Center for Children and Families offers online resources for parents and professionals


CCF-EffectiveChildTherapy

The Center for Children and Families (CCF) at FIU is making mental health care resources more accessible for families worldwide through its Effective Child Therapy Online Education website (ECT Online).

Created in collaboration with Division 53 of the American Psychological Association (Society for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology) and The Children’s Trust, the website offers video resources for parents and professionals about evidence-based practices that promote child and adolescent mental health.

Researcher William E. Pelham, Jr., chairman of the FIU Department of Psychology and director of the Center for Children and Families spearheaded the project. His vision was to provide an innovative platform without language or location obstacles for parents to access valuable information about their children’s mental health.

ECT Online houses a library of informational videos and expert interviews that address intervention techniques, research literature and treatments related to various areas of child and adolescent mental health – including ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, anxiety and phobias. The videos are also available with subtitles in Spanish.

Professionals who work with youth and their parents, such as teachers, counselors and case workers, can earn continuing education credits for watching the ECT Online videos. Professionals have access to reviews and evidence-based treatment workshops presented by top experts in the field. All online keynote addresses and training workshops are offered free of charge with the option to pay for continuing education credits.

Parents and caregivers can also access all videos on the site free of charge and from the comfort of their own homes. The videos offer expert advice for parents who are worried about their child’s behavior, feelings or social development. They are organized alphabetically and categorized by disorder or problem. Experts from FIU’s Center for Children and Families, including Pelham and CCF researcher James Waxmonsky, as well as others from national and international institutions discuss symptoms and treatment options for parents who may feel overwhelmed by the mental health issues their child may be facing.

Recently CCF’s ECT Online launched a resource library making all parent and professional resources available on mobile devices via YouTube. The ECT Online site and resource library can be valuable tools for parents and caregivers over the summer break months.

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