Why PCIT?

PCIT offers practical tools and strategies that you can use right away and has been shown by 100’s of studies and over 40 years of research to be one of the most effective treatments available for treating child disruptive behaviors.

In one study, PCIT was even shown to be more effective than play therapy and even stimulant medication (see graph below).

And the transformation can be rapid; treatment can be completed in as little as 14 weeks.

Certified PCIT therapists must receive special training in addition to their clinical therapy license, so you can trust that you’re working with a parenting and child behavior expert.

How is PCIT different from other forms of therapy?

PCIT is a coaching model in which the therapist walks with you through every intervention with your child in the office before you practice on your own at home.

Traditional forms of therapy focus on past hurts or trauma. But not all children’s behaviors arise because of these issues. PCIT can treat disruptive behaviors that arise out of ADHD, anxiety and even just strong willed personalities.

And for those children who have had difficult life experiences, PCIT is often the first step in treatment before the child is able to calmly participate in other forms of treatment to address past trauma, grief, or other major life changes.

We also provide referral to therapists who provide the PC-Care Parenting Protocol, one of the newest protocols to evolve out of PCIT that was developed at UC Davis Children’s Hospital.

PC-Care can address big emotions and challenging behaviors in children ages 1-12 that arise from many causes including the following:

• Child anxiety,

• Strong willed personality,

• Social emotional delay,

• Sensitive temperament,

• Infant and toddler development,

• Behavioral and academic struggles from ADHD,

• Autism and intellectual disability,

• Moving homes or birth of a sibling,

• Stressful or traumatic event,

• History of medical issues with a lingering behavioral pattern - just to name a few.

PC-CARE replaces the timeout strategy of PCIT with more than 20 strategies for behavior management and emotional regulation. And a recent study showed PC-CARE to have a greater rate of improvement than standard PCIT over a comparable time period.

This cutting edge protocol has specialized sub-protocols for infants and toddlers as young as 12 months, for children with autism or intellectual disability, and our director has developed sub-procotols for addressing anxiety, ADHD, ARFID, selective mutism, potty training, sleep challenges, and chronic pain with PC-Care.

And since PC-CARE can be completed in 6 treatment sessions, this brief protocol may be the more effective and more affordable option for many families. Complete a referral form and we can send you a list of certified therapists near you.

Does Mending Hearts offer PCIT?

We currently teach parents and caregivers the positive parenting principles of PCIT & PC-CARE in our Parent Support Workshops. These workshops also provide mutual support from other parents who understand what it is like to raise strong willed children. We are also in the process of posting workshops recordings.

And we are currently launching our free Family & Parent Coaching for low income families and children in foster care in our PC-Care Training and Certification Program.

Also, we will help you find the closest certified PCIT & PC-CARE therapist and resources to you. Click here to find out about our referral and resource finding services.