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Solihull Approach - 2 Day Foundation Level

Solihull Approach - 2 Day Foundation Level

Overview

Level: Skilled

Impact Assessments:

Reaction

Learning

Behaviour

Results

To train practitioners in the Solihull Approach that can be applied directly in their work with babies/children and families.

A two day workshop delivered in person or online.  The training is facilitated by two trainers with each of the training days two weeks apart to allow time and opportunity for consolidation in the interim.  

Is there a cost for this learning resource? :

Yes

There is a cost for NHS Scotland as the training is provided by NES staff.  NES provision of training is specifically focussed on Train the Trainer, to support areas to build up their own pool of Trainers to sustain dissemination of the model on a local level. For those areas in which there is not a baseline of practitioners trained in the Foundation Level training and therefore in a position to go on to become Trainers, NES is able to support access to Foundation Level training for those practitioners identified as future Trainers. is part of the training programme. It is recommended that all practitioners trained in the Solihull Approach have access to this Resource Pack.

Has this resource been accredited or endorsed by any organisation? :

The training is a manualised training – Solihull Approach 2 Day Foundation Training.

Training model:

The Solihull Approach can be applied across health, education, social care and third sector organisations.  It is relevant for all staff working with babies, children, young people and their families.  The training can be delivered online or in person.  

Trainers must have undertaken the Foundation Level training and ideally have had opportunity to embed the Solihull Approach within their professional roles.  They can then go on to complete the Train the Trainer training.  Once practitioners have undertaken this training, they are recognised as Solihull Approach Trainers and can go on to deliver Foundation Level Training.

Staff capacity and time commitment:

The workshop duration is 2  full days.  Practitioners will also require time after the workshop to become familiar with the approach and to engage with activities to embed the approach within practice (see workforce supports section)

Author/developer:

The Solihull Approach

Contact for Further Development

Further information is hosted on The Solihull Approach and NES Parenting: Infant Mental Health

Link to resource

Quality dimensions

Usability

The quality of the parent-child relationship is crucial to the way the brain wires itself up, and to the child’s ability to regulate its own emotions and behaviour. 

Relationships between parent and child that are characterised by trauma, neglect and stress are known to have a detrimental effect on infant brain development, child behaviour and emotion regulation. 

Our brains continue to form new synapses and prune away obsolete connections throughout life, through there is always potential for change.  However, critical pathways developed during the first years of life can continue to exert a strong influence and may be hard to change.

 

Session 4:

The most important aspects of a containing relationship are:

  • The parent’s mind being available to think about the baby (trainers should discuss factors which undermine this e.g. mental health problems).
  • The parent observing cues from the baby (thus requiring reciprocity).
  • The parent thinking about what feelings are being elicited in him/herself.
  • The parent digesting these cues and feelings and trying to make some sense of them.
  • The parent conveying back to the baby, in words or actions, that the baby’s experience is being thought about with care (‘held in mind’).

Containment requires two people in a reciprocal relationship.  The parent provides the containing experience for the infant.  The infant should not be expected to provide a containing experience for the parent.

There is a parallel process of containment between parent and worker.  It is strongly recommended that workers seek out appropriate supervision particularly regarding the emotional aspect of their work.

An emotionally containing relationship promotes resilience and is a necessary part of good mental health.

Session 5:

The Dance of Reciprocity is the basis for all healthy relationships (baby-parent, parent-worker, husband-wife, teacher-pupil) and can be observed from the first few hours of life.

Both parties have equal status in influencing the Dance.  A degree of mismatching is necessary to promote healthy emotional growth and to facilitate resilience.  Ideally, ruptures in the Dance should be repaired by the parent without shame or anger towards the baby.

  • Reciprocity is important for:
  • Self-regulation.
  • Building block of the quality of attachment.
  • All transitional stages (reading cues)
  • Clear sense of self.
  • Language development and social skills.
  • Provides a blueprint for all relationships (links to attachment).
  • Links to baby brain development. 

Session 6:

Sensitive and effective behaviour management is an outcome of containment and reciprocity.  Therefore the Solihull Approach does not start with behaviour management, but puts it at the end of a process of understadnding the parent/child relationship.

As with containment and reciprocity, ‘good enough’ behaviour management (boundary setting) is a building block of the quality of attachment and is a feature of all health relationships.

In the Solihull Approach, standard behaviour management techniques are tailored and timed to suit the unique pattern of each individual family.

Session 7:

The resource pack contains theoretical and practical information.  The elements are designed to support, not replace, a containing and reciprocal relationship between worker and parent.

Session 8:

Provides an opportunity to put this way of thinking into practice with time allocated to share and discuss expriences.  This will help ‘bring the theory alive’ in day 2’.

Session 9:

The Solihull Approch is a way of thinking about families.  It also has an emphasis on practice.

Containment, reciprocity and behaviour management are observable features of a relationship.  The quantity and quality of each of these aspects can tell us a great deal about what is going on in a relationship.

We are not judging families on the basis of one observation or appointment.  We are discussing what we have seen as a way of developing thinking and practice in the Solihull Approach.  

Session 10:

The DVD is one example of how thinking about a situation can lead to change.

No direct behaviour management advice is given, the family worked it out for themselves.  It was enough to get Conor onto a different developmental trajectory.

Session 11:

Many small studies have been conducted which have shown consistently positive group trends about the outcome of the Solihull Approach, including one-to-one work, groups for parents and online courses for parents. 

A randomised controlled trial also supports these findings.  The Solihull team encourage people to contribute to the evaluation process through, for example, local evaluations.

Current research on one-to-one work with families is based on small sample sizes and we cannot comment on the outcome for individual families.  However the findings so far are very encouraging.

It is important not to be drawn into exaggerating the findings of out evaluations.

New research on the Solihull Approach is published every year.  The up-to-date list can be found on the website. 

Session 12:

The Solihull approach can be used as a framework for thinking about many aspects of a professional’s work extending beyond individual support.  For example, group work, smoking cessation, antenatal, health promotion, safeguarding and domestic violence.

The Solihull Approach model of working can be used to develop services, group work and training by applying the Model to the planning, delivery and evaluation stages.

Where professionals are working across agencies the Model can be used to facilitate joint working.

The Solihull Aapproach Model can assist professionals in their thinking about public health at a population level.

Session 13:

Participants will be thinking about applying the Solihull Approach framework to their practice. 

Continuing practice development will require ongoing reflection, discussion and supervision.

Session 14:

Reinforce the positive experience of the training day.

Encourage participants to incorporate the Solihull Approach way of thinking into their practice.

 

The training is supported by the Solihull Approach Resource Pack resource and a powerpoint presentation/use of video.  Familiarisation with the content of the resource pack is part of the training programme. It is recommended that all practitioners trained in the Solihull Approach have access to this Resource Pack.

Supports

Supports - Workforce

There is an implementation guide for the Solihull Approach in Scotland to support services with implementation.

Practitioners will require time to attend the workshop, complete the theory to practice task, and afterwards to review and engage with materials to embed course content into practice and to engage with any follow-up supports.  The training includes discussion of practitioners plans to consolidate and integrate the approach into their practice.

Within the implementation guide, services are encouraged to develop a local programme of consultation and continuing professional development events to support practitioners in embedding the Solihull Approach into their practice. These may be general refreshers of the core components of the Solihull Approach, reflective practice sessions drawing the approach into case discussions, or more tailored to specific local need, for example linking GIRFEC to the Solihull Approach. Consultation and consolidation such as this have the dual benefit of also allowing experienced Solihull Approach practitioners and trainers to build on their continuing skill base in disseminating the model.

Supports - Technology

If attending the training online, an internet enabled device is required.  

Supports - Administrative

This is dependent on who is providing the training – whether training is a local cascade or externally provided.  To collate delegate lists, maintain record of practitioners trained, arrange and send out training materials (resource packs, certificates, agreement/code of practice), to arrange and support trainings (either online or in person).   

Supports - Financial

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) provides financial support through the provision of foundation level training where there is not a baseline of practitioners trained in the Foundation Level training and therefore in a position to go on to become Trainers.

Staffing resources to embed the Solihull Approach into practice (e.g. through a Solihull Approach Coordinator/Champion).

Evidence base

The Solihull Approach is based upon the application of child development and well-established psychological theory to practice and underpinned by existing research evidence in early brain development and the importance of early relationships and experience.

There is an evidence base for the Solihull Approach in general as outlined here   Solihull Approach Parenting - Our impact and evidence-base with studies demonstrating improvements in the following: the parent-child relationship, child prosocial behaviour, behaviour difficulties, parental anxiety and stress, and practitioner satisfaction. 

Learning is through instructive presentation (including the use of video), group discussion and theory to practice tasks.

Impact assessments

Reaction

Evaluation forms are completed at the end of training.  

Learning

Evaluation forms include section on learning and how this will be implemented within the workplace.  

Reflective practice.  The second training day focuses on theory to practice links – including reflections upon a task completed between training days, group discussion about applying the approach and individual identification of a way in which the approach will be taken forward/integrated into their practice.   

Behaviour

N/A for NHS Education for Scotland (NES).  Use of shared language and Solihull Approach concepts in practice  may be evident in case discussion, supervision, observed practioce.  

Results

Evidence from peer reviewed studies of the Solihull Approach demonstrate improvements in the following: the parent-child relationship, child prosocial behaviour, behaviour difficulties, parental anxiety and stress, and practitioner satisfaction.

KSF dimension information in relation to the learning resource

Child Development and Attachment

Mental Health in Children, Young People and their Families

Engagement, Containment and Communication

Identification and Understanding of Need

Supports and Interventions

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