What is Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)?

Parent Child Interaction Therapy PCIT San Francisco | Child Therapy San Francisco

If you’re here and wondering what Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is, you might be having a hard time managing some challenging behavior at home with your child, or know someone who is. Maybe your child has started throwing things and when you tell them to stop, they don’t listen. Tantrums are a normal part of childhood but your child’s meltdowns are so frequent it’s not fun being around your child anymore. Instead of using words to communicate, your child may be hitting or kicking to try to get what they want. You know you need help but you’re not sure if PCIT is the way to go. In this blog, I will answer questions I often get about PCIT and how it works.

Here’s what I do as a child therapist San Francisco.

What’s PCIT?

It’s a treatment for children with challenging behavior and their caregivers. It consists of 2 phases with the first phase focusing on rebuilding your relationship with your child. When your child’s behavior is hard to manage - whether it’s because you don’t want to do what your parents did or you think you’ve tried so many techniques but they don’t seem to be working - it does start to eat away at your relationship. When you’re having to deal with meltdowns all day or having to tell them “no” or “stop” constantly it makes it hard to actually have fun with your child or even want to be around them, no matter how much you love them. In phase 1, you’ll learn skills to help your child feel calm, feel good about themselves, and feel safe and have fun hanging out with you. 

The second phase focuses on giving you tools to feel confident about setting and enforcing healthy boundaries on a consistent basis. You want to be able to stay calm and allow your child to have their feelings, but when you’re tired or just running low on patience it’s hard to keep it together. You end up screaming at your child, or you’ve tried consequences but it’s so hard to be consistent. With PCIT, I’ll coach you through effective strategies that help your child learn how to behave more appropriately. What does behaving more appropriately look like? I collaborate with you on exactly what that means for you and your child during our first session. 

What’s special about PCIT?

What I really love about PCIT is that I get to coach parents through interactions with their child during sessions. This means that while parents are interacting with their child during play activities, I talk to them through a headphone in their ear helping them use the new PCIT skills they’ve learned. Parents get in-the-moment support and feedback, and their child benefits from a more positive interaction with their caregiver. 

How long will it take?

Like with any other kind of therapy, there isn’t a set number of sessions it takes to reach your goals. I’ve worked with families for a few months to over a year. The length of treatment is unique to your family’s situation and needs. There are a few things I take into consideration to help me know when caregivers and their child are ready to move on from PCIT. I think about how consistently caregivers are practicing and applying their skills in and outside of our sessions, how confident caregivers are in being able to take on their child’s challenging behaviors without my help, and improvement in the parent-child relationship. 

Does my child have to be a certain age?

I work with children 2-7 years old, and their caregivers.

Do all sessions include my child?

Most sessions require parent and child attendance. However, there are a few that are parent-only sessions. These are the initial intake session, 3-4 teaching sessions where I educate parents on and demonstrate specific skills that they will then practice at home and in sessions, and optional parent-only check-ins if parents would like additional support.

Why do you only offer PCIT via telehealth?

It’s convenient. If there’s anything we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic it’s that online therapy works! And in many cases, it’s just as effective as in person therapy, including PCIT. It’s convenient in the sense that there is no extra commute involved for everyone involved. Also, when I had no choice but to do online PCIT when we were all sheltering in place it was really helpful for me to see the families I worked with in their natural environment, and to give feedback and support based on information I wouldn’t have if they were coming into an office setting. 

Can you coach my child’s grandparents and babysitters too?

While I focus on the primary caregiver(s) for live coaching, you’re more than welcome to invite other caregivers into the parent-only teaching sessions so they can learn about the new skills you’ll be practicing at home with your child. I’ll just need written approval from you to include additional people in session.

Is PCIT child therapy San Francisco a good fit for you?

I hope this helps give you a better understanding of how I can help you and your child. If you have more questions about PCIT I’m just a phone call away. Just click the link below to find and schedule a convenient time for you on my calendar.