Parent training in CBPT
Involving parents to generalize results and sustain change — so that progress made in therapy takes root in everyday family life.
The role of parent involvement
Parent training is a proven intervention directed at parents to support the treatment of a range of behavioral difficulties in their children. Its purpose is to structure, in a preventive perspective, a program that helps parents establish positive behavioral and communicative habits within the family relationship.
Cognitive Behavioral Parent Training has a specific effect in improving the sense of parental competence, partner support, and attunement with the child. It works hand in hand with Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy, extending the work done with the child into the home.
The ultimate goal is twofold: helping parents understand how to interact with their child, and building functional habits for a serene, reassuring relationship.
A structured path, in three phases
A parent training program is generally organized in three phases, each building toward lasting change in the family.
- Understanding the problem: correct information about the child's difficulties and realistic expectations of the path ahead
- Learning techniques: clear instructions, positive reinforcement of acceptable behaviors, and effective management of problem behaviors
- Generalization: recognizing early warning signs and applying what was learned across everyday situations
From behavior to relationship
Alongside behavioral techniques, the way parents interpret a child's negative behaviors is a crucial step. Throughout the path, great attention is given to observing behavior within the parent-child relationship, facilitating the demanding task of reporting events without interpreting them.
Parents are sensitized and helped to develop realistic causal attributions about their child's behavior, and to establish functional communication habits — the foundation for a serene and reassuring relationship, with greater security and awareness in managing relational difficulties.
Built on the CBPT method
Parent training extends the work of Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy beyond the session, so results generalize and change is sustained at home.
Discover the methodGeraci (2024): four integrated approaches
Geraci (2024) describes Parent Training in CBPT as resting on four integrated approaches.
Educational approach
Topics include: the nature of the child's problems/disorders; the child's development in relation to the disorder; general principles of learning; the transactional model of parent-child relationships.
Behavior modification approach
Goal: remove the conditions at the root of problem behaviors and replace them with behaviors that are adaptively and socially desirable.
Skills include: shaping; extinction/ignoring; positive reinforcement (tangible, social, token systems); differential reinforcement; time out (suspension of positive reinforcement); relaxation techniques.
Relationship development approach
Skills include: listening skills; empathic listening (non-directive, descriptive, reflective comments); use of child-directed play time; giving effective commands; establishing clear expectations (e.g., house rules); use of therapeutic games/books (parent with child).
Cognitive approach
Skills include: problem-solving skills; cognitive restructuring; self-monitoring; realistic expectations.
Reference: Geraci, M. A. (2024). Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy: Evolution of the theoretical model and development perspectives. Armando Editore. Rome, Italy.
Train in the CBPT approach
Learn the method that puts the child at the center and the family alongside.