PCIT & CARE Training

PCIT is for children ages 2 to 7 who display any or all of the following*:

• Relational problems with parent/caregiver
• Refusal/defiance of adult requests
• Difficulty in childcare/school settings
• Easy loss of temper
• Frequent fights and/or aggression toward others
• Difficulty staying seated
• Difficulty playing quietly
• Difficulty taking turns
• Destruction of property or belongings

*Includes when these behaviors are due to stressful or traumatic events.

PCIT is a short-term (approximately 20-25 sessions) intervention involving the child and caregiver(s) being seen weekly for one-hour sessions. Therapists provide real-time feedback to caregiver(s) as they interact with their child, using skills found to be effective in reducing problematic behaviors. This strength-based intervention creates a collaborative relationship between the caregiver(s) and therapist to meet weekly and long-term goals for the child and family. Progress results from a combination of efforts in the clinic, home, and real-world settings.

• Locate a therapist certified in PCIT in North Carolina.
• Locate a therapist certified in PCIT outside of North Carolina.

Providers seeking to make a PCIT referral are encouraged to contact their local provider using the links above. If you do not see a provider in your area, please contact us.

If you are seeking services at the Center for Child & Family Health, please visit the Urbaniak Clinic page for more information

This training is intended for mental health clinicians who want to become PCIT therapists and/or agencies who are interested in establishing a PCIT treatment program. Additionally, this training would be appropriate for agencies with existing PCIT treatment programs who want to increase their capacity.

Our training program meets or exceeds PCIT International training guidelines. It takes approximately one year to complete all training requirements.

Fundamentals Training includes:

• Face-to-face training: A minimum of 40 hours of face-to-face training is required. This training is comprised of two multi-day sessions, separated by 3-4 months.
• Consultation calls: Trainees are required to participate in one-hour of bi-weekly consultation calls through the completion of two cases and all other clinical training requirements.
• Session-level reviews: Trainees are required to submit or schedule session-level reviews with their trainer, as outlined by the program.

For more information on PCIT Fundamentals Training, please contact us.

This one-day training is intended for clinicians who have completed PCIT National Certification requirements and are seeking Level I Trainer status through PCIT International to train clinicians within their agency. View PCIT International Level I Trainer prerequisite requirements.

For more information on PCIT Level 1 Training, please contact us.

This two-day training is intended for clinicians already certified/rostered in PCIT to enhance and reinforce learned skills. Advanced training is designed to address:

• Challenging treatment dynamics
• Engagement strategies to reduce attrition
• Strengthen coding and coaching skills
• Updates in research and clinical application

Advanced training meets continuing education requirements for national certification and/or NC rostering requirements.

For more information on PCIT Advanced Training, please contact us.

This 2-day training is designed for clinicians seeking certification through PCIT International. It is intended for:

• Clinicians who have been previously trained in PCIT by a trainer certified through PCIT International, but did not complete certification requirements.
• Clinicians who received PCIT training from a trainer who is not certified through PCIT International.

For more information on PCIT Certification Preparation Training, please contact us.

PCIT is for families with young children (2-7) experiencing behavioral and/or emotional difficulties due to a variety of reasons, including trauma. PCIT consists of weekly sessions during which a therapist works with the child and caregiver(s) together to improve overall behavior and reduce parenting stress. Caregivers must have consistent access to the child in order to practice learned skills (at least three times per week outside of the therapy session).

PCIT requires a stripped therapy room serving as the treatment room for the caregiver-child dyad. Treatment rooms should only contain basic furniture (i.e., adult-sized table and chairs). The room should NOT house any computers, printers, or similar equipment. Decorations, such as wall hangings, plants, vases, lamps, etc., should be removed.

Traditionally, PCIT rooms have a one-way mirror adjoining the observation room and the treatment room (which includes a barrier room) on their shared wall allowing the therapist to coach the interaction through a communication system. If a one-way mirror is not available, a closed-circuit, HIPAA-compliant system may be used to observe and coach the client and caregiver(s) from another room in close proximity (e.g., across the hall, next door, etc.).

Note: During the PCIT training process, clinicians must be able to record session, including the visual and audio of the client and caregiver(s) and audio of the clinician coaching.

Through years of training experience, we have learned that it is helpful to have full agency participation during training and beyond. This is most effectively achieved through a team approach, which would include one or more clinicians and an agency Senior Leader.

Eligible clinicians must be licensed mental health clinicians (i.e., psychologists, social workers, licensed professional counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, psychiatrists), license eligible, or working under the supervision of a licensed clinician. For interested graduate students in a mental health field, please contact us.

Clinician(s) will be learning and implementing PCIT with agency clients. Typically, interested clinicians currently work with clients in the 2-7 year age range and have the ability to carry a caseload large enough to accommodate necessary training cases. Often it takes at least six PCIT clients throughout the training year to complete two cases through graduation.

Training requirements:

• Face-to-face training: A minimum of 40 hours of face-to-face training are required. This training is comprised of two multi-day sessions, separated by 3-4 months. Clinicians have up to 16 months to complete training, with extended consultation available as needed in certain cases.
• Consultation calls: Trainees are required to participate in one hour of bi-weekly consultation calls through the completion of two cases and all other clinical training requirements.
• Session-level reviews: Trainees are required to submit or schedule session-level reviews with their trainer, as outlined by the program.

Senior Leaders will be working to improve the longevity of a successful PCIT program. The Senior Leader track is designed to assist Senior Leaders in developing strategies to support the effective implementation and/or expansion, as well as the sustainment of their PCIT program. Senior Leaders are typically an administrator or upper-level supervisor who has the authority to make key decisions or changes that may significantly improve successful implementation of PCIT within the agency. In addition to clinical training, we believe that a strong infrastructure is imperative.

Training Requirements:

• Face-to-face training: Senior leaders are invited to attend the full 40-hour training, but will be highly encouraged to attend at least two specific days of each face-to-face training session.
• Consultation calls: Senior Leaders are highly encouraged to attend standing individual, 30-minute, monthly consultation calls and approximately four 1-hour group consultation calls.

*Note: For clinicians based in North Carolina, the Senior Leader component of training is included in the cost of clinician training, courtesy of NC General Assembly funding. Agencies out of state should contact us for additional information to participate in this opportunity.