1. Family Interaction Program: Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

2. PCIT Team Director Co-ordinator Team Members Dr Melanie Zimmer-Gembeck
Rae Thomas
Team Members
Angela Anthonysamy
Michelle Hanisch
Kate McCarthy
Mark Scholes
Anne Stuksrud

3. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
Who is it For?
Children with externalsing behaviours
Aggression
Noncompliance
Tantruming
Opposition
Developed for caregivers with high stress, low frustration tolerance, and who use inappropriate discipline strategies
Biological parents
Grandparents
Foster carers

4. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
What Happens?
Use of one-way mirror
In-vivo coaching
Two phases (not time limited)
Relationship Enhancement Phase
Discipline Phase
Research based
Collection of data: questionnaires and videoed interactions
Treatment vs. supported waitlist

5. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
Who Refers?
Department of Child Safety: Mermaid and Beenleigh Offices
Pediatricians
Psychiatrists (of both parents and children)
Psychologists
Local schools
Self referrals  word of mouth from other families

6. Goals of PCIT Strengthen parent-child relationship
Education regarding effective behaviour management
Increase positive interactions
Increase positive communications
Alter perceptions of child behaviour
Make PCIT skills habitual
Make PCIT skills generalisable

7. Relationship Enhancement Phase
Goal
Enhance the quality of the parent-child interaction by creating or strengthening a positive parent-child relationship

8. Relationship Enhancement Phase
Specific Skills
Praise the child
Reflect the child’s statements
Imitate the child’s play
Describe the child’s behaviour
Enthusiastic play
Ignore inappropriate behaviour (unless dangerous or destructive)
Avoid asking questions, giving commands and criticising

9. Relationship Enhancement Phase
“The Shift”
Comments and an understanding from the caregiver that it is how they behave and interact with their child that will promote behaviour change
Becomes less mechanistic

10. Discipline Phase
Goal
Decrease inappropriate behaviours too harmful to be ignored by learning to direct the child’s behaviour when necessary using effective commands and specific consequences for noncompliance

11. Essential commands only
Discipline Phase
Specific Skills
Be specific with commands
Every command stated positively Developmentally appropriate
Individual rather than compound Respectful and polite
Essential commands only
Choices when appropriate
Tone of voice neutral

12. Outside of the PCIT Program
Intensive work for both therapists and families
Individual sessions offered
Crisis counselling
Depression counselling
Anger management issues
Domestic violence assistance
Follow up with families outside of “therapy time”
Liaise with government and non-government agencies for additional support for families

13. Preliminary Outcomes

14. Preliminary Outcomes

15. Qualitative Interviews
“I’m not frightened to go out places anymore…that terrified me…he’d be gone and you’d be running around pulling your hair out. I can leave my knives out in the kitchen or in the drawer…he doesn’t pick them up anymore, he doesn’t touch them…he seems happier, he doesn’t seem to be so moody.”
“We had a very stressful family life before coming to this program, it has helped me manage R’s behaviour in a positive way rather than smacking and yelling and screaming at each other.”

16. Contact Details Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
School of Applied Psychology
Griffith University
(07)