FAQ for Professionals

1. Repair the impact of trauma to restore the child’s healthy social and emotional development.
2. Increase caregiver’s capacity to provide physical, relational, and emotional safety to the child.
3. Restore trust and safety in the caregiver-child relationship as a vehicle for promoting the child’s mental health.

Treatment consists of three phases:

1. Foundational Phase: 4-8 weekly sessions to assess the family’s needs, strengths, and trauma history and to enhance safety and stabilization. Sessions also focus on supporting the caregiver in understanding the impact of traumatic experiences on the child, parent, and family relationships and in developing a shared framework that will guide future sessions that involve the child. Most sessions are with the caregiver and therapist; the child participates in 1-2 observation sessions.
2. Core Intervention Phase: weekly dyadic sessions and collateral parent sessions as needed. Duration varies based on severity and developmental needs, generally recommending at least 20 sessions followed by an assessment to determine if additional treatment would be beneficial. For single incident trauma that is resolved, this phase may be shorter.
3. Closing Phase: 4-8 sessions to assess and support treatment gains, 1-2 of which involve only the caregiver and therapist.

CPP has Practice-based evidence and Research evidence from 5 randomized control trials and treatment effectiveness studies conducted in the United States, Israel, Sweden, and Australia to support its benefits.

CPP improves child-level functioning (e.g., PTSD symptoms, behavioral problems, cognitive performance), caregiver-level functioning (e.g., PTSD and general symptoms), and child-caregiver relationship (e.g., attachment, interactions, view of each other). CPP also slows down child Epigenetic Age Acceleration, a biomarker associated with long-term medical and psychiatric conditions.

CPP was developed at the UCSF Child Trauma Research Program and evolved from the Ghosts in the Nursery infant-parent psychotherapy model created by Selma Fraiberg in the 1970s. CPP integrates trauma theory with an ecological transactional framework to address the impact of traumatic experiences on birth-five year olds and to support caregivers in reducing the impact of intergenerational and historical trauma. In 1998, CTRP received NIMH funding to develop the CPP manual and conduct an RCT with racially diverse preschoolers and mothers who had experienced intimate partner violence. In 2001, CTRP joined the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and soon began disseminating CPP using their Learning Collaborative model. CPP is now implemented in 40 states and 5 countries by a roster of 2000+ CPP clinicians. Research efforts continue, with 3 RCTs conducted by the University of Rochester and feasibility, effectiveness, cost effectiveness, and case studies conducted around the world.

Provider prerequisites:

• Education: Master’s level in a mental health discipline
  Licensure: Licensed or has CPP-trained licensed supervisor

Trained providers can:

• Deliver CPP
• Earn certification in CPP
• Qualify for enhanced rates if available

Access for Provider Training:

• Through live in-person training
• Through live virtual training
• Through a training manual
• Contact in advance for trainer availability

[coming soon]

[coming soon]

If you completed an implementation-level CPP training (LC, CAMP, or Internship) and are not on the roster, please use your roster survey code to verify that your current email address is listed and you have opted in to the public roster. After this step, or if you can’t find your roster survey code, please complete the following survey to help us find your information: https://redcap.ucsf.edu/surveys/?s=8HA9D3F7XR

Please use your roster survey code to access and update your roster profile. If you can’t find your roster survey code, please complete the following survey to help us find your information: https://redcap.ucsf.edu/surveys/?s=8HA9D3F7XR

Once you choose which implementation model is best for you, visit this model’s page to learn more about the training cost.

Once you choose which implementation model is best for you, visit this model’s page to learn more about the training requirements.

Organization prerequisites:

• Commit to regular meetings dedicated to sustaining the practice
• Ideally keeping 3+ trained providers on staff
• Ideally keeping 1+ trained supervisors on staff

Organizations can:

• Earn rostered status
• Prove training in evidence-based model for billing and insurance

Access for Organizational Readiness Supports:

• Virtual/in-person continuing education at cost
• Connection to other organizations using model