The Lourie Center Provides CPP Intervention for Children and Families
Child-parent psychotherapy (CPP) is one of the few evidence-based interventions for young children from birth to 6 years old who have experienced a traumatic event. Adventist HealthCare’s The Lourie Center for Children’s Social & Emotional Wellness is using the CPP intervention in its Parent-Child Clinical Services Program to aid in mental health treatment for young children. CPP is a family therapy model that brings young children and caregivers together in the therapy room to work towards healing from trauma and high-stress events.
While there is more than a decade of research on the efficacy of Child Parent Psychotherapy, a long-term study published in August 2024 in the journal Psychological Science highlights important new findings. University of California San Francisco researchers found CPP therapy had a lasting impact on the mental and physical health of children. The study examined cellular aging in two groups of children ages 2 to 6 who had experienced trauma. One group of children received CPP, and a comparison group did not. Children who received CPP had lower indications of age acceleration compared to the no-treatment group, indicating that children who received CPP may be at lower risk for health problems later in life. This study adds to a growing body of research that shows CPP yields improvement in both child and caregiver mental health.
Jimmy Venza, PhD, executive director of The Lourie Center, shared that The Lourie Center is one of only a few organizations in Maryland with clinicians who are trained to use the CPP model with families.
“We are so grateful to all The Lourie Center clinicians involved in establishing CPP as a transformational care model for our children and families,” Dr. Venza said.
In The Lourie Center’s clinic, young children and their families who are seeking mental health services are evaluated by an interdisciplinary team including clinical social workers, child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and graduate level trainees. Following the evaluation, the team recommends interventions like CPP as part of a family-centered treatment plan that meets the child’s needs.
To become trained as a CPP provider, early childhood mental health therapists must complete an 18-month learning collaborative. The Lourie Center is offering CPP thanks to a five-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service’s Administration. Its National Child Traumatic Stress Network aims to increase access to mental health care for children and families who have experienced traumatic events. Through this funding, which began in 2021, The Lourie Center has trained 10 therapists, with five more currently in training in collaboration with the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Infant Study, Kennedy Krieger’s Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress, Washington DC’s Department of Behavioral Health and the University of California San Francisco.
“Offering CPP to families reflects our core mission and exemplifies why The Lourie Center was established: to bring the best of developmental science to the benefit of those in the community who all too often are faced with barriers to high-quality care,” Dr. Venza emphasized. “This is about moving children and families from the margins to the mainstream - impacting lifelong development.”
