The UF Psychiatry PCIT Program was well represented at the first PCIT World Congress entitled “Heading for New Shores” with presentations by Master Trainers Dr. Regina Bussing and Dr. Melanie Nelson, and by graduate student Brittney Bailey.
The World Congress also marked the 10-year anniversary of PCIT in Germany. Dr. Bussing collaborated closely with the team led by Dr. Wolfgang Briegel from the Leopoldina Hospital on translating the PCIT materials and on psychometric research that undergirded the dissemination of this highly effective treatment method to Germany, Switzerland and Austria. At the Congress, Dr. Bussing presented along with Dr. Marcel Romanos, Head of Child Psychiatry at Wuerzburg University, during a popular “Pro-Con-Debate” on the first choice treatment of young children with ADHD – PCIT or Stimulants?
Dr. Nelson gave three presentations at the conference. Coding at High Speed: A DPICS Extravaganza (this was a fast-paced, game-based presentation designed to build coding skills used in PCIT service delivery); Parenting is Stressful: Clinical management of parents and children who are experiencing high levels of stress, and Sustainable methods to measure treatment fidelity and quality in community settings. Dr. Nelson also served as the Chair of the Scientific Committee for the research poster session.
Graduate student Brittany Bailey gave a 15-minute research presentation about the impact of parental ADHD symptomology on homework completion in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. Parent-training programs like PCIT are a first line treatment for ADHD in preschoolers, but because ADHD is highly heritable, parents of children with ADHD are more likely to have had ADHD themselves than parents of children without ADHD.
“Although the reach of PCIT has been growing for some time, this is the first PCIT conference to be held outside the US. It was great to talk with and see so many colleagues from Europe, Asia, and Australia sharing their ideas and presenting research because it is not always possible for them to attend conferences in the States.”
– Melanie Nelson, PhD
