ABSTRACT
The primary focus of Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) is on enhancing and strengthening the parent-child relationship by equipping parents with basic Child-Centered Play Therapy skills that have been proven to be necessary and effective dimensions in facilitating the development of secure attachment relationships. CPRT and other forms of filial therapy are unique in emphasizing the importance of responding to children in ways that develop an internal locus of control. Since play is the child’s natural medium of expression and CPRT is play based, it is the only parent training model that allows children to express their emotions fully through the safety of symbolic expression and within the context of child-directed play. Since the skills learned are not problem/correction focused, they can be generalized to situations outside the special playtimes. CPRT is primarily experientially based, relying on the principle of learning by doing. A critical component of CPRT training is the structure and provision of supervision experiences.
