Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
H ave you ever wished there was someone whispering in your ear—letting you know what to do and say when your child throws another embarrassing temper tantrum in the library or continues to have aggressive behaviors at home, despite your threats to take away screen time?
With Ashley Huddleston, LCSW on your side, you’ll not only get an empathetic parent coach, you’ll get to practice in real life the techniques you’ve learned and see them work quickly! You’ll discover a new way to interact with your child that not only enhances your attachment but has a lasting impact on their behavior.
Sign up for Parent-Child Interaction Therapy—proven to help calm your young child’s most difficult behaviors and help you restore peace in your home.
Who is PCIT for?
Your child is perfect for PCIT if they are ages 2 - 6 years old and you’re noticing disruptive behavior problems including:
- Opposition and defiance
- Tantrums
- Aggression
- Not responding to discipline
Adult participants may be biological parents, as well as foster, relative or other primary caregivers.
How many sessions?
An average of 15 therapy sessions focus on relationship enhancement and discipline strategies to improve behavior and family relationships and emphasize concrete skill-building, live parent coaching, and home practice.
What is unique about PCIT?
PCIT is focused on the relationship between the parent and child - not the therapist and the child. Parents first learn effective therapeutic strategies, and subsequent sessions involve parent-child play to practice skills while Ashley coaches the parent through a listening device from an observation room. This way the parent assumes and maintains the therapeutic role, to be generalized to the home and public environments where parents need it the most!
What is the structure of PCIT?
PCIT begins with an assessment of the behaviors you are experiencing. This helps us know exactly what we will need to work on! Phase one of PCIT is focused on teaching parent skills that bring out the best in young children without the use of discipline. Often many of the behaviors decrease in the first phase, simply because the relationship enhancement skills are so powerful.
What does the room look like?
The play room is comfortable and child friendly, with both table and floor space and engaging toys to elicit parent-child interaction and FUN! The observation room allows the therapist to support and coach the parent in mastering the skills. Ashley’s style as a coach is warm, encouraging and enthusiastic.
Source: handsonparenting-pcit.com
Does it work?
PCIT is highly effective and most families observe improvements in child behavior very early on in treatment. Sometimes, PCIT is appropriate for children who have experienced trauma and need help getting behaviors under control before processing trauma is possible.