Parent Sessions
Working with parents is one of the most enjoyable parts of my practice. Involving parents is often an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to making progress in therapy. During the course of play therapy, I typically prefer to meet with parents for a parent session once a month. In a parent session, we have the opportunity to discuss your child’s progress in therapy thus far, including any play themes that may have emerged. This is also the perfect time for us to discuss the most effective ways to support your child across settings. My goal during these sessions is to highlight your specific strengths and values as a parent, and provide you with additional tools to improve your child’s level of functioning. In addition to parent sessions, I also provide more specific parental support. Depending upon your child’s behaviors and goals for treatment, a more intensive program, such as PCIT, may be appropriate.
Parent Child Interaction Therapy
Parent –Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a parent training intervention that teaches parents specific play therapy skills and behavior management techniques as they play with their child. PCIT focuses on improving the parent-child relationship and increasing children’s positive behaviors.
PCIT is a developmentally appropriate and effective treatment for children between the ages of 2-7 that exhibit the following behaviors:
- refusal to comply with adult requests
- physically aggressive behavior
- frequent emotional dysregulation (“temper tantrums”)
- difficulty staying on task
- difficulty taking turns
- school related behavior difficulties
- destruction of property
PCIT is an exceptionally effective treatment backed by over 20 years of research. Treatment averages approximately 12-14 sessions. Parents generally experience marked improvement in 3-4 sessions.
Wondering if PCIT would be helpful for your child? Give me a call and let’s discuss.