Training tape

Shown below are three training videos that can be used in demonstrating to home visitors how the visits should begin. The first step involves the mothers identifying a recent problem. The home visitor then assists the mother in determining possible reasons for the problem (shifting away from blame attributions if they occur) and exploring more benign (and potentially resolvable) explanations of the caregiving problem. The last step in involves assisting the mother in developing an action plan in figuring out what might help to reduce or solve the problem. When relevant, mother are assisting in "baby reading," that is, how one knows what an infant might be experiencing. The attempt here is to assist the mother over time in becoming a more effective problem-solver.

Choose a link from the following to view the movie:

• Attribution Training 1
• Attribution Training 2 (working with a mother before the child is born)
• Attribution Training 3 (working with a mother of a young infant)

A real-life home visit

This tape shows some of the kinds of interactions that occur later during a home visit, that is, after the initial problem-solving effort. The mother shown has twin boys that are about one year of age. She has been receiving home visits for about a year. Some of the things you will see are:

• The mother’s spontaneous generation of attributions during the visit.
• The home visitor reminding the mother of constructive attributions she made in previous visits.
• The mother’s demonstration of effective problem-solving.

Click on this link to view the movie:

• Home Visit

Supervision of home visitors

This tape shows some of the issues that come up during supervision of home visitors. The supervisor (a licensed family therapist) provides guidance to a home visitor in finding ways to assist a mother in avoiding blame attributions and substituting benign explanations--explanations that facilitate resolutions. You will also see a discussion of the ways in which a mother could be helped in “cue detection,” that is, finding effective ways to monitor the child’s responses to different kinds of events, and speculating as to what those responses might mean.

Click on this link to view the movie:

• Attribution Supervision