Capstone is a 5-week summer intensive treatment model pioneered by Drs. Steven Kurtz and Carly Mayer. Capstone was created to give young children with self-control difficulties a highly structured learning environment combined with specific coping strategies so they have the tools and confidence to manage their “big” emotional reactions. Capstone is a unique treatment program in how parents play a significant role within the summer program schedule. Parents are seen as the primary agents of change (and the best teachers!) to promote generalization of appropriate skills beyond the summer to the child’s real life home, school, and community settings.
Research shows the limits of simply hearing about strategies without the chance to practice them with a coach. Imagine learning to drive a car without first practicing with an expert or learning to do surgery without live coaching from an experienced mentor. Capstone utilizes the PCIT (Parent-Child Interaction Therapy) model to provide parents with live coaching with their own child in classroom and play settings. Parents have the opportunity to learn from experts in that very moment, to guide their children to make the best choices in relation to behaviors and emotional reactions in real life academic and social situations. Children and families are given a full understanding of effective strategies and are provided with consistent clinician support to set themselves up for the most success going into the next school year.
Capstone is derived from decades of research on ideal classroom management techniques and best practices for parent training techniques from both PCIT and TCIT (Teacher-Child Interaction Training). Capstone is the very first program to offer this combined approach of classroom management, emotion regulation strategies, and live parent coaching within an organized group setting.