Originally developed as part of the STEEP™ program, Seeing is Believing® is a unique practice that helps parents increase their sensitivity and responsiveness to their babies' cues by using a filming strategy. Through filming and guided viewing, Seeing is Believing® promotes perspective-taking by giving parents a chance to see, from the camera’s point of view, what happens between them and their baby.

The primary goal of using filming is to promote the parents’ self-observation and reinforce their growing knowledge of and sensitivity to their babies. Using filming as a self-observation tool, we present parents with a way of seeing themselves and their babies from a new vantage point. We urge parents to see their own strengths and those of their babies and encourage them to consider their infant’s perspective as they interact with their babies. The parent keeps the film as a documented memory of the baby’s development.

Typical age of child for final film project for course: Most people work with very young children (approx. birth to five) and their parents. You can adapt this model to older children but the emphasis is on capturing and building up the relationship between the child and the caregiver(s).

Seeing is Believing® - Online is designed for education and human service professionals working in the homes of families with very young children. The purpose of the course is to teach the techniques of filming and guided self-observation to work more effectively with parents, helping them to strengthen their parenting skills.

The learning objectives of this course are to help the student:

• understand the technique's conceptual underpinnings of attachment and relationship-based practice,   
• learn the technique itself, and  
• have opportunities to practice and share your experiences with fellow students.

The course includes a combination of online reading, lecture, discussion, and practice activities and includes a final video project.

Next session: September 3 to December 10, 2012

Cost

$225 plus required materials (group rates available)

Register Online

Required Materials

1. Please purchase the required textbook prior to the start of the session:

• Erickson, M.F., & Kurz-Reimer, K. (1999). Infants, toddlers, and families. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN # 1-57230-487-1.

2. Registering students may purchase this required publication for half-price during the registration process:

• Seeing is Believing® Training Manual and Practice DVD ($25, price for registered students only)

Continuing Education Certificate

24 clock hours

Kathi Blomquist, Instructor

Kathi Blomquist, PHN, MS, IMH-E®-III is a public health nurse by background and has worked as a home visitor with infants and families in a variety of public health nursing and other community settings since 1979, providing relationship-based services to support parents in their developing relationships with their children. Kathi currently is a PHN Clinician (supervisor) in the Nurse-Family Partnership Program with Ramsey County Public Health. Previously she worked as a home visitor and group facilitator in the STEEP™ program and as an Infant-Parent Specialist (home visitor) in the Healthy Families/Infant-Parent Development Program at St. David's Child Center for Child and Family Development (part of the Metro Alliance for Healthy Families). She is also an NCAST (Parent-Child Interaction Scales) instructor and consultant. Her professional interests are in the areas of reflective practice, infant and early childhood mental health, and home visiting.

Kathi teaches CEED's online course Seeing is Believing®: Filming Families and Using Guided Self-Observation to Build on Parenting Strengths.

Related Resources

• Flier: Seeing is Believing®

Upcoming Sessions

• Fall 2012: September 3 to December 10, 2012

Questions?

If you have further questions or would like a sample syllabus, please contact Karen Anderson, CEED Online Course Manager, at 612-625-6617 or ander352@umn.edu.

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