PCIT

PCIT | Parent Child Therapy | Child Therapy | Trauma Counseling | Grand Junction | Colorado

Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) is a positive and intensive treatment program designed to help both parents and children. The program works with parents and children together in order to improve the quality of the parent-child relationship and to teach parents the necessary skills for managing children’s behavioral problems.

PCIT is an effective treatment that can be delivered via telehealth.

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a dyadic behavioral intervention for children (ages 2.0 – 7.0 years) and their parents or caregivers that focuses on decreasing externalizing child behavior problems (e.g., defiance, aggression), increasing child social skills and cooperation, and improving the parent-child attachment relationship. It teaches parents traditional play-therapy skills to use as social reinforcers of positive child behavior and traditional behavior management skills to decrease negative child behavior. Parents are taught and practice these skills with their child in a playroom while coached by a therapist. The coaching provides parents with immediate feedback on their use of the new parenting skills, which enables them to apply the skills correctly and master them rapidly. PCIT is time-unlimited; families remain in treatment until parents have demonstrated mastery of the treatment skills and rate their child’s behavior as within normal limits on a standardized measure of child behavior. Therefore treatment length varies but averages about 14 weeks, with hour-long weekly sessions.

Program Goals

The goals of the Child-Directed Interaction part of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) are:

• Strengthen parent-child relationship

• Help children feel safe and calm by fostering warmth and security between parents and their children

• Increase children’s organizational and play skills

• Decrease children’s frustration, anger, and negative behaviors

• Educate parent about ways to teach child without frustration for parent and child

• Enhance children’s self-esteem

• Improve children’s social skills such as sharing and cooperation

• Teach parents how to communicate with young children who have limited attention spans

• Increase parent confidence

• Improve children’s speech and language

• Improve children’s focus and attention

The goals of Parent-Directed Interaction part of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) are:

• Teach parent specific discipline techniques that help children to listen to instructions and follow directions

• Decrease problematic child behaviors by teaching parents to be consistent and predictable

• Help parents develop confidence in managing their children’s behaviors at home and in public

• Improve children’s compliance and decrease negative child behaviors

PCIT Research Findings

Strong Evidenced-based treatment with close to 200 articles/chapters and numerous randomized controlled studies

• Improvements in child behavior

• Externalizing behaviors

• Internalizing behaviors

• Improvements in parenting skills and attitudes

• Generalization to school

• Generalization to untreated siblings

• Reductions in the risk of child abuse

• Benefits for parents and other caregivers

• Decreased parenting stress

• Decreased maternal depression

• Improvements in trauma symptoms

• Improvements in speech/language skills

• Effective with parents with cognitive deficits

• Gains lasting over 6 years

More about PCIT

Learn more below about PCIT-TC