Philanthropy helps advance Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

Inside Auburn University’s Parent-Child Research Lab, breakthroughs happen every day.

They are often months in the making and come with little fanfare, but they mean so much to the families impacted.

Here, parents and children work together under the guidance of trained therapists to rebuild relationships and transform behavior. For families with children facing challenges like aggression or defiance, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) can often be a turning point.

“PCIT is unique because it happens in real time,” said Elizabeth Brestan-Knight, lab director and the Alma Holladay Endowed Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences. “Parents wear an earpiece, and we coach them as they interact with their child. We’re restructuring the relationship as it unfolds to help parents move toward a more positive interaction with their child.”

The results can be transformative for families. Children who were once at risk of being kicked out of daycare or struggling with teacher and peer relationships in school can now change the dynamic. The PCIT Clinic has even seen cases where the use of ADHD medication could be delayed by up to a year.

Brestan-Knight was one of the first doctoral students at the University of Florida trained in PCIT under Sheila Eyberg, the therapy’s developer and founder of PCIT International. Since coming to the Plains and founding the lab in 1999, Brestan-Knight has turned Auburn into a leader for PCIT training and research.

“My colleague, Arista Rayfield at Children’s of Alabama, led a state-wide dissemination initiative where we collectively trained 60 therapists across Alabama in PCIT, and most of them are certified,” Brestan-Knight said. “That allows us to refer kids throughout the state if they need PCIT.”

The Parent-Child Research Lab has also participated in similar training in Florida and will assist with a major PCIT-training initiative in California. The team's influence extends globally, with programs in Japan, South Korea and other countries.

Auburn graduate students have played a key role in the lab’s day-to-day lab operations as well as training initiatives, creating another pipeline of PCIT champions.

This level of impact didn’t happen by chance. It was made possible, in part, by the generosity of Auburn alumna Alma Holladay. Through a planned gift, Holladay endowed the professorship that Brestan-Knight now holds.

“The Alma Holladay Endowed Professorship has given me the flexibility and the space to take on these training initiatives and grow them,” Brestan-Knight said. “It’s also a badge of honor to carry her name as I represent Auburn at conferences and trainings worldwide.”

Holladay was a three-time Auburn graduate who taught high school math before turning to a 30-year career as a county home economist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in the 1940s. Through careful gift planning, she created a legacy that continues to bolster programs in the colleges of Liberal Arts and Education, the Rural Studio and the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art.

When talking about Holladay’s impact, Brestan-Knight thinks about planned giving through the lens of developmental psychology.

“People can review their life and think, ‘What has my life meant? And how do I want to spend my remaining time and resources?’” she said. “There's a way of thinking that maybe my life is nearing its end, but I'm a wave in the ocean and part of something bigger. Because of that philanthropy, part of me is continuing and contributing in some way beyond my lifetime.”

That is exactly the kind of legacy that Alma Holladay created. Although she never met the families whose lives her gift would touch, her foresight ensures Auburn remains a beacon of hope for parents and children in need through the Parent-Child Research Lab.

Learn more about estate and planned gifts at auburngiving.org/estate or by emailing plannedgiving@auburn.edu or calling 334-844-7375.