Parent-Child Interaction Therapy(PCIT)
January 24th, 2008 |GoodTherapy.org maintains a list of psychotherapy & counseling approaches for the purpose of informing people about different forms of therapy. We’re currently updating this list of therapy models and we’ve just finished our update to Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy is an empirically supported treatment for conduct-disordered young children that places emphasis on improving the quality of the parent-child relationship and changing parent-child interaction patterns. You can view the update to our section on Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and/or view our entire list of psychotherapy & counseling models . Enjoy :)
January 28th, 2008 at 10:19 am
This treatment option sounds very promising. I am always intrigued when two different types of therapy are combined into one. Pulling strengths from two different methods often makes up for the weaknesses of both. Does anyone have any personal experience with this sort of therapy? It sounds like it would be a good one if both parties are committed to seeing the situation through to a beneficial conclusion for the child.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:21 am
I am wondering if anyone has ever used this sort of therapy successfully with adopted children. I currently have a client who is adopted and is acting out a lot. His parents and I are having a difficult time reaching him and figuring out a solution to his behavioral and emotional problems. I’d really love some feedback on the effectiveness of this treatment in adopted children.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I have used this therapy successfully two different times. One happened to be with a child who was adopted while the other was a biological child. With the adopted child, we had some good results. This child was adopted as an eight month old from an orphanage in Russia. He was the favorite in the orphanage, so he had a nutritional and emotional advantage over many of the other children that are adopted from Russia. However, he still struggled with abandonment issues as an elementary aged child and was acting out in school and at home. This treatment did wonders for this child and his adoptive family.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:26 am
I, unlike Art, have not been as successful with PCIT. Perhaps my training was lacking or my personality just does not mesh with this sort of therapy. I am going to read the books that were suggested, though, to see where I may have gone wrong. I am so glad, though, that Art was able to help the family he mentioned. Even reaching one family through out one’s career is a wonderful accomplishment. However, I’m sure he helps many more with his professional and caring attitude. I know his clients are fortunate to have him on their side!
January 31st, 2008 at 11:30 am
I have been doing PCIT for four years. With a long history of helping parents with their parenting nothing has come close to this in terms of success. It has given so many parents help in the moment as they struggle with their child’s behavior.
I have also had the opportunity to use it several times with foster and adoptive families. It is particularly useful with this population since the first phase of PCIT is all about strengthening the attachment. Parents learn how to meet the needs of children who may have attachment issues in successful ways.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:49 am
This can be a useful therapy for very young children. It does have some empirical support. Unfortunately, many children who enter therapy are brought by parents at an older age.