Child–Parent Psychotherapy

This is a treatment for children from 0 to 5 years old exposed to traumatic situations and their families. The objective is to strengthen the relationship between adult caregivers and children for the restructuring and protection of the child’s mental health, taking into consideration contextual factors, problematic behaviors, and maladaptive beliefs of family members.
During treatment, the child and their adult caregivers are guided toward developing a narrative about the traumatic event suffered and a record of the main triggers for stress reactions and emotional dysregulation. Treatment lasts for one year, with weekly meetings.

Impact evaluations

Impact evaluation studies show a statistically significant reduction in symptoms of traumatic stress, depression, and behavioral problems in treated children. Mothers showed improvements in depressive symptoms [1] [2] [3].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Lieberman, A. F., Van Horn, P., & Ippen, C. G. (2005). Toward evidence-based treatment: Child-parent psychotherapy with preschoolers exposed to marital violence. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 44(12), 1241-1248.

[2] Lieberman, A. F., Ippen, C. G., & Van Horn, P. (2006). Child-parent psychotherapy: 6-month follow-up of a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 45(8), 913-918.

[3] Ippen, C. G., Harris, W. W., Van Horn, P., & Lieberman, A. F. (2011). Traumatic and stressful events in early childhood: Can treatment help those at highest risk?. Child abuse & neglect, 35(7), 504-513.

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