WORKING WITH VIDEO IN ASSESSMENT AND PSYCHOTHERAPY OF AFFECTIVE-BEHAVIORAL
DEVELOPMENT DISORDERS
Authors: Bardyshevskaya Marina 
Published: November 2023

The included therapeutic observation with videography and
analysis of video recordings of patients’ behavior during the psychotherapeutic
consultations provides a convincing alternative to cognitive and verbal
methods of studying affect and behavior. This refers especially to the patients
of early age and the ones with severe disorders of affect and behavior. The
nature of affect is easier and more natural to detect by a method that directly
elicits and works with it and is sensitive to current changes in a child’s
emotional states. We propose a new direction – the use of videography and
analysis of video recordings of a child’s behavior in the framework of psychotherapeutic
consultations with the open participation of the operator. The
analysis uses the author’s dynamic classifi cation of affective-behavioral development
with a qualitative-quantitative form of results’ presentation. The
data show the directions of development in different affective-behavioral
complexes (ABC, Bardyshevskaya, -). Each ABC is determined by
its motive of development. The ABC includes a special repertoire of emotions,
behaviors, connections with objects and people (types of connections within
each ABC and with other ABC refl ect them), symbolic activity, ways to
prevent emotional breakdowns. There are  early-forming ABCs: the ABC of
psychophysiological survival, the symbiosis-based ABC, the ABC of expansion,
the play-dialogue and attachment ABC, the role-play ABC. According
to the dynamics of emotions, behavior, contact, symbolic activity, the vectors
of development of  types of behavior are defi ned. The central vector
of abnormal development is distortion. The vectors going from it and to it
(from high norm, norm, delay, damage, decay to distortion, and in the opposite
direction) are easily seen in video and can be used for prognosis of further
development. We spread N.A.Bernstein’s idea of the role of anticipation
and an image of the future in the construction of movements to the whole
development, which is at least partly under child’s choice and control. An
open video recording of a consultation has therapeutic impact for the child:
general activation, disclosure of latent, incomplete patterns, opening of hidden
achievements, strengthening of refl ection and forming autobiographical
memory. Analysis of video recordings according to the suggested scheme has
advantages: () accuracy and funding of diagnostics due to expert evaluation, a directed selection of episodes (for the certain ABC and for the certain vector
of development); () fl exibility: from express diagnostics (just the dominant
and leading ABCs at the moment, the birth and dynamics of a new behaviour)
to a longitudinal study, confi rming the primary short assessment; () unique
diagnostics of the symbolizing of current experience; () refi ned selection
of optimal therapeutic loads. For students video study of previously identifi
ed and systematized developmental patterns gives a time-saving and deeper
alternative to traditional perennial supervisions “in words”. We do such
trainings at the psychology department at Moscow State University. More
information can be found in the author’s book “Videography of development
and analysis of video recordings in clinical psychology” (Bardyshevskaya M.,
Moscow University Publishing House, ).