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

Seeking professional help to improve your 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 things are being done wrong when raising children.

One of the techniques that help to be aware of errors when interacting with children is the video feedback technique, which basically consists of recording a daily situation between the adult and the child and analyzing what could 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, especially, its usefulness with children with problems, keep reading.

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What is the video-feedback technique?

The video-feedback technique is a type of intervention, used both in the clinical and social fields of psychology, which is used to record the behaviors of a person, detect those that could be a problem and make them see, by viewing the recorded video, what should be done change.

Going to the field of child psychology and, especially, in relation to social services, the technique of video-feedback has outstanding use when detecting situations in which a parental style is being carried out negligent. Thus, using this tool it is possible Capture situations that may impede the proper development of the child or even pose a risk to your own life.

Viewing the video makes it possible to create a shared space between the child and her caregivers, fostering empathy and sensitivity on both sides. Thus, the parents, once they are aware of how the child feels or what were the problems that prevented him from develop properly, they are able to change their parenting style in favor of a better growth of their shoots. All of this is done while the therapist emphasizes the positive of the adult-child relationship.

How is the application of this technique developed?

Nowadays, shooting quality video in therapy is quite easy for professionals, thanks to the cheapness of high-quality cameras. In addition, the videos can be easily handled, showing the sequences in which the problem behavior is performed. It should be understood, however, that any type of recording is not valid. The recording itself must be structured appropriately, according to how the therapy is expected to develop and those behaviors that are considered relevant to highlight.

During the first two sessions, the behavior of the children is focused on and, in the following sessions, the relationship between the caregiver and the infant is analyzed. Thanks to the fact that it begins with the behavior of the child and not with that of the adult, it is possible to establish in a more solid way an adequate alliance between the caregiver and the therapist. This is because the parent or legal guardian does not feel attacked when starting therapy, and therefore so much he does not get the feeling that he is solely responsible for what is happening to the child.

Thus, after the third session and those that follow it, the alliance between the professional and the parents is comfortable and safe enough to be able to make parents behave completely naturally, showing their own parenting style without makeup and allowing the therapist to change whatever necessary.

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Theories that support this technique

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

1. attachment theory

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

One of the pillars of the theory is that infants seek the safety and care of 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 mean 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 before them.

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

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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, due to ignorance or negligence, do not know how to deal with their children's negative behaviors, and they only apply punishments to see if they can extinguish them. Interventions using video feedback allow parents to be shown what aspects of their style parental did not work and, promoting the positive, change the behavior of their children in the most appropriate.

Also, by viewing examples of what should be done, the parents who come Therapy can learn by observing how they should behave appropriately with their shoots.

Key aspects when applying this type of technique

The application of interventions that make use of video-feedback techniques is not something as simple as it might seem. For this, it is necessary to take into account a series of key aspects to be able to extract the maximum juice from 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 to change their parenting style and modify unwanted behaviors in the child. It is very important to make the caregivers see that the therapist seeks the same as them, the well-being of the child and promote the proper emotional development of it.

For it, it is necessary for the therapist to show her support to the family, without judging her in case any mistake was made before coming to therapy. Family members should feel heard, so it is very helpful to spend a little time with each one of them. to talk about possible problems they have suffered, which could explain certain failures when raising the children.

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

Although the intention of this type of technique is to improve the behavioral aspect and make both parents and children see what hasn't been working so farIt is very important to highlight the positive points, such as the fact that they have been given a roof to live in, clothes, food, Christmas gifts...

Support technique for adopted children

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

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

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