The following is an interview with a real client at the Center for Effective Therapy who utilized Parent-Child Interaction Therapy to support their child struggling with anxiety and impulse control.
Can you briefly describe what life was like for your family before receiving outpatient treatment?
My child has always been an anxious kid and has had issues with impulse control. I felt like my husband and I were constantly walking on eggshells trying to keep him from escalating and having meltdowns. He was making his younger brother unsafe, and we were not able to have fun as a family. I am a clinician myself, and I tried to educate myself by reading a bunch of parenting books on how to handle his behavior, but nothing seemed to work. We felt more and more frustrated.
What made you want to contact The Baker Center?
I have a family friend who recommended The Baker Center to me, I did the online intake form and scheduled a call within 48 hours to do the initial screening. We were able to schedule the mental health assessment within the month at a time that worked for our family, which we were impressed by! We were also able to get off the waitlist for treatment within the month as well!
Do you have anything you would like to share about your overall experience with the Center for Effective Therapy?
We were ready to do whatever it took and decided to go with the program to see where it went. I can see how overwhelming it could be, and I wanted to question the methodology at first. But now I understand the purpose of the child lead play and using the skills taught made a huge difference for our family. We were taught to emphasize connection with our son. We thought we were doing it, but we weren’t doing it in an intentional way, and PCIT taught us the difference. It changed how I parented. PCIT is very methodical, and we really appreciate how tactical the therapy is. You have the clinician coaching you in real time connections with your child. It is much more actionable and pragmatic than theoretical parenting books. We saw the results right away. I also like data and liked seeing the progressions through the charts we were shown.
How did you feel about our parent focused approach (Parent-Child Interaction therapy) and how did your clinician make you as a parent feel seen and heard?
I really liked how they were scoring us and seeing how we could improve. You have a coach watching you and giving you real time feedback that focuses on your parenting skills and how you can improve. We left each week with a structured goal to focus on.
How is life different now vs. before treatment?
Our clinician, Dr. Sarah Tannenbaum, was so candid, saw our family as a unit and took care of us all. She saw the family system and prompted us to not only focus on helping our son but focus on helping ourselves as well. I have stuck to the skills, and it has continued to help. My son and I's relationship is so much better, and we have fun together. He listens more and he is much more likely to comply. I no longer walk on eggshells or dread upsetting him and I get feedback about how well behaved he is now. I have recommended The Baker Center to a lot of families.