We teach methods for parents and families: to learn how to build strong emotional bonds and rewarding relationships with children
We also train and certify practitioners through the Video Interaction Guidance Association (AVIGuk)
The good news is that It’s never too early or too late to learn how to communicate successfully with your child.
What We Do
At Kinexxions we run antenatal and post-natal classes for parents wanting to learn how to communicate successfully and build an emotional bond with their child, either while they’re pregnant or after they’re baby is born and begins to develop.
We use an easily understood method of communication skills – video interaction Guidance (VIG) – which is proven to support rewarding relationships between children and parents and boost a child’s brain development and emotional well-being.
These classes will benefit anyone who is about to become a parent, those adopting or those with older children, along with any family member and caregiver offering childcare.
The classes are run as groups, but they can also be organised individually with the Kinexxions lead to explore something specific about your relationship with your child and enhance your connection together.
WE’RE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER CHILD DEVELOPMENT CLASSES
Most baby-classes focus on the practical side of having a baby, such as preparing for their birth and feeding and bathing them. As they grow, there are all sorts of activities for toddlers, such as football, singing, dancing and soft play. At Kinexxions we focus on the emotional side of having a child and how you can start to build a relationship of trust, respect and fun together.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND KINEXXIONS: WHY IS COMMUNICATION IMPORTANT?
A child’s brain develops more rapidly from birth to the age of five than at any other time in their life. Research shows that experiences in these early years, both good and bad, directly affects a child’s brain development, and has a long-term impact on their health and ability to learn, build relationships and lead a healthy and happy life.
Learning how to communicate & read your baby’s cues triggers pathways in their brain which develop their ‘Core Capability Skills’, e.g., mental flexibility & focus, resilience, self-regulation and awareness skills.
We know from neuroscience that babies start to communicate well before they’re born and come into the world ready to have a conversation. Even very premature babies are equipped with emotions and a desire to connect with others, attract attention and anticipate people’s responses.
We know from research and parents’ experiences that babies, immediately after birth, can recognise and respond to a familiar tune that was played or sung to them, even before they were born. Which means it’s never too early to start communicating, or too late to improve communication skills.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND VIDEO INTERACTION GUIDANCE (VIG)
VIG is a strengths-based method that focuses on the quality of interactions between children and adults. It is supported by a strong theoretical and evidence base and has been used routinely for over 35 years, in schools, the NHS and charities such as the NSPCC and well as in professional development settings to support teams (e.g., educational and clinical psychologists, social workers, CAMHS workers, GPs and psychiatrists, perinatal nurses & health visitors, residential care staff, speech and language therapists, children’s centre workers and peripatetic teachers in early years and special education settings
It is recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the All-Party Parliamentary Group: Conception to Two Years- The First 1001Critical Days.
HOW WE HELP PARENTS AND FAMILIES
Classes are available for anyone wishing to learn about communication and emotional connection with babies and children of any age and increase the enjoyment of being a parent, family member and caregiver. We welcome everyone – all parents: mother and fathers; single parents; same-sex parents; adopting parents and family members.
GROUP OR INDIVIDUAL CLASSES & COSTS
Please feel free to come alone or bring someone.
Individual sessions can be booked and tailored to specific needs e.g., ante-natal, post-natal and for older children.
All sessions are relaxed and non-judgmental and completely confidential. The classes aim to be face-to-face but can also be delivered or joined online.
Group classes
Group courses consist of 3 classes each 1.5 hours.
Cost for each class is £50 per person or couple.
5% of the class cost will go towards supporting to facilitate classes for families from a lower socio-economic background.
Examples of group sessions
- Ante-natal – for expectant parents, adopting parents and supporting family or friend who want to learn how to support, communicate and build an emotional connection with an unborn child and continue to develop this relationship after the birth
- Post-natal – for anyone with a baby or child of any age who wants to learn more about how to communicate with their child and develop their relationship together as they grow into adulthood
- Parents with toddlers – for anyone with toddlers who wish to build on their communication skills by learning how to develop healthy boundaries with their children to establish safe and rewarding behaviour
- Family members & caregivers – we can help any family members, such as grandparents and caregivers supporting the family
Please contact the organiser for dates and times.
Individual sessions
Individual sessions can be booked face-to-face in your own home, in the guider’s home, or virtually.
- Anyone wishing to explore communication with children with a range of different qualities, or parents with a specific interest they want to explore and/or resolve
- By parents with no specific concerns, who just want to enhance their communication skills and build on the successful engagement they have with their child
- For couples who are becoming or have become parents and want to explore the transformation a new baby or child brings to their relationship. The communication skills we teach supports the idea of both parents being equally important people who can flourish through collaboration and understanding
PRACTITIONER TRAINING
Book NowThe VIG method can be beneficial to staff who work with children and young people in schools, nurseries, care settings, special education, for staff in higher education support.
Create a bold bubble with the following information:
- Starting your VIG training doesn’t require any previous experience or qualifications
- Training follows the apprenticeship model, which will allow you to learn the skills of delivering VIG while working with families
- The training begins with an initial two-day training course (ITC), which is a stand-alone course for anyone wanting to learn about the VIG method of communication
- Once you’ve completed the 2-days training, you are ready to begin your full training towards becoming accredited as a VIG practitioner
- Once you are accredited, you will be eligible to work with families either independently or through an organisation.
- The training usually takes 18 months and consists of hourly supervisions every 3-4 weeks. However, you can progress through your training at your own speed.
- When you start the full training, you will be registered with AVIGuk and have full access to the practitioners’ material and forums
Aims and learning outcomes
By the end of the two-day course (or four half days) practitioners will:
- Understand how and why Video Interaction Guidance works
- Be able to describe the principles of attuned communication
- Be able to take the new initiatives and principles of what they have learnt into their professional observations of parent-child or teacher-student communication
- And having seen themselves on video and experienced supportive feedback about their communication style from peers, they will also be able to describe their own strengths in communication with others and identify for themselves a working point or goal for any change
Testimonials
Clients tell us that the sessions help them to gain confidence so that parenting feels relaxed and enjoyable, while being safe in the knowledge that they are doing their best to meet their child’s needs:
Sinead and Andy, one month before giving birth to baby Albert:
“I learnt a lot from the time we spent with Alex. Some of it just blew me away – I had no idea that babies were born ready to communicate! Other things we’d done ahead of our baby’s arrival were focused around the practicalities of labour, birth, feeding and newborn care, this course got us thinking about the emotional side of things. It made me feel a lot more mentally ready to become a parent and so excited to meet our baby.”
Caroline & Tom (aged five months):
“Working with Alex, the guide really improved my confidence in my interactions with my 5-month-old son. She helped me to understand his methods of communicating with me and how my responses could improve our play time, feeding, sleeping, and future relationship! Using the VIG methods, the guide gave me advice and guidance on ways to be more natural with Tom in our everyday activities. I’ve continued these techniques at home and all aspects of our interactions and relationship has improved.”
Michael, dad to 9-month-old Rowan:
“Day to day, I notice a big difference with him, because I think I’m more relaxed. I think I’ve learnt to go with the flow and not be so hard on myself to get everything right, because I know I’m doing my best.”
Amanda & Jake (aged three months):
“It was very useful for me; very positive for me because I’m with him all the time. Learning about what Jake is capable of, even at 3 months has been really interesting. I used to do things to him and coo at him, but now I can see he’s having a conversation with me, which I didn’t notice before. Like when I say, “are you hungry? or shall we change your nappy?” and then he reacts back to me.”
Lucy, mum to one month old Phoebe:
“That evening I told my husband Richard about the course. He’d just got home and was enjoying Phoebe, but you know, taking to her at a million miles, so I went through what I had learned about slowing down and making eye contact and Richard was amazed, because Phoebe started having a conversation with him.”
Max, father to two & half year old Jamie
“He used to scream when he was having his hair washed. We dreaded it but learning VIG and how to say ‘no’ and set boundaries with him in an attuned way has completely changed that. Now we know how to prepare him, listen to his worries and reassure him.”
ABOUT
As a trained health visitor, with a husband a paediatrician, our household has always been fairly child focused. So, when our children were born, we felt confident that we knew what we were doing. But how naive we were! We very quickly learned this was not the case.
Later, when working as a medical anthropologist and researcher in the NHS and studying how poor communication affects children and young people’s long-term health and wellbeing, I came across the VIG technique and immediately found it a great way for children, young people, family members and health professionals to communicate successfully together. And this is when the seeds of Kinexxions were sown.
I originally trained as a health visitor in London and undertook research at Oxford, where she helped to develop the child health record known as the ‘Red Book’ (a national standard health and development record given to parents and caregivers at a child’s birth).
After bringing up my family, I completed a degree and PhD in Medical Anthropology at the University of St Andrews and later worked as a researcher in the NHS and Teaching Lead for Behavioural & Social Sciences at Dundee Medical School where I started to use Video Interaction Guidance (VIG), a communication method used to promote child-development and relationships within young families and multidisciplinary teams.
I also developed the method to support medical students referred from Student Support, who were failing their clinical exams.
Since moving to London in 2016, I have worked as a freelance VIG supervisor guider for families referred from a variety of government organisations and charities and continues to train and supervise practitioners in VIG from perinatal, Social Services, schools and children’s charities and
Alex lives with her husband and has three grown up children and seven grandchildren and a cat called Ruby.
CONTACT
Dr Alex Greene
alex@kinexxions.co.uk
07395 329341
If you’d like to make an enquiry or have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can leave us a message via our contact form and we will respond to your enquiry as soon as possible.