Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with Toddlers

recently completed her doctoral studies in clinical child psychology at West Virginia University under the mentorship of Dr. Cheryl McNeil. Her primary research interests include the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based parent-training approaches used to treat children with disruptive behavior difficulties. Specifically, Dr. Wallace is committed to the research and clinical practice of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). She has co-authored over three dozen publications, book chapters, encyclopedia articles, manuals, and professional presentations related to PCIT including a dissertation examining the implementation of a PCIT-based program in a community-based wraparound system. Clinically, Dr. Wallace holds certification as a level-one trainer for PCIT International and is especially passionate about the practice and adaptation of PCIT for populations including toddlers, children with selective mutism, and in-home community-based wraparound services. For her commitment to research and community service, Dr. Wallace has won numerous awards including the 2015 Dr. Stephen Boggs Graduate Student PCIT Research Excellence Award by PCIT International and a grant by the Community Engagement Grant Program at West Virginia University to support her dissertation work.

Jane R. Kohlhoff, Ph.D., is a Clinical Psychologist and Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Australia. Dr. Kohlhoff works in collaboration with a leading Australian parenting organization, Karitane, to conduct clinically-oriented and translational research in the areas of perinatal, infant and early childhood mental health. She has particular interest in attachment theory and clinical applications, disruptive behaviors in early childhood, early interventions to improve outcomes for vulnerable and marginalized families, and the roles of early environmental and biological factors in the intergenerational transmission of poor parenting and psychological outcomes. She has a strong commitment to attachment-based research and clinical work and is an accredited Strange Situation Procedure and Adult Attachment Interviewer coder. Dr. Kohlhoff is currently leading programs of research evaluating the efficacy of the PCIT-Toddlers intervention. She has published widely, presented at numerous international conferences, and received a number of awards including the 2017 Ingham Institute Early Career Researcher Award and a prestigious 2017 Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award.

Susan S.J. Morgan, M.M.H., is a Registered Nurse/Midwife who graduated in 1977 and supplemented her qualifications with a Masters in Perinatal Infant Mental Health in 2010. She has worked extensively with parents, infants and toddlers for over 30 years and has a strong dedication to working within an attachment-based framework.  She currently manages the Karitane Toddler Clinic in Sydney, Australia's only community-based PCIT clinic. Susan is a Level II Trainer with PCIT International and passionate supporter of the model. Susan's clinical and research interests have focused on early intervention and work with children under the age of 2 years. As the primary clinician and trainer on the initial studies of PCIT-Toddler, she served as the key informant for the methods in this book. Susan has published a number of peer-reviewed journal articles and has presented at international forums.  Her aspiration is for all families to have the opportunity to learn how to care for their children in a safe and sensitive way so the children can reach their full potential.

Cheryl B. McNeil, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology in the Clinical Child program at West Virginia University.  Her clinical and research interests are focused on program development and evaluation, specifically with regard to abusive parenting practices and managing the disruptive behaviors of young children in both the home and school settings.  Dr. McNeil has co-authored several books (e.g., Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: Second Edition, Short-Term Play Therapy for Disruptive Children, Handbook of PCIT for children with ASD), a continuing education package (Working with Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Children), a classroom management program (The Tough Class Discipline Kit), and a Psychotherapy DVD for the American Psychological Association (Parent-Child Interaction Therapy).  She has a line of research studies examining the efficacy of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and Teacher Child Interaction Training across a variety of settings and populations, including over 100 research articles and chapters related to the importance of intervening early with young children displaying disruptive behaviors.  Dr. McNeil is a master trainer for PCIT International and has disseminated PCIT to agencies and therapists in many states and countries, including Norway, New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea.