PCIT for Child Behavior in Florida
You can be a loving parent and set healthy limits.
How Can Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) help you?
Are you…
Feeling stressed about dealing with frequent tantrums and not knowing the best way to manage your child’s behavior?
Struggling to manage your child arguing with you about the simplest tasks?
Unsure of what to do when your child refuses to listen?
Avoiding going to restaurants, the park, or shopping with your kiddo because their behavior not only makes it impossible to leave your house but also feels embarrassing?
I want you to know I get it and that things can get better!
Common feelings of parents who are experiencing challenging behaviors include:
Feeling that most of your days are spent arguing with your child about everyday tasks. It may feel like such a constant battle that sometimes you feel too exhausted to try to win.
Feeling burnt out from managing your own responsibilities and trying to get through the day with your child.
Feeling dread when you have to tell your child to do everyday tasks in their routine.
Showers, homework, or sitting down for a meal feels like a chore because you know you are going to deal with complaining at best and a blowout at worst.
Struggling to know how to best handle a situation and know when or how to implement a consequence.
Questioning yourself and feel guilty about how you handled a certain situation.
Therapist-Recommended Resources
Looking for books, toys, and parenting resources to support your child's emotional growth? Browse my curated collection of family favorites.
“What should I know about getting parent training support?”
You are here in search of finding support for your child and family because you want to feel less stressed and more in control.
You want to better understand how to help your child succeed, learn how to communicate with them more effectively, and feel confident in managing their behavior.
At Empowering Families Counseling, I am here to tell you that you can have balance and harmony at home.
It is possible to enjoy interacting with your child and learn how to manage their behavior effectively. Let me help you get there!
Not Sure If PCIT Is the Right Fit?
Every child and family is different. If you're wondering whether parent coaching may help with your child's behavior, emotional outbursts, listening difficulties, or daily power struggles, this guide can help you decide.
Feel Empowered.
During our sessions, you will discover ways to connect, communicate, understand, and support your child. You will gain clarity on the “why” of your child’s behavior and reduce self-doubt about the best way to parent your child.
I strive to help you feel empowered with an understanding of how to create behavioral change. I will guide you in finding a way of teaching your child that resonates the most with you and complements your family values.
You deserve to feel less overwhelmed and more confident in guiding your child. Here you will learn that balancing being a loving and warm parent with setting healthy limits as a way to guide your child is possible!
Be the Parent You Want to Be
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Be the Parent You Want to Be *
5 Facts About PCIT
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• Over 5 decades of research support PCIT as an effective therapy and a gold-standard treatment for:
-Reducing problem behaviors.
-Reducing parenting stress.
-Strengthening the parent-child relationship.
-Its effectiveness generalizing to school settings and siblings.
• PCIT is recommended by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in helping parents with kids with disruptive behavior problems.
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PCIT helps your child by teaching the parent how to better respond to their child’s behavior. During the session, the caregiver will being wearing headphones to hear immediate feedback from the therapist on how to implement specific behavioral skills. Since sessions are virtual, your therapist will observe you interacting with your child in your home setting. This allows the added benefit of you learning how to apply these skills in a naturalistic environment.
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It is normal that these challenging behaviors are stressful. Many parents experiencing these challenges behaviors report that their relationship with their child feels strained. PCIT will teach you special skills to enhance your relationship with your child. PCIT is divided into 2 phases:
In the first phase known as Child Directed Interaction (CDI), parents learn “play therapy” skills that teach them how to follow their child’s lead during play and learn the power of their attention in modifying behavior. In the second phase known as Parent Directed Interaction (PDI), parents learn skills to specifically improve their child’s listening skills.
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You will learn how to:
Encourage and reinforce appropriate behaviors in your child.
Decrease problem behaviors by paying less attention to them.
Help your child better understand and manage their emotions.
Set realistic expectations given your child’s age and stage in development.
Effectively communicate to your child to set them up for success.
Get your child to listen to you without repeating yourself or having to yell.
Improve the way your child interacts with others.
Decrease your child’s physical aggression (hitting, biting, etc.)
Balance setting healthy limits with your child and maintain a loving relationship.
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The number of sessions each family needs depends on many factors including:
• The consistency of caregiver’s practice of therapeutic skills. Changing behavior is a lot of work. It requires patience and a lot of practice. PCIT recommends caregivers practice daily for 5 minutes.
• Caregiver’s openness to learning new skills and making changes. PCIT will teach you new skills and shed light on ways you may need to change your own behavior to help improve your child’s behavior.
• Additional stressors. Other stressors outside of your child’s problem behaviors may make learning and practicing PCIT skills more challenging.
• Your child’s temperament. Every child is unique. Some kids take longer to respond to therapy.
How to Get Started
Step One
Schedule your free 15-minute phone consultation. You can self-schedule your consultation here OR visit my contact page.
Step Two
In our free phone consultation you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and confirm that we are the right fit for each other.
Step Three
After we have confirmed that we will be a good fit for each other we will schedule our first appointment.
FAQs About PCIT
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PCIT is designed for children ages 2-7. PCIT is best suited for the following:
• Parent-child relational problems.
• Child refusal/defiance of caregiver’s requests.
• Children who exhibit frequent tantrums, whining, physical aggression towards others such as hitting or biting, arguing with adults, or difficulty interacting well with others.
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PCIT is parent training therapy. This means for you to effectively learn how to manage your child’s behavior, you need to learn the skills, practice them, and implement them yourself. The therapist does not work directly with the child. Instead, we work directly with the parent through a live coaching approach that allows you to receive immediate feedback as you interactions with your child during our sessions. Both the child and parent(s) attend sessions.
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PCIT requires consistent attendance from the same caregiver each week. If other caregivers want to attend sessions but cannot do so on a weekly basis, it is strongly encouraged that they at least attend both skill teaching sessions.
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Your child does not need a diagnosis to participate in PCIT. However, PCIT is helpful for children diagnosed with the following:
• Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• Other disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs)
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It is normal that some kids, especially early in therapy, will behave well in sessions. However, this can actually be a good thing! During the first phase of PCIT (CDI), we are able to reinforce those good behaviors because they are actually happening. In the second phase of PCIT (PDI) where you learn how to follow through with consequences, we’ll introduce more challenging situations. It is usually at this point where children will exhibit more defiance and tantrums which will give you the opportunity to learn how to navigate those tricky situations with the live feedback of your therapist.
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• Openness to learning new skills.
• Practicing daily for 5 minutes therapeutic skills with your child.
• Openness to learning how to play and engage with your child by doing an activity they enjoy.
• Attend sessions consistently.
• Complete assessments on your child behavior weekly in order for your therapist to monitor your child’s progress.
• Collaborate with your therapist and communicate your questions and concerns.
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At Empowering Families Counseling we only offer sessions virtually for families who reside in Florida. Below is a list of supplies you’d need for sessions:
• Reliable Wifi
• Laptop, tablet, or phone with a functioning webcam.
• Headphones (preferably wireless so you can move around the room)
• 2-3 toys
• A place in your home with limited distractions.
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The live coaching experience in sessions gives caregivers the opportunity to learn in real-time how to apply skills, manage their child’s behavior, and become aware of how their behavior is an important aspect in influencing their child’s behavior.
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• You are not able to practice therapeutic skills on a daily basis with your child.
• There is not a primary caregiver that can attend every session weekly with the child. Please note PCIT is not recommended when caregivers need to take turns attending sessions weekly with the child. At least one caregiver needs to be the primary participant that will attend with the child weekly.
• Your child is outside of the 2-7 age range.
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PCIT is an extremely effective treatment in reducing problem behaviors in young children. However, if there are certain remaining problem areas that require additional support we will refer you to other providers. Throughout treatment we are frequently monitoring your families progress to assess improvement in behavior.
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This is normal! Especially, in the beginning, it can feel uncomfortable to have someone else observe your interactions with your child. As you become more familiar with your therapist, the nerves will start to settle. Your therapist is there to help support you!
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Absolutely. Therapy is required by law to be confidential. However for your own safety, there are three exceptions:
If you state you plan to harm yourself.
If you state you plan to harm others.
If there is suspicion of abuse of a child or a vulnerable adult.
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Since PCIT requires a lot from a parent when working with just one child, it would be more helpful that you participate with one child first. Once we are seeing progress with the first child and you are feeling more confident in managing their behavior/anxiety than we can start therapy with the second child (if needed). For some parents, completing the entire program once with one child was enough to learn the necessary skills for them to apply to the second child. This can be discussed further with the therapist to determine what will be best for your families’ needs.
