The information in this program outline is provided by the program representative and edited by the CEBC staff. The Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) program has been rated by the CEBC in the areas of: Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence: Services for Women and their Children, Infant and Toddler Mental Health (0-3) and Trauma Treatment (Child & Adolescent).

• Child Welfare Outcomes: Safety and Child/Family Well-Being
• Types of Maltreatment: Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Physical Neglect, Exposure to Domestic Violence
• Target Population: Children age 0-5, who have experienced a trauma, and their caregivers.

CPP is a treatment for trauma-exposed children aged 0-5. Typically, the child is seen with his or her primary caregiver, and the dyad is the unit of treatment. CPP examines how the trauma and the caregivers’ relational history affect the caregiver-child relationship and the child’s developmental trajectory. A central goal is to support and strengthen the caregiver-child relationship as a vehicle for restoring and protecting the child’s mental health. Treatment also focuses on contextual factors that may affect the caregiver-child relationship (e.g., culture and socioeconomic and immigration related stressors). Targets of the intervention include caregivers’ and children’s maladaptive representations of themselves and each other and interactions and behaviors that interfere with the child’s mental health. Over the course of treatment, caregiver and child are guided to create a joint narrative of the psychological traumatic event and identify and address traumatic triggers that generate dysregulated behaviors and affect.