Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a research-tested behavioral therapy that consistently improves parent-child relationships, reduces serious child noncompliance, oppositionality, and defiance. Research in many studies shows that the outcomes are impressive – what researchers call “large effect sizes” – and the gains last on average for years!  Dr. Kurtz is Certified by PCIT International as a Global Trainer and provides training both at the NYC flagship offices of Kurtz Psychology Consulting PC as well as onsite at agencies to suit their scheduling needs. The 2022 training will be remote, with 40 hours of live, participatory synchronous learning, accompanied by some asynchronous learning, and includes the required bi-weekly Zoom-based case consultation calls to help with your implementation with fidelity.

The treatment has many interesting and unique characteristics including the fact that the parent and child are coached live – in real time – to shape new interaction patterns.  The motto of Kurtz Psychology Consulting PC is changing interactions one at a time and no treatment captures this process better than PCIT. In the office, we use a one-way mirror to coach parents with a wireless earpiece – sometimes called a “bug-in-the-ear.” (The one-way mirror is preferred but not required in all PCIT settings.) On the internet, we help families with live coaching via their own tablets, laptops, or phones.

Training involves an initial didactic course as well as case consultation for one year, during which time therapists treat at least two cases to graduation in order to align with the nationally-approved training guidelines. Please check the PCIT International website for minimum training requirements. Please complete the inquiry form at the top of this page to start the process of determining your eligibility for the training and the goodness-of-fit of PCIT with your practice setting.  The all-inclusive fee for the 50+hours of didactics plus the year of case consultation, PowerPoint and assorted critical appendices  and required tape reviews is $4,800. You will need to purchase three actual treatment and coding manuals directly from PCIT International which currently cost $99 plus s/h to you directly. Payment plans are available to spread out the cost of the training. We typically collect $2400 by the time training starts and then $200 per month during the year of case consultation. There is an additional optional fee of $45 per person for those seeking the 40 CEs for psychologists, social workers and PCIT therapists. Case review is accomplished most easily by our review of sessions either live or recorded by you and uploaded to our HIPAA-compliant secure cloud website.  There are many options for infrastructure and we will work with you to optimize your setup.

For organizations training groups of clinicians, the training can be done either at your site or ours when COVID restrictions change but we are successfully providing online group trainings until further notice. The follow-up case consultation calls are then be done either live, in-person at your site if you are in the Metro NY area, or via our secure web-based video platform. Discounts from the basic $4800 fee (see above) are provided for groups of six or more trainees at $4,500 per person. Psychologist CE fees are additional in all cases.

Training phases: PCIT training is divided into two phases. The first phase consists of the three full training days on July 8, 9, and 10, followed by the second phase of training on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 2024. Participants should begin seeing the PCIT training cases as close to July 10th as possible, i.e., commencing right after the first phase didactic training.

Ongoing Case Consultation: The required biweekly case consultations start right after the initial first phase didactic sessions. They are one-hour group video calls every other week for one calendar year. If you are unable to graduate your two required cases in that time, you can make arrangements to pay for ongoing support until you graduate your two required cases. The bi-weekly case consultation calls are every other Tuesday, from 10:00-11:00am Eastern US time, beginning July 16th, 2024, and ending July 1, 2025.

Instructors: The primary course instructor is PCIT Global Trainer Steven Kurtz, PhD, ABPP assisted by Within Agency Trainer Trainee Dr. Zohra Chahal.

Intended Audience Participants: This course is intended for therapists licensed for independent practice, or accruing hours towards licensure in some cases, who wish to become certified PCIT therapists according to PCIT International. Current criteria are found on pcit.org website.

Instructional Levels: Intermediate and Advanced.

Please complete the application form at the top of this webpage for more information or to register. We will email you to schedule a Zoom call to talk more about the training process, upcoming dates, and goodness-of-fit for your practice.

PCIT International, Inc. is approved by the American Psychological Association and NASW to sponsor continuing education for psychologists and social workers, respectively. PCIT International, Inc. maintains responsibility for this program and its content.  40 Continuing Education credits (CEs) are offered for this training.  The CE certificate will be awarded to all participants who complete the 40-hour training and have paid for the CE certificate. CE certificates will be emailed within 30 days of the training session. Partial credit can not be offered. There is no commercial support for this CE program. If you’re in need of any additional special assistance or accommodations including those required for a disability, please contact skurtz@kurtzpsychology.com at least 3o days prior to the start of the training.

Registration process: If you have any additional questions, please contact Steven Kurtz, PhD at pcit@kurtzpsychology.com. To register, please send a check for $4800 payable to Kurtz Psychology Consulting PC and mail to PCIT Training c/o Kurtz 506 Spook Hollow Rd, Nyack NY 10960-1109. Payments can also be made by credit card, Zelle, Venmo, ACH, or wire transfer. Please email us for details on alternate payments. Deadline for registration is four weeks prior to the event to allow time for you to purchase and receive the required manuals. Refunds in full, minus a $200 administrative fee, are available only until 90 days prior to the start of the training. There are no refunds within 90 days of the start of the training.

Learning objectives. Upon completion, participants should be able to:

• State at least 2 theoretical foundations of PCIT.
• Identify and describe the key components of the PCIT model including those for each phase of treatment (Client intake and assessment, Child Directed Interaction (CDI), Parent Directed Interaction (PDI), and client graduation requirements).
• Identify and state the PCIT client graduation requirements
• Demonstrate clinical proficiency in standard clinical assessments including:
  • Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) and Weekly Assessment of Behavior (WACB)
  • Dyadic Parent-child Interaction Coding System (DPICS) (>80%)
• Demonstrate clinical proficiency in:
  • CDI skills
  • PDI skills
• Deliver treatment sessions with 90% fidelity while also attending to the therapeutic relationship and family engagement
• Accurately state the requirements for PCIT certification
• Demonstrate ability to provide psychoeducation in response to caregiver concerns about the protocol
• Deliver treatment both via telehealth and in-person

Instructor biographies: Click here for instructor biographies and CVs.

Disclosures: There are no commercial supports for this training that could be construed as a conflict of interest.

Training location: Zoom