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Types of Therapy > Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
Parent-Child Interaction
Therapy (PCIT)
Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a combination of
play therapy and behavioral therapy for young children and
their parents or caregivers. The adults learn and practice new
skills and techniques for relating to children with emotional or
behavioral problems, language issues, developmental
disabilities, or mental health disorders.
The treatment was developed in the 1980s and 1990s by
Sheila Eyberg, a psychology researcher and professor at the
University of Florida. Eyberg wrote the Parent-Child
Interaction Protocol and is the president and CEO of the
group PCIT International.
Contents
When It's Used
What to Expect
How it Works
What to Look for in a Parent-Child Interaction
Therapist
When It's Used
Used mostly by parents and caregivers, this intervention
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teaches specific skills to help improve physical and verbal
exchanges with their children. PCIT was developed for use
with children ages 2 to 7 and has been shown to be effective
for children who exhibit disruptive behavior or have
experienced trauma, as well as those on the autism
spectrum. PCIT and PCIT-based programs can also serve as
interventions for preventing child abuse and neglect and for
decreasing a child’s risk for antisocial and criminal behavior
later in life.
What to Expect
In Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, parents and caregivers
play with the children in one room, while the therapist
observes and coaches from an adjacent room equipped with
a one-way mirror. The therapist communicates with the adults
through an earphone, providing training and guidance.
Parents and caregivers are discouraged from using negative
language and encouraged to ignore harmless negative
behaviors while showing enthusiasm and giving praise for
positive behaviors. Therapists also help parents reflect the
child’s speech back to them to help with communication,
describing the child's actions out loud, improving the child’s
vocabulary, and imitating the child’s good behavior in order
to demonstrate approval.
These techniques aim to produce several outcomes for
children, including:
Decreased frequency or severity of tantrums
Increased feelings of security, safety, and attachment to
the primary caregiver
Increased attention span
Increased self-esteem
Decreased frequency, severity, or duration of aggressive
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Decreased frequency of destructive behavior and
defiance
And for parents:
Increased calmness and confidence during discipline
Reduced stress and depression
Decreased frustration
More positive family interactions
During the COVID-19 pandemic, therapists increasingly used
video calls with clients to conduct PCIT. Recent research finds
that, due to the observational role of the therapist in the
treatment, PCIT (in its digital form sometimes called iPCIT) is
particularly useful as a teletherapy, where the video screen
replaces the one-way mirror.
How It Works
By learning specific techniques, parents and caregivers can
build a better relationship with a child, and the child may start
to demonstrate improved behavior. Overall, PCIT can help
improve family dynamics by reducing negative behavior and
interactions within the family by practicing new behaviors and
methods of communication that are encouraging and
reassuring.
When practiced consistently, these new skills and techniques
can instill more confidence, reduce anger and aggression,
and encourage better individual and interactive behavior in
both the parent and the child.
Researchers also find evidence for improved outcomes
among untreated children in the family, likely due to the
parent or caregiver’s overall enhanced skills.
What to Look for in a Parent-Child
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Interaction Therapist
Practitioners of PCIT must be certified by the group PCIT
International, which requires practitioners have a master’s
degree and additional training in the technique. PCIT
therapists, social workers, and counselors work in private
practice and in community mental health settings.
In addition to finding someone with the appropriate
educational background and relevant experience, look for a
therapist with whom you feel comfortable working on
personal and family issues.
References
PCIT International
Ginn, N.C., Clionsky, L.N., Eyberg, S.M., Warner-Metzger, C.W.,
Abner, J.P., Child-directed interaction training for young children
with autism spectrum disorders: Parent and child outcomes. 2017.
Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. 2017;46(1):101–
109.
Piquero, A.R., Jennings, W.G., Diamond, B., et al. A meta-analysis
update on the effects of early family/parent training programs on
antisocial behavior and delinquency. Journal of Experimental
Criminology. June 2016;123(2):229–48.
Lyon, A.R. and Budd, K.S., A community mental health
implementation of parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT). Journal of
Child and Family Studies. October 2010;19(5):654–68.
Gurwitch, R. H., Salem, H., Nelson, M. M., & Comer, J. S. (2020).
Leveraging parent–child interaction therapy and telehealth
capacities to address the unique needs of young children during
the COVID-19 public health crisis.Psychological Trauma: Theory,
Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S82–S84.
https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000863
Last updated: 11/28/2022
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Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
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