Strengthening Bonds
Raising children may come with immeasurable joy, but all children can develop behaviors that test limits…and patience. Although asserting their independence and testing limits is part of the typical development process, sometimes children develop behaviors that put caregivers in challenging situations. Building and maintaining strong bonds between caregivers and children helps both sides reduce stress and frustration. If your family is experiencing behavior that’s causing fatigue, frustration, or hopelessness for caregivers, Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) may help.
Consider the following questions:
Do you avoid redirecting your child because of the way he/she may respond?
Do you avoid public outings for fear your child’s behavior will be too much to manage?
Do you give in to your child’s request to avoid conflict?
When your child is being disruptive, do you find it challenging to manage your frustration?
If you answered “yes” to any of these, PCIT may be a helpful tool. Designed to manage behaviors such as:
Threatening or bullying behavior toward caregivers and/or peers
Physical aggression towards caregivers and/or peers
Deliberate destruction of objects with intent to anger the owner
Frequent anger outburst that are difficult to de-escalate
Frequently argues and defies rules or limits set by caregivers
What is PCIT?
Parent Child Interactive Therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based therapy designed to reduce disruptive behaviors in children ages 3-6. The focus in PCIT is on the relationship between the caregiver and the child, which is different from traditional therapy models.
How does PCIT work?
This family-based intervention is completed by both the caregiver and child through live “coaching” sessions. By engaging children in play, the caregiver can meet them on their own level. The behavioral health practitioner observes the interaction and offers real-time suggestions to address behavior.
The goal is to provide strategies that will help caregivers remain calm, confident, and consistent when dealing with a child’s most challenging behaviors. With consistent attendance and homework completion, PCIT can be completed within 14-20 sessions.
What’s the benefit?
By learning specific techniques, caregivers can build a better relationship with a child, and children may begin 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.
PCIT has been shown to increase self-esteem, improve communication, and increase attention span in young children. For caregivers, PCIT can help decrease parental depression and helplessness caused by frequent and consistent negative interactions. This method aims to establish and improve the quality of the caregiver-child relationship by helping caregivers adopt an authoritative parenting style, which incorporates a child’s needs for warmth, psychological autonomy, and limit-setting to achieve positive outcomes.
If you have a child between the ages of 3 – 6 who would benefit from PCIT, request this service on our website, Request Behavioral Health Services.