Behavior treatment created by UF professor named best practice for treating child abuse

A behavioral treatment developed by a University of Florida psychologist has been identified by a national panel of experts as a best practice in treating children who are victims of abuse and neglect. Parent Child Interaction Therapy, developed by Sheila Eyberg, Ph.D., a professor in the clinical and health psychology department at the College of Public Health and Health Professions, was one of three therapies named by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the National Call to Action as a best practice for helping children heal from the effects of child abuse.

A step-by-step, live-coached behavioral parent training model, Parent Child Interaction Therapy is designed to improve parenting skills, decrease child behavior problems and improve the quality of the parent-child relationship. When used as an intervention for child physical abuse, this therapy proved more successful in changing the behavior of physically abusive parents than standard approaches, recent research showed.