About this course

Learning Objectives

• Describe the structure and clinical rationale of a response-guided, time-limited PCIT model, including decision points for 12- versus 18-week treatment duration.
• Identify child, caregiver, and treatment-related predictors of engagement, retention, and outcomes that differentiate families who benefit from abbreviated PCIT from those requiring extended intervention.
• Apply clinical decision-making and coaching strategies specific to time-limited PCIT that differ from traditional proficiency-based models to support efficient and equitable treatment delivery.

Learning Levels

• Intermediate

Target Audience

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Jason Jent, PhD

  Psychologist, U Miami

  Dr. Jason Jent is a licensed clinical psychologist and researcher specializing in child, adolescent, and family mental health. His work focuses on evidence-based assessment and treatment of anxiety, mood, and behavioral disorders in youth. Dr. Jent has extensive experience in pediatric psychology, collaborating with medical providers to support children coping with chronic illness and developmental challenges. In addition to his clinical practice, he contributes to professional training and research initiatives aimed at improving early identification and intervention strategies. He is committed to helping families build resilience and practical skills that promote long-term emotional well-being.

• 

  Juliana Acosta, PhD

  Assistant Professor

  Juliana Acosta, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She currently serves as a bilingual clinical supervisor and trainer in the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) Program at the Mailman Center for Child Development and is an attending psychologist in the interdisciplinary Pediatric Sleep Medicine Clinic. Dr. Acosta earned her doctoral degree in Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology and completed her residency and postdoctoral fellowship at the Mailman Center. Dr. Acosta a licensed psychologist whose research and clinical expertise focus on increasing access and engagement in evidence-based interventions for high-need families, with a particular emphasis on behavioral parent training, pediatric sleep health, and addressing healthcare disparities in underserved populations. Her translational research leverages sleep health as a transdiagnostic target for improving child and family well-being and incorporates innovative, data-driven approaches to optimize care delivery. She has been awarded federal funding, including an NICHD F31 National Research Service Award, and contributes as PI and Co-I on projects aimed at advancing behavioral health equity.

• 

  Abigail Peskin, PhD

  Staff Psychologist

  Abby Peskin, Ph.D. is a child psychologist working remotely in FL for the University of Miami with a specialty working with young children and their families, and experience with anxiety, depression, selective mutism, disruptive behaviors, trauma and developmental delays, but a particular niche in working with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Abby has co-founded a 501c3 non-profit organization - Play it Forward is a toy lending library with a focus on equitable access to high-quality, developmentally supportive toys and inclusion for children with disabilities. We have recently partnered with the Miami-Dade public library system, where we will be able to distribute hundreds of sets of toys for children all throughout the county, including adaptive toys for children with disabilities in the catalog. Abby engages in research in her job at the University of Miami, with a focus on decreasing family disparities and increasing access to needed services. Recently she has published papers about the telehealth translation and implementation of PCIT and evaluating our screening and recruitment procedures for whether they're reaching the Miami-Dade population in an equitable manner (i.e., are we reaching a larger percentage of wealthy or highly educated families than the percentage in the Miami-Dade population as a whole?). Currently she is expanding this research to include evaluations of PCIT for children with ASD (e.g., time-limited models).

• 

  Alexis Landa, M.S., LMHC

  Research Support Project Manager & Certified PCIT Therapist

  Alexis Landa, M.S, LMHC, is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Florida, a Qualified Supervisor, and a Certified Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) therapist and Certified Within Agency PCIT Trainer at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She specializes in treating children with behavioral challenges and anxiety- and fear-related concerns.

  For over eight years, Alexis has implemented evidence-based interventions with children ages 2–16 presenting with both externalizing and internalizing difficulties. She has specialized training in early childhood adaptations of PCIT, including work with toddlers, as well as experience adapting PCIT for children with selective mutism and delivering PCIT-CALM for childhood anxiety.

  Alexis has received specialized training in perinatal mental health, with an emphasis on the intersection of caregiver mental health, early attachment, and child emotional and behavioral development. In addition to her clinical work, she serves as a supervisor and Certified Within Agency PCIT Trainer, leading consultation groups and supporting clinician development at the University of Miami. She also serves as a Research Support Project Manager for the University of Miami Team Coach Program, providing consultation and strategic support to over 40 parenting programs and more than 400 staff. Across roles, Alexis emphasizes a family-centered, developmentally informed, and evidence-based approach to improving outcomes for children and families."

• 

  Cindy Sobalvarro, M.S.

  PCIT Therapist

  Cindy Sobalvarro, M.S. is a Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) therapist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where she works with young children and their families in a multidisciplinary medical setting. Cindy specializes in supporting children ages two to seven who present with disruptive behaviors, emotional dysregulation, developmental delays, and concerns related to anxiety and attention. She has extensive experience delivering evidence-based parent coaching interventions in both English and Spanish. Cindy brings a strong background in early childhood education and applied behavior analysis, with prior experience working with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental delays across home, school, and clinical settings. In addition to providing direct clinical services, she leads Community of Practice and Natural Helper meetings to foster collaboration, peer support, and skill development among clinicians. Cindy is passionate about empowering caregivers with practical, strengths-based strategies to strengthen the parent–child relationship and promote long-term positive behavior change.

References

• Jent, J. F., Rothenberg, W. A., Peskin, A., Acosta, J., Weinstein, A., Concepcion, R., ... & Garcia, D. (2023). An 18-week model of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy: clinical approaches, treatment formats, and predictors of success for predominantly minoritized families. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1233683. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1233683
• Patel, Z. S., Maylott, S. E., Andrew Rothenberg, W., Jent, J., & Garcia, D. (2022). Parenting stress across time-limited parent-child interaction therapy. Journal of child and family studies, 31(11), 3069-3084. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02397-9
• Peskin, A., Barth, A., Rothenberg, W. A., Turzi, A., Formoso, D., Garcia, D., & Jent, J. (2024). New therapy for a new normal: Comparing telehealth and in-person time-limited parent-child interaction therapy. Behavior therapy, 55(1), 106-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2023.05.002
• Peskin, A., Landa, A., Acosta, J., Rothenberg, W. A., Levi, R., Davis, E., ... & Mansoor, E. (2025). Parenting Under Pressure: The Transformative Impact of PCIT on Caregiver Depression and Anxiety and Child Outcomes. Children, 12(7), 922. https://doi.org/10.3390/children12070922
• Hogan, C. M., Beckmann, E., Maron, M., Sutton, K., Highlander, A., Pielech, M., ... & Parent, J. (2025). The Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale: Youth Report Form in Inpatient and Partial Hospital Settings. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 34(8), 2209-2219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-025-03131-x