About this course

Learning Objectives

• Describe findings from quantitative and qualitative studies about what constitutes effective coaching in PCIT.
• Utilize case conceptualization, and family culture and values to identify specific coaching strategies for use with a family.
• Explain how PCIT may be used to enhance a caregiver’s ability to understand a child’s cues and meet their needs in the moment.

Learning Levels

• Intermediate

Target Audience

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Karin L. Vanderzee, Ph.D.

  Associate Professor

  Dr. Karin Vanderzee is a licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Psychiatric Research Institute/Department of Psychiatry. Her clinical and research interests focus on early childhood trauma and intervention development, implementation, and dissemination of evidence-based treatments to promote resilience following traumatic events. She serves as a co-investigator for the Arkansas Building Effective Services for Trauma (ARBEST) program, which aims to strengthen the quality of available trauma services for children and their families throughout the state of Arkansas. She has been conducting PCIT since 2009 and is a PCIT International Certified Regional Trainer. In addition, she is a certified Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) State Trainer and is currently completing the Train-the Trainer program for Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). She co-leads three teams that disseminate PCIT, CPP, and TF-CBT throughout the state of Arkansas. Dr. Vanderzee currently serves as Secretary of the PCIT International Board of Directors and is a member of the Training Task Force. In addition, she has published several peer reviewed articles, and routinely gives international, national, state, and local presentations about childhood trauma and evidence-based treatments for children who have experienced trauma.

• 

  Joy R. Pemberton, Ph.D., PCIT Regional Trainer

  Associate Professor

  Joy R. Pemberton, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Texas Tech University, completed her internship at UAMS, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. Her areas of expertise include assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with a history of trauma and/or behavior problems, parenting interventions, and dissemination of evidence-based practices. Her primary clinical, supervision, and training specialty is Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT); she is a certified Regional PCIT Trainer. She serves as a co-investigator and lead PCIT trainer for the Arkansas Building Effective Services for Trauma program (ARBEST), an initiative which aims to strengthen the quality and availability of trauma services for children and families in Arkansas.

• 

  Glenn R. Mesman, Ph.D.

  Professor

  Glenn Mesman, PhD, is a licensed clinical child and adolescent psychologist and Professor in the UAMS Department of Psychiatry, and he is the Assistant Training Director of the department’s psychology training program. Clinically, he specializes in early childhood mental and the assessment and treatment of childhood trauma. Dr. Mesman holds several leadership positions within Arkansas Building Effective Services for Trauma (ARBEST), a program sponsored by the state legislature to improve outcomes of traumatized children throughout the state. He co-leads the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) statewide dissemination project and is certified as a PCIT Regional Trainer, a DC:0-5 state trainer, and CE-CERT state trainer. He additionally co-directs the UAMS Complex Trauma Assessment Program, which provides trauma-informed psychological evaluation services for high-risk children in the Arkansas child welfare system. Dr. Mesman is actively involved in committees and workgroups as part of several national- and international-level professional organizations and frequently conducts invited and peer-reviewed presentations at state, national, and international conferences in his specialty areas of early childhood mental health and child trauma.

References

• Barnett, M. L., Niec, L. N., Peer, S. O., Jent, J. F., Weinstein, A., Gisbert, P., & Simpson, G. (2017). Successful therapist–parent coaching: How in vivo feedback relates to parent engagement in parent–child interaction therapy. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 46(6), 895-902. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2015.1063428
• Niec, L. N., Brodd, I., & Schoonover, C. E. (2023). Searching for the standard: The impact of level of training on in vivo coaching in parent-child interaction therapy. Behavior Modification, 47(1), 93-112. https://doi.org/10.1177/01454455221099647
• Woodfield, M. J., & Cartwright, C. (2020). Parent-child interaction therapy from the parents’ perspective. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(3), 632-647. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01611-5
• Kohlhoff, J., Wallace, N., Cibralic, S., Morgan, S., Briggs, N. E., McMahon, C., ... & McNeil, C. B. (2024). Optimizing parenting and child outcomes following parent–child interaction therapy–toddler: a randomized controlled trial. BMC psychology, 12(1), 688. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02171-0
• Fleming, G. E., Sawrikar, V., Kaouar, S., Neo, B., McDonogh, C., & Kimonis, E. R. (2025). The impact of parental cognitions on outcomes of behavioral parent training for children with conduct problems. Behavior Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2025.02.004