Parent-Child Interactive Therapy (PCIT)

Strengthening healthy relationships + family

Does your child struggle with disruptive or aggressive behaviors like hitting, kicking or breaking things? Are you frustrated by constant fights and temper tantrums? If so, Laurel Life can help teach you effective behavior management and discipline techniques. Our Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) offers hands-on, real-time support for parents of children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Shown in numerous research studies to improve challenging behaviors that can strain the relationship between parents and their young children, PCIT is an evidence-based approach that combines behavior therapy, play therapy and caregiver training to produce long lasting results.

Collaborative, hands-on approach

As you and your child play, your therapist will provide real-time coaching and feedback through an earpiece to help you master the principles of PCIT. By working together within this safe and controlled environment, you’ll be able to reset boundaries and establish clear expectations that will allow you to better manage your child’s behavior for many years to come.

At the conclusion of each session, you will be given activities to practice at home. All homework exercises are customized to reflect your unique needs and circumstances and help to reinforce the strategies and techniques you learn from your therapist.

Along the way, you’ll also receive frequent assessments to help gauge your progress toward achieving key PCIT goals, such as:

Improving discipline skills
Increasing positive nurturing interactions
Enhancing your child’s positive social behaviors

Meaningful, lasting results

If you have a child between the ages of 2 ½ and 7 that does not listen to adults, has temper tantrums, takes or breaks things, starts fights, hurts others, can’t sit still, can’t play alone, won’t take turns or purposefully annoys others, PCIT may be the answer.

Empowering parents

Available to families with commercial insurance or on medical assistance, PCIT is offered over 12-20 weekly sessions that aim to promote effective behavior management and discipline techniques.

Success Stories:

PCIT has been the best thing for our family in our journey of getting a handle on our child’s behaviors. This therapy helped us set clear expectations, taught us life long simple communication skills, and helped form a better bond between us and our child, all while having fun with him!