OTTUMWA —
A new therapy offered in Ottumwa is helping improve the relationship between children with behavioral disorders and their parents.
Amanda Larkin, executive director of the Southern Iowa Mental Health Center, said there are now four SIMHC therapists trained in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT).
“We got involved because we see a lot of disruptive behavior in children or ‘acting out’ behaviors that the schools and parents are not able to figure out how to deal with,” Larkin said.
The therapy focuses on children between the ages of 2-7, an age group that doesn’t have a lot of options in terms of therapy, but is the age where “things are normed and are the most effective.”
“I don’t know that [behavioral issues in children] are increasing, they’re just recognized more,” Larkin said. “In this fast-paced world there are lots of expectations from children, and lots of parents have lots of things going on in their lives. There’s more activity, more stimulation in kids’ lives.”
In play therapy, the parent is not nearly as involved as he or she is in PCIT, she said.
“It’s all about involving both the parent and the child, developing a better bond and keeping the parents as an active provider of treatment,” Larkin said. “The therapist is more of a coach in this situation.”
It’s short-term therapy, research-based and employs practical strategies that increase positive interactions with the child, she said.
There are two parts to the therapy: Child-Directed Interaction (CDI) and Parent-Directed Interaction (PDI).
In CDI, parents strengthen the relationship with their children through a play situation. PDI is more discipline-based, where the parent learns how to give commands in a way that the child listens.
These two forms of interaction lead to behavior change in the child, Larkin said.
Generally, PCIT lasts 12-20 sessions.
“We haven’t marketed it very strongly because we had a waiting list for a while,” Larkin said. “It was so hard to get people in, but now that we have additional trained therapists, it’s more comfortable to market it.”
Larkin said the therapists have seen a lot of growth, and quick growth, in the children for whom they provide PCIT.
“It does take a commitment, of time as well as a commitment in being able to follow through,” Larkin said of the parents.
Parents learn how to give commands and how to follow through with consequences when they are not followed.
Typical behaviors that can be helped by PCIT include disruptive behaviors such as non-compliance, defying parent or teacher requests, verbal or physical aggression, ADHD, stealing, lying, whining, crying, yelling and swearing.
The therapy can also help kids adjusting from family changes, such as divorce.
Children can be referred by anyone, such as parents, teachers or pediatricians, she said.
“Most families are seeing negative behaviors significantly reduced after 12 sessions, some even shorter than that,” Larkin said.
This type of therapy could be an option parents are interested in as something to try before medication, Larkin said, or in conjunction with medication or to help the child go off medication at some point.
“There are families out there searching for someone to help them, they’re going to their pediatrician saying something is wrong and they don’t know what to do,” Larkin said. “Now something can be done to help.”
What to expect in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy sessions:
In the first session, the therapist assesses whether PCIT would be beneficial for the family.
In the second session, the therapist works directly with the parent and child during a monitoring session where they watch the parent and child interact in three scenarios they need to act out as far as play and cleanup. From this session, the therapist develops their baseline data.
In the third session, the therapist works with the parent alone and teaches them about CDI.
Next, the therapist codes the parent’s interaction with the child.
After the coding, the therapist moves on the opposite side of a one-way mirror and observes the parent-child interaction. The parent wears earbuds so the therapist can talk to and coach them as they play with the child.
“A lot of the coaching is positive, which is exactly what we want to see with them and their child,” Larkin said.
Once the parent masters CDI, they move onto PDI. The therapist coaches the parent on PDI, then the cycle begins again, with observation, coding and coaching.
Local News
August 15, 2012
New therapy improves parent-child relationship
PCIT focuses on children ages 2-7
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