ABSTRACT

Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) is a well-established approach to working with families. Although CPRT was developed long before neuroscience terminology and conceptualizations began to enter into counseling, the approach is consistent with a number of findings from developmental, affective, and relational neuroscience fields. The hierarchical nature of brain development has a number of implications for child and family therapy. CPRT both enhances and utilizes the brain’s natural capacity for neuroplasticity. D. Siegel defined the attachment system as an “inborn system in the brain that evolves in ways that influence and organize motivational, emotional, and memory processes with respect to significant caregiving figures”. Understanding the role emotions play in brain functioning is essential to work with parents and children. CPRT is consistent with principles of brain development, neuroanatomy of emotions and memory, and neuroscience of adult learning. The CPRT process aligns quite nicely with critical in the neuroscience-informed principles of adult learning.