WAIMH 2021 World Congress

Presentations by Bristol and Cardiff clinicians

The WAIMH 2021 World Congress 22–26 June 2021 was a blend of in-person in Brisbane, Australia, and virtual online open to all. You can still register and view content until December 2021. Click here to read more about the Program.

Rachel Pardoe (Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist) and Dr. Jessica Williams (Highly Specialist Perinatal Clinical Psychologist in the Cardiff and Vale perinatal CMHT) presented a pre-recorded workshop at WAIMH 2021, available on-demand.

Providing a parent-infant therapeutic intervention online:
Video Interaction Guidance – empowering parents during COVID-19 (Workshop theme: Antenatal and perinatal practices).

Workshop: The online delivery of therapeutic interventions has become a necessary reality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The well-known challenges of parenting infants can be exacerbated by additional COVID-19 stressors including social isolation, financial difficulties, physical illness and parental mental health problems. Recovery from past or current trauma is even more challenging in the context of COVID-19 and its associated threat and uncertainty.

Despite these difficulties, parents and clinicians are discovering the benefits of using technology to enable the online delivery of therapeutic interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring access to psychological input at a critical time.

The aim of the presentation is to demonstrate, through audio-visual case examples, the potential benefits of Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) delivered online.

Presenters:
Rachel Pardoe worked as a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, and Parent-Infant Therapist, in the NHS for 28 years until 2019. Rachel is an accredited Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) practitioner and supervisor.

Dr. Jessica Williams is a Highly Specialist Perinatal Clinical Psychologist in the Cardiff and Vale perinatal CMHT. Jessica has worked in child and family services for many years and is training in VIG.