Essay On CPRT

Children can experience trauma in various ways, it may be exposure to a natural disaster, war or witnessing or being the victim of violence, or physical or sexual abuse. Accidents, whether it be in a vehicle, falling down and getting injured or medical procedures can be traumatic for a child. “One of every four children will experience a traumatic event before the age of 16. Children who suffer from child traumatic stress are those children who have been exposed to one or more traumas over the course of their lives and develop reactions that persist and affect their daily lives after the traumatic events have ended %) (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2010, n.p)”. Children’s reaction to trauma may vary, they may have depressive

CPRT is a filial therapy program that is based on child-centered play therapy (CCPT), the focus is on the relationship of the parent and child, opposed to focusing on the child’s problem. (Socarras et al., 2015). CPRT focuses on the using play as a way for parents to connect with their children, the child is shown unconditional acceptance, as well as given the opportunity to understand and reflect their feelings (Socarras et al., 2015). CPRT is a structured 10-session filial therapy program designed to teach parents how to use developmental play activities and responsive communication to strengthen their relationship (Socarras et al., 2015). CPRT has demonstrated success with families from various ethnicities, cultural groups and social economic status (Socarras et al., 2015). This study confirmed that the CPRT intervention changed the participant’s parent-child relationship and understanding of their children’s emotions. However, African American parents felt that the sessions were not culturally centered to address their unique needs. African American parents also felt that identifying their beliefs about parenting practices should be heard and respected. (Socarras et al., 2015). Information gained was instrumental in identifying potential barriers while utilizing CPRT services for mothers who are African American and living in poverty (Socarras et al., 2015). Understanding the effects of trauma and poverty is critical,

“The CBT approach integrates behavior and cognitive therapy to create change in a person’s behavior that is influenced by external and internal factors, the goal is to create behavioral and cognitive change (Wilson and Cottone, 2013, p.131).” “CBT is a linear model that describes situations, thoughts, feelings, and behavior as being connected (Wilson and Cottone, 2013, p.132).” The key premise to this therapy is that dysfunctional behavior and negative emotions emerge from distorted cognitive representations of external events (Wilson and Cottone, 2013). Research focused on using the CBT approach is limited and fails to identify the effect of treatment on African American Children. Family factors may exacerbate the attrition problem in the evaluation and delivery of mental health care for African American children. Moreover, cultural issues and family attitudes towards treatment may generate barriers to successful outcomes (Wilson and Cottone, 2013). The strategies and techniques of CBT have been assumed as being universal and suggest that there is not a need to focus on ethnically or racially diverse population or on youth of color. However, it is noted that there is a need to identify potential barriers and an increase in cultural sensitivity when working with African Americans. (Wilson and Cottone, 2013) Albeit, there have been studies conducted reporting a decrease in aggressive behaviors and behavior improvements by