PRIDE Skills to Strengthen Parent / Child Relationships

P.R.I.D.E. skills open up doors to increase relationship and control when you are interacting with your child on a daily basis. PRIDE skills are a component of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) which is an evidence based treatment developed by Sheila Eyberg for children ages 2–7 and their caregivers. PCIT happens in the clinic while the parent wears a “bug in the ear” or speaker and the therapist is in another room coaching the parent on ways to interact most successfully with his/her child. PCIT is build to strengthen the parent/child relationship and once strengthened to help the parent learn and use strategies to increase compliance.

PRIDE is an acronym that stands for:

• Praise – Praise your child for specific behaviors you want to see more of. For example, “Nice job saying Thank you” or “I love that you cleaned up your Legos on your own”

• Reflect – Repeat the words said by your child. This helps to build connection between parent and child as it helps the child to feel heard and understood.

• Imitate – Parent engage in the same behaviors and play as what the child is doing. This helps to show approval and also teaches the child to imitate what others are doing which is a key what that children learn

• Describe – Parents describe what the child is doing in order to help their child build vocabulary and show that they (the parents) are paying attention to the child’s activities

• Enthusiasm – Parents demonstrate enthusiasm for the child’s activities and for the time spent with the child

By using these five communication tools,we can all experience a  more satisfying relationship with our children. All of us need emotional connection and control. So the PRIDE skills give an intense dose to both of these needs. Building these skills is the first part of PCIT which emphasizes relationship building. The second part of PCIT is focused on building compliance. This is done by helping parents learn to provide direct, easy-to-understand instructions to the child, with clear, consistent consequences for compliance and defiance. Check out this short video that is a sample from a PCIT session

This is one of the services that we offer at Del Mar Center for Behavioral Health. Contact us today to get started!

Dr. Becca