I had the opportunity to learn and practice the PARTNERS therapy
model in treating children and their families with histories of
trauma as part of a clinical research study. PARTNERS was
unique in that it combined effective interventions for the
individual child, the caregiver, and the dyad. The individual
interventions aimed at teaching the children to identify and manage
difficult emotions in an adaptive manner.
I enjoyed the creativity the model allowed for tailoring the
interventions to different levels of development. The
interventions with the caregiver were aimed at helping them to
understand and support the child’s experience by spending quality
individual time with the child and learning effective disciplinary
techniques to manage difficult behaviors and promote a sense of
safety and security.
The dyadic portions of the sessions were very useful because they
provided the caregiver and child with direct “hands on” experience
to practice the interventions learned. This component was fun
and engaging for everyone involved and ensured that everyone
participating in the treatment was informed about, and able to
implement, each important component of the treatment model.
Since I have moved on to working in other settings and no longer
use the specific PARTNERS treatment protocol, the model provided me
with such invaluable training that sharpened my skills as a
clinician that it continues to influence my treatment of children
and families today.
I am very grateful for my experience in working with PARTNERS and
highly recommend it as an effective, empirically-based
treatment.