Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) Learning Collaboratives
Scheduled Trainings
Our last 18 month CPP Learning Collaborative started on March 10, 2025 and we are working on scheduling our next one. If you would like to be alerted about it, please use the following form.
Dr. Rodriguez also conducts private CPP trainings for teams at mental health agencies. To request a new training for your mental health agency, please use the following “Request a Training” link.
About Child-Parent Psychotherapy
CPP is an intervention model for children aged 0-5 who have experienced traumatic events and/or are experiencing mental health, attachment, and/or behavioral problems. 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. cultural norms and socioeconomic and immigration-related stressors). For children exposed to trauma, caregiver and child are guided over the course of treatment to create a joint narrative of the traumatic event and to identify and address trauma triggers that lead to dysregulated affect and behavior.
Therapeutic sessions include the child and parent or primary caregiver. If clinically indicated, treatment may include multiple caregivers and/or siblings with the format of sessions determined jointly with the caregivers after learning about the needs of different family members during the Foundational Phase of treatment.
CPP is listed on the SAMHSA National Registry of Effective Programs and Practices. For information about the research on CPP, including the five randomized trials conducted on the model, please see the Child-Parent Psychotherapy Research Summary.
Child-Parent Psychotherapy Learning Collaborative Objectives
Video courtesy of Child-Parent Psychotherapy
Through an 18-month long training, participants will gain core CPP knowledge and competencies to enable them to adopt CPP
Participating agencies will increase their capacity to provide an evidence-based trauma treatment for children in the birth to six age range
CPP Training Overview
The Learning Collaborative model is the dissemination strategy used by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network to support uptake of best practices. What sets an LC apart from traditional training is the intensive focus on learning-by doing. An LC includes in-person trainings or “learning sessions”, intensive consultation, and peer-to-peer learning within and across organizations. This training meets criteria for an Implementation-Level CPP Course. Participants who complete training will be eligible for the roster of trained CPP clinicians.
Please ensure that your agency leadership and all members of your team who might be part of the training are aware of the core components and minimum training requirements for a CPP Implementation Level Course.
They will also be completing the CPP Training Contract and should review it.
Component 1: Participate in initial core CPP Didactic Training (Learning Session-1)
18 content hours minimum
Component 2: Read the CPP manual. See training materials below.
Component 3: Provide CPP to children under age 6 who have experienced at least one traumatic event
Work with the minimum number of families given role in agency
Clinician Participants: 4 CPP cases
Supervisor Participants: 2 CPP cases
At least 2 cases must be treated for at least 16 sessions
At least 1 of the two must have started at the beginning and included a full foundational phase.
Both of these must have included dyadic sessions following the session where the child is introduced to CPP using the CPP Triangle
For Clinician Participants, the other two cases must be seen for at least 4 face-to-face
sessions
All involved a child under age 6 who had experienced at least one traumatic event (may include separation from a primary caregiver)
Possible exceptions for Clinician Participants only: 1 of the 4 cases may involve either: 1) a pregnant mother or a baby under 18 months of age, where the caregiver’s experience of trauma or other mental health conditions (e.g. depression) is the primary reason for referral; or 2) a child who has experienced a trauma but is age 6 at referral. On occasion a trainer may grant an exception if a child is under 8 but has significant developmental delays.
Component 4: Participate in individual or group reflective CPP supervision
Supervision provided by agency supervisor, or CPP trainer (when available and for an additional fee)
Ideally once per week, minimum 2x per month (on weeks when there is no consultation call)
Component 5: Participate in ongoing CPP consult calls
Attend at least 70% of consult calls during the 18-month period (a minimum of 23 calls)
Component 6: Case Presentation
Present at least two times on CPP consultation calls unless group size does not permit.
Share CPP Case Presentation Template and clinical material (process notes or video).
Supervisor of the CPP case being presented should also be present on the calls if they are not a participant in the CPP LC.
Component 7a: Participate in Intensive CPP Competency Building Workshops (Learning Session 2)
12 content hours minimum
Typically held 6 months after the initial didactic training
Component 7b:Participate in Intensive CPP Competency Building Workshops (Learning Session 3)
12 content hours minimum
Typically held 12 months after the initial didactic training
Component 8: Fidelity Monitoring
Complete therapist fidelity forms: Minimum 2 cases (Ideally one high challenge and one low challenge case)
If a “fidelity case” terminates prior to completing 16 sessions, begin fidelity monitoring with another case
Review form with agency supervisor
Complete consultation fidelity instrument as scheduled CPP trainer
Complete supervision fidelity instrument as scheduled by CPP trainer
Optional Components
Supervisor Calls - A highly recommended component of CPP training that will help support supervisors in supervising their staff on CPP. These calls are particularly helpful for supervisors learning the model at the same time as their supervisees and they help support future sustainability for agencies at all levels of CPP implementation. Supervisors will have the opportunity to present supervision cases and discuss CPP supervision.
Senior Leader Calls - Calls with senior leaders to discuss CPP implementation issues. Senior leaders are those individuals within an organization with the capacity to effect agency-level changes that may be needed to align agency and CPP practices and policies.
“Thank you for being so heartfelt and present.”
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
Training Cost
To join a CPP Learning Collaborative (we host 2-4 a year):
CPP Learning Collaboratives have participants from multiple agencies. Recommended for individuals, or groups up to 13.
$2,500* per participant
To start/schedule a new CPP Learning Collaborative:
Starting at $37,000* for up to 15 participants.
Recommended for agencies that have 15 or more participants and need to schedule a training on their own timeframe. A host agency that initiates a training may invite other partner agencies to join and share the cost of training.
Total budget will depend on optional services required and total number of participants. To request a CPP training budget for your agency, please complete an agency training request form and we will prepare a proposal.
*Fee does not include cost of training materials.
Rostering
Video courtesy of Child-Parent Psychotherapy
Individuals who complete an Implementation-Level CPP training are eligible to be listed on the CPP roster.
The CPP Roster is maintained by the Child Trauma Research Program, the development site for CPP.
Training Materials
Participants are required to have access to the required materials during the 18-month training period. It is preferable if they can read the manual prior to beginning training. During training, CPP trainers provide participants with electronic links to training handouts and to other free CPP materials, including the fidelity instruments and evaluation tools.
Required: Child-Parent Psychotherapy Manual
Lieberman, A.F., Ghosh Ippen, C., & Van Horn (2015). Don’t hit my mommy: A manual for Child-Parent Psychotherapy with young children exposed to violence and other trauma, Second Edition. Washington, DC: Zero to Three.
Required: Book Describing Conceptual Framework, Intervention Modalities and Case Example
Lieberman, A.F. & Van Horn, P. (2008). Psychotherapy with infants and young children: Repairing the effects of stress and trauma on early attachment. New York: The Guilford Press.
Optional: Adaptation of CPP for Traumatic Bereavement
Lieberman, A.F., Compton, N.C., Van Horn, P., Ghosh Ippen, C. (2003). Losing a parent to death in the early years: Guidelines for the treatment of traumatic bereavement in infancy. Washington D.C.: Zero to Three Press.
Training Time
Participating sites should budget time for the following activities:
Reading the manuals
Participation in 7 face-to-face days of training
Participation in twice monthly case consultation calls
Presenting on at least two consultation calls (including time to complete a write up)
Participation in reflective CPP supervision, ideally weekly but at a minimum twice a month
Completion of clinical measures, fidelity forms, and evaluation of the training
Providing CPP services
Educational and Licensure Requirements
At the start of training, participant is a Master’s or doctoral level psychotherapist with a degree in a mental health discipline.
Note: This training is not considered intensive enough for student (e.g. practicum students and psychology interns to learn the model).
Unlicensed master’s and doctoral level staff are eligible for participation and the roster only if:
There is a licensed agency staff member who supervises that team member and
participates in the LC for the duration of the training OR
There is a licensed agency supervisor already trained in CPP who supervises that team
member.
CPP Learning Collaborative Documents
CPP Training Agreement
Outlines the minimum training requirements for a CPP Learning Collaborative. This agreement is typically signed prior to beginning the LC to ensure that each participant is aware of the minimum requirement for being eligible for the CPP roster.
Certified CPP Trainer: Dr. Ana M. Rodriguez
Dr. Rodriguez has worked with various agencies as a nationally certified trainer in Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) since 2011. She is also a master trainer in Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI) with the Yale Child Study Center. Previously Dr. Rodriguez was the Clinical Director of the Safe Horizon Counseling Center, the only New York State licensed mental health clinic focusing exclusively on trauma-focused treatment for survivors of abuse across the lifespan.
See Dr. Rodriguez’s full bio here.
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
CPP Trainee
