Parent-child interaction therapy: A psychoeducational group model for substance using mothers in a residential perinatal substance abuse treatment program

Scope of Study: The scope of this study was to examine the experiences of mothers participating in a pilot program for teaching PCIT skills in a group setting. The importance of the current research is the implementation of a new delivery method of PCIT concepts in a psychoeducational group setting specifically designed for substance using women who do not have the frequency of contact with their children necessary to complete PCIT as it was intended. Developed by the researcher, the PCIT skills group used in this study was a new modality for PCIT treatment to teach the components of PCIT to substance using mothers. The PCIT skills group also included additional educational components including information on how attachments are formed, the impact of substance use on parent-child attachments, the struggles children with attachment problems face, and on repairing attachment problems. Findings and Conclusions: The purpose of this study was to utilize a newly designed treatment model, a psychoeducational PCIT skills parenting group with an attachment-based focus, with substance using mothers in a residential treatment program in order to assess the potential effectiveness of this treatment delivery model and method. The results demonstrated success in some areas, such as enhancing the understanding of the impact of substance use on the parent-child relationship and increasing knowledge about the importance of meeting children’s emotional needs along with to their physical needs. In addition, some themes not being specifically addressed in the research were represented in the results. The main theme identified was the high presence of guilt experienced by the participants and the influence that guilt has on multiple dynamics within the parent-child relationship. Based on these finding, modifications will be made to the treatment group to incorporate a significant component focusing on guilt along with interventions and techniques to address issues stemming from the guilt. The results of this study contributed to ideas for further research in regard to substance using mothers and their relationships with their children. More research needs to be conducted in order to further the development of effective attachment-based treatment modality for this population. The results of this study also identified an important need in terms of addressing guilt when working with substance using mothers, as it was identified as highly influential in parent-child attachment, parent-child interactions and in the parents’ ability to implement appropriate parenting interventions with their children