’s Goal: I’d like for there to be more moments for him to explore more

L’s helping question: What am I doing to help him to explore more (Baseline=3, Achieved=8)

 

Dyad 3 L and P (5 months)

L’s Goal: I would like to develop confidence as her Mum

L’s helping question: I would like the bond with P to continue to get stronger (Baseline=7, Achieved=10).  

 

Dyad 4 M and K (8 months)

M’s Goal: I would like to continue to enjoy shared moments with my baby        

M’s helping question: How am I bringing playfulness into our relationship (Baseline=7, Achieved=8)   

 

The TME data revealed an average (mean) positive shift of 3.5 points progress across all dyads with respect to the relational goals across the group.

 

Qualitative feedback was also collated from post-intervention questionnaire and comments revealed that participants felt positively about the group, and the relational changes that had occurred.

 

“I’m proud of myself that I’ve got the bond with her now. Before I struggled to pick her up.” “Now I know that she needs to know that I am there to help her calm. If she can see or hear me she’s alright.” “I feel my confidence has improved to join other parent/child groups.” “I’m less anxious about him falling now, and he is exploring the world more.”

 

Summary and implications for practice

 

Reflections from the commissioner (a Children’s Centre Manager) of the current project joined the final celebration session, and shared the impact that the project had for parental confidence and the development of mind-mindedness (Shai, D. & Belsky, J. 2011). The commissioner reflected that the project was good value for money, in relation to the impact data indicating that the project is a ‘good spend’ in being able to evidence the impact of its overall aim: to increase the reflective capacity of mother’s in recognising and attuning to their infant’s initiatives in early-infant interaction.

 

References

 

Celebi, M. (2017) Weaving the Cradle – Facilitating Groups to Promote Attunement and Bonding between Parents, Their Babies and Toddlers. London: Singing Dragon Publications.

 

Meins, E. (2011) Sometimes Words Will Do. Child Development Perspective 5, 3, 181-182.

 

Shai, D. & Belsky, J. (2011) When Words Just Won’t Do: Introducing Parent Embodied Mentalizing. Child Development Perspectives 5, 3, 173-180

 

Kennedy, H., Landor, M. & Todd L. (2010) Video Interactive Guidance as a method to promote secure attachment. Educational & Child Psychology 27, 3, 59 – 72.

 

Weingarten, K. (2000) Witnessing, Wonder and Hope. Family Process 39, 4, 389 – 402.