Child-Parent Psychotherapy

Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) is an intervention for children from birth through age 5 who have experienced at least one traumatic event (e.g., maltreatment, the sudden or traumatic death of someone close, a serious accident, sexual abuse, exposure to domestic violence) and, as a result, are experiencing behavior, attachment, and/or mental health problems including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The primary goal of CPP is to support and strengthen the relationship between a child and his or her parent (or caregiver) as a vehicle for restoring the child’s sense of safety, attachment, and appropriate affect and improving the child’s cognitive, behavioral, and social functioning.

The type of trauma experienced and the child’s age or developmental status determines the structure of CPP sessions. When the parent has a history of trauma that interferes with his or her response to the child, the therapist helps the parent understand how this history can affect perceptions of and interactions with the child and helps the parent interact with the child in new, developmentally appropriate ways.

Marian Silverman, Psy.D. , a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with extensive experience working with children and families, especially those involved with the Child Welfare System who often are impacted by abuse and neglect, has spent her career identifying, providing and managing services that address these complex challenges. Her expertise covers the areas of child welfare; foster care; trauma; parenting and early childhood mental health. Dr. Silverman was at Albert Einstein College of Medicine for over 20 years where she was an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Supervising Psychologist. While there she developed and provided oversight to a grant funded project “The Therapeutic Visiting Program” which began as a multi-system collaboration between a grass-roots neighborhood organization, a non-profit hospital based outpatient program and The New York City Administration for Children’s Services providing trauma-informed treatment to complex families. She has worked collaboratively on “best practice” initiatives with The Bronx Family Court; Nassau Family Court; The Bridge Builders Collaborative; Foster Care Agencies; and the Department of Social Services and has participated in NYC Administration for Children’s Services “Community Partnership Initiative” and The Early Engagement Work Group in Bronx Family Court which was spearheaded by the Supervising Judge.

With Dr. Silverman’s direction combined with Hope for Youth’s nearly 50-year reputation of providing top quality child welfare services to Long Islanders, Hope for Youth is establishing a comprehensive Child Parent Therapy Program. The program incorporates the “best practice” evidence based model, Child Parent Psychotherapy (Lieberman & Van Horn; Lieberman, Ippen & Van Horn) in order to address the specialized mental health needs of parents and their children birth to five. In addition, Hope for Youth has launched the #kidscantwait initiative to highlight these services, extend much needed support to children and their parents who have experienced one or more significant, traumatic events, and increase the number of people in Long Island who are able to meet the needs of this population.

Essential Components of Therapy Include:

Enhance emotional regulation and teaches self-regulation skills
Focus on the parent-child relationship as the primary target of intervention.
Help establish appropriate parent-child roles
Foster parent’s ability to respond in helpful, soothing ways when child is upset
Foster child’s ability to use parent as a secure base
Help parent acknowledge what child has witnessed and remembered
Provide developmental guidance acknowledging response to trauma

A parent’s mental health is crucial when
caring for a child. A part of CPP’s focus is
providing mental health treatment for
parents while addressing the needs of their
children. CPP offers the tools to help parents
parent better!

Child-Parent Psychotherapy Referral Form

Referral Source*
- Suffolk County DSS
- Suffolk County Family Court
- Nassau County DSS
- Nassau County Family Court
Name*
First Last
Position
Phone
Email
Reason for Referral
DSS Involvement
- Yes
- No
DSS Involvement County
- Suffolk County DSS
- Nassau County DSS
If you’ve answered yes to the above question please provide the county in which the DSS office you are working with is located.
Caseworker
Court Involvement
- Yes
- No
Court Involvement County
- Suffolk County Court
- Nassau County Court
If you’ve answered yes to the above question please provide the county in which the Court you are working with is located.
Judge
Caregiver Substance Abuse History
- Yes
- No
Does the caregiver of the child have a history of Substance Abuse?
Other Family Member Substance Abuse History
- Yes
- No
Do any other Family members of the child have a history of Substance Abuse?
Family Member with Substance Abuse History

If you answered yes to the above question, please list the family member & relation to the child.
Biological Mother's Name
Biological Mother's Date of Birth
Biological Mother's Phone
Biological Mother's Address
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code Country
Biological Father's Name
Biological Father's Date of Birth
Biological Father's Phone
Biological Father's Address
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code Country
Child Name 1*
First Last
Child's Date of Birth 1*
Child 1 Address Residing
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code Country
Child Name 2
First Last
Child's Date of Birth 2
Child 2 Address Residing
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code Country
Child Name 3
First Last
Child's Date of Birth 3
Child 3 Address Residing
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code Country
Child Name 4
First Last
Child's Date of Birth 4
Child 4 Address Residing
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code Country
Other Caregivers
Are there any other caregivers involved in the child’s life? If so, please list them and their relationship to the to the child.
Any Agency Involved?
- Yes
- No
Agency Involvement Information

If you answered yes to the above question, please list the name of the agency, contact person & phone number.
Agency Involvement Information
If you’ve answer yes to the above question please provide the Agency Name, Contact Persons Name & Contact Person’s Phone Number.
Comments
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