1. How to get your PCIT-eligible families to graduate from PCIT!
Parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based, theoretically-grounded intensive treatment for children with disruptive behavior disorders.
HOW TO INCREASE PCIT GRADUATION RATES
Give families the gift of hope in the first session
Discuss the need for families to attend each PCIT session
Promote PCIT every session
Deliver information about the effectiveness of PCIT
Discuss the importance of providing equal love and limits
Model the skills in PCIT inside and outside of CDI/PDI
Be OK with gently reminding parents of the ‘don’t skills’ via the use of paradoxical techniques
Capitalize on the parent’s desperation/motivation for change
Share your enthusiasm with the concept of ‘catching the child behaving good’ as well as the concept of ‘some attention is better than no attention’
Anticipate all barriers and prepare
Discuss the power of ignoring inappropriate behaviors
Emphasize why tantrums tend to get worse before better
Be honest about how hard it can be to ignore and how annoying the child can become when escalating the tantrum
Zone of proximal development
Share a brief success case that is more extreme than theirs
Use language that is cognitively appropriate
Use their own words in treatment
Integrate cultural norms into psychoeducation on corporal punishment
IMPLICATIONS OF DISCUSSING THE NEED FOR FAMILIES TO ATTEND EACH PCIT APPOINTMENT
Improved show rates
Improved parent-child interactions
Improved parenting skills for the management of behavior concerns
Site support to disseminate PCIT
Improved school performance
Improved self-esteem, frustration tolerance and emotion regulation
Improved social skills
Healthier communities
And more…
ABSTRACT
SITUATION: Many of my colleagues trained in PCIT are concerned about their ability to elicit ‘buy-in’ from parents, negatively impacting their show rate, which in turn has implications for their sites support of the dissemination of PCIT.
PROPOSED SOLUTION: I propose a presentation that is geared toward increasing ‘buy-in’ from PCIT-eligible parents in order to improve appointment show rates. My show rates improved once I began putting myself in the shoes of the families, thinking of what would get me to come to my appointments, and considering how multicultural factors influence change/buy-in.
Families will not prioritize PCIT if therapists are unaware of the implications of discussing the need for them to show to their weekly PCIT appointments.
PRESENTER INFORMATION
Valentina Marie Pacheco-Cornejo, Psy.D., ABPP
Certified PCIT Therapist through the University of Iowa
Board Certified in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
Licensed Clinical Psychologist & Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
Mile Square Health Center at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, Chicago, IL
BACKGROUND
Unhealthy parenting styles tend to aid in the development of childhood behavior problems (e.g., Dishion, French, & Patterson, 1995; Patterson & Stouthamer-Loeber, 1984).
Behavior problems in childhood are associated with academic failure and social difficulties in childhood and serious antisocial behavior and criminal activity in adolescence and adulthood (e.g., Werba, Eyberg, Boggs, & Algina, 2006).
PCIT improves parenting skills and parents’ management of child behavior concerns (e.g., Maughan, Christiansen, Jenson, Olympia, & Clark, 2005; Thomas & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2007).