NSW psychologists working in child protection services’ perspectives on training and use of Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and Parent Child Interaction Therapy with Trauma Directed Interaction (PCIT with TDI)

The use of evidence-based psychological treatments is important in child protection organisations. Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and Parent Child Interaction Therapy Trauma Directed Interaction (PCIT with TDI) are parenting programs used by psychologists working in a statutory child protection organisation in New South Wales (NSW) Australia. This study examined the psychologists’ perspectives on the training and use of these therapies. Fifteen psychologists delivering PCIT and five Psychologists delivering PCIT with TDI were surveyed completed an adapted Clinician Use of and Satisfaction with PCIT (CUSP) and an adapted version for PCIT with TDI regarding the therapy they were trained in. Both PCIT and PCIT with TDI trained psychologists viewed their training and the protocol of both therapies as positive. There were consistent views that both treatments were effective and favourable in treating behaviour problems and trauma in children. Implementation of both therapies was negatively impacted by a lack of appropriate agency resources, complex families with multiple presenting issues, and child and carer trauma. Specifically, PCIT with TDI trained psychologists reported that the adaptation of emotion regulation skills, although needed, were sometimes difficult to implement due to barriers at a caregiver and child level. This research highlights the positive aspects and challenges of psychologists using an evidence-based intervention and a newly adapted treatment in a child protection setting to treat childhood trauma.