Children and Families
The Glen Strathie Partnership have chosen to work using strengths-based practice since 2000, giving us a wealth of experience in applying interventions and assessment in the workplace.
'With the growing focus on self-directed support (Scottish Government, 2010a), self-management of illness and long term conditions (Scottish Government, 2008a), and working together to achieve better outcomes (Christie, 2011), there is increasing interest in identifying and building on the strengths and capacities of those supported by services, as a means to help them resolve problems and deliver their own solutions. Strengths-based approaches concentrate on the inherent strengths of individuals, families, groups and organisations, deploying personal strengths to aid recovery and empowerment. In essence, to focus on health and well-being is to embrace an asset-based approach where the goal is to promote the positive.'
- Strengths-based approaches value the capacity, skills, knowledge, connections and potential in individuals and communities.
- Focusing on strengths does not mean ignoring challenges, or spinning struggles into strengths.
Adapted from Lisa Pattoni iriss-insight-16.pdf
Development programme examples
Video Enhanced Reflective Parenting (Group Work Training for Professionals)
Video Enhanced Reflective Parenting is a group work approach to enabling parents develop confidence and self-belief in their abilities within a supportively challenging environment.
Video Enhanced Reflective Parenting will have, as a major strength and feature, the video element that encourages reflectiveness, enables empowerment and creates images of future successes.
Video Enhanced Reflective Parenting is not an approach that can be learned from a manual either by parents or by professional practitioners. It is not about teaching parenting skills, but is very much about learning through reflection and self-modelling.
The reflective activities enhanced by video are designed to create an environment and emotional climate in which empowerment of the parent can be achieved.
A Nurturing Approach to Dynamic Assessment.
Learning outcomes -
- Participants have enhanced awareness of the impact that their interaction and relationships have on the process of assessment.
- Participants increase observation skills and critical analysis
- Participants understand attunement principles and their connection with attachment through accordant and discordant interaction patterns
- Participants understand theories of intersubjectivity, scaffolding and empowerment and how to put these into practice to assist assessment
- Participants build knowledge from each other through practice based workshops and films
- Participants feel confident in undertaking written assessments
- Participants build skills through the use of video observation and reflection
- Participants demonstrate the key principles and values of assessment in practice
The Glen Strathie Partnership has extensive experience in the following areas. All courses have been highly evaluated and are designed to develop staff skills and knowledge and actualise the values of strengths based working with families in practice.
- Solution Focussed Conversations for Change
- Dynamic Assessment with Families
- Working with Families for Change
- A Nurturing Approach to Child Development and Assessment
- Communicating with Children
- Communicating with Parents
- Video Enhanced Reflective ParentingTM (Group work)
- Health Behaviour Change
- Training courses/development programmes are written to meet the needs of the organisation.
- Key areas: Attachment, Communication, Engagement, Intervention, Assessment, Child Protection, Protecting People, Family work.
Video Enhanced Reflective Practice (VERP) Accredited by AVIGuk
See page on Video Enhanced Reflective practice and how it has been and can be adapted to develop the skills of those working with children and families Special Commendation in Scottish Social Services Council 2011 Care Accolades in the category 'Investing in the Workforce: Developing Practice'.
Evaluation comments
'The course has enabled her to look at her practice and has confirmed her ability to assess children’s needs-usually an accurate account of her observations. She is also more confident in writing reports and attending meetings where she can speak about the child's development with more confidence.’
Team Manager
'I have seen the benefit to two very able workers who were lacking in their analysis of situations. Also their reports are more evidence based.'
Team Manager
