Services & Programs

Therapies We Use to Address Trauma in Children and Adults

Mountain Child Advocacy Center Provides:

A child friendly atmosphere for recording interviews, on-site medical evaluations and assessments, utilizing “state of the art” technology.

Coordination and facilitation of investigative, legal, social, medical and mental health services through a model “team” approach.

Multi-disciplinary team (law enforcement, prosecution, mental health, social services, child protection team) case reviews and case tracking through the Center’s case advocate program.

Mental health services – Licensed and especially skilled therapists licensed mental health therapists to help reduce the trauma abused children suffer. They save and restore lost childhoods.

Community resources for information, referral and help.

Professional training and educational presentations at the community, state, and national level.

Darkness to Light child sexual abuse prevention program targeted at organizations working with children to include churches and daycares.

Children's Advocacy Centers Are the Best Way to Get Abused Kids All the Services They Need

All in one place, and to help kids go on to thrive. Here's how CACs work.

To Understand What a Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) Is

You must understand what children face without one. Without a CAC, the child may end up having to tell the worst story of his or her life over and over again, to doctors, cops, lawyers, therapists, investigators, judges, and others. They may have to talk about that traumatic experience in a police station where they think they might be in trouble, or may be asked the wrong questions by a well-meaning teacher or other adult that could hurt the case against the abuser.

Graphic From Children’s Alliance Showing the With or Without CAC

Without CACs vs With CACs

When police or child protective services believe a child may be experiencing abuse, the child is brought to the CAC—a safe, child-focused environment—by a caregiver or other “safe” adult. At the CAC, the child tells their story once to a trained interviewer who knows the right questions to ask in a way that does not re-traumatize the child. Then, a team that includes medical professionals, law enforcement, mental health, prosecution, child protective services, victim advocacy, and other professionals make decisions together about how to help the child based on the interview. CACs offer therapy and medical exams, plus courtroom preparation, victim advocacy, case management, and other services. This is called the multidisciplinary team (MDT Advocacy) response and is a core part of the work of CACs.

Evidence Based Therapies Used by Mountain CAC

Mountain CAC has implemented an array of Evidence-Based Practices to address trauma from birth into adulthood. In addition to having covered all age ranges, we are utilizing multiple models to address the diverse and individual needs that children and adults have after experiencing trauma. The following brief descriptions explain the various models that we provide, but we are available to answer questions about any of our interventions.

Child Therapy Models (0-18)

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) (3-18 year olds)

TF-CBT is a conjoint child and parent psychotherapy model for children who are experiencing significant emotional and behavioral difficulties related to traumatic life events. It is a components-based hybrid treatment model that incorporates trauma-sensitive interventions with cognitive behavioral, family, and humanistic principles. It is considered the “gold” standard for the treatment of trauma in children.

Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) (7-18 year olds)

(originally named Abuse-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy) AF-CBT is designed for families who are referred for problems related to the management of anger and/or aggression, which include several behaviors on a continuum reflecting the use of coercion and/or physical force.

Specifically, AF-CBT seeks to improve the relationships between children and their parents/caregivers who experience anger, physical and verbal aggression, emotional abuse, ongoing family conflict, threats or use of harsh/punitive/ineffective physical discipline or punishment, and child physical abuse.

Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP)

CPP is a treatment for trauma-exposed children aged 0–5. Typically, the child is seen with his or her primary caregiver, and the dyad is the unit of treatment. CPP examines how the trauma and the caregivers’ relational history affect the caregiver-child relationship and the child’s developmental trajectory. A central goal is to support and strengthen the caregiver-child relationship as a vehicle for restoring and protecting the child’s mental health.

Treatment also focuses on contextual factors that may affect the caregiver-child relationship (e.g., culture and socioeconomic and immigration-related stressors). Targets of the intervention include caregivers’ and children’s maladaptive representations of themselves and each other and interactions and behaviors that interfere with the child’s mental health.

Over the course of treatment, caregiver and child are guided to create a joint narrative of the psychological traumatic event and identify and address traumatic triggers that generate dysregulated behaviors and affect.

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) (2-7 year olds)

PCIT is a dyadic behavioral intervention for children (ages 2.0–7.0 years) and their parents or caregivers that focuses on decreasing externalizing child behavior problems (e.g., defiance, aggression), increasing child social skills and cooperation, and improving the parent-child attachment relationship. It teaches parents traditional play-therapy skills to use as social reinforcers of positive child behavior and traditional behavior management skills to decrease negative child behavior.

Parents are taught and practice these skills with their child in a playroom while coached by a therapist. The coaching provides parents with immediate feedback on their use of the new parenting skills, which enables them to apply the skills correctly and master them rapidly.

PCIT is time-unlimited; families remain in treatment until parents have demonstrated mastery of the treatment skills and rate their child’s behavior as within normal limits on a standardized measure of child behavior. Therefore, treatment length varies but averages about 14 weeks, with hour-long weekly sessions.

Treatment of Problematic Sexual Behaviors (PSB-CBT)

Often children that have experienced abuse and or neglect will subsequently exhibit problematic sexual behaviors as their symptoms of trauma. Those will range from sexual behaviors that occur in isolation (self-touching, sexual expressions, viewing pornography) or those that impact others directly (sexual touch, sexual talk, coercive sexual acts).

Using an evidence-supported approach, Mountain CAC addresses these behaviors by engaging clients, and their families, in a collaborative and individualized approach to promoting safety and healthy relationships. In addition, we use a trauma-informed lens to address the genesis of the problematic behaviors with the understanding that their sexualized acting out is often just one of several issues that child and family are trying to manage.

Adult and Older Adolescent Therapies (16 plus years old)

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

CPT focuses on identifying and challenging maladaptive beliefs that develop about, and as a result of, the traumatic event. The therapist helps the client to identify problem areas (i.e., stuck points) in their thinking about the traumatic event that have impeded their recovery.

Therapists then use Socratic dialogue, a form of questioning that encourages clients to examine and evaluate their own beliefs rather than being told in a directive way, to help clients challenge their stuck points.

Throughout the treatment, worksheets and Socratic dialogue are used to help clients replace maladaptive beliefs with more balanced alternative statements. CPT can be delivered individually or in a group format.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)

Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS)

SPARCS is a 16-session group therapy model for adolescents ages 12-21 with a history of chronic interpersonal trauma or who are living with significant ongoing stressors. Topics include the impact of stress on the body, mindfulness, distress tolerance and coping skills, communicating and connecting with others, problem-solving, and creating meaning. Groups are mindfully formed to ensure age appropriateness and are offered both in our office and in select schools in Buncombe County. If you are interested in learning more or want to join a group, contact Miranda Bingham, Clinical Family Advocate, at [email protected] or call or text (828)674-4759.

Advocacy and Support

Advocacy

Prevention and Education

Child Abuse Prevention Education

Adult Education

Adult Prevention Education provides community members, parents, and primary care members with the knowledge to recognize, report, and empower themselves to help children.
Our Adult prevention programs include non-offending parent support groups/caregiver support, information on children’s personal safety, and community education and training.

Darkness to Light Stewards of Children is a training to educate parents and anyone who works with and cares for children in learning to recognize, prevent and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
Stewards of Children training is an adult-focused, evidence-informed curriculum proven to increase knowledge and attitudes to prevent child sexual abuse and encourage behaviors promoting protective factors. The 2 hour Stewards of Children program is available through a group session led by an authorized facilitator as well as online.
Stewards of Children training is appropriate for parents as well as professionals and volunteers in youth-serving organizations such as schools, faith centers, camps, daycares, sports leagues, and clubs. Stewards of Children is also available in a Spanish-language version.

Circle of Security Parenting Program is an attachment based parenting program that supports parents or caregivers in improving their relationships with children. It is a reflective model that asks parents to reflect on themselves and what they are bring to the table as parents and how their personal stories impact how they parent.