Introduction to Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children
Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C)

This lecture will present an introduction to the theory and practice of Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C), by the three developers of the approach from New York. RFP-C is a short-term, psychodynamic intervention for children with externalizing problems that relies on a protocol. This therapeutic approach is designed to help children and their families understand the meaning that motivates problematic behaviors and to help children and their parents promote effective emotional regulation processes. This lecture will present the theoretical principles and basic therapeutic techniques of RFP-C that are used with children who exhibit behavior problems, oppositional behavior, restlessness, and emotional regulation disorders. Brief case studies and discussion will help illustrate the principles of the approach and therapeutic techniques. In addition, the relevance of RFP-C to other treatment methods and ways of integration will be presented.

Website : www.rfp-c.com

Presenters - Approach Developers:

Leon Hoffman - ((MD Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist; Instrumental Analyst and Instructor in Adult, Adolescent, and Child Analysis; Co-Director of the Pacella Research Center at NYPSI (New York Psychoanalytic Institute and Society); Member of the Icahn Faculty - Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Chief Psychiatrist/Psychoanalyst at West End Day School in New York City. Author of the book: "Manual for Regulation-Focused Psychotherapy for Children with Externalizing Behaviors (RFP-C): A Psychodynamic Approach" co-written with Timothy Rice and Tracy Prout. Completed an RCT at the Ferkauf School of Psychology in New York City, with Tracy Prout as the Principal Investigator ( https://www.rfp-c.com ). Among several publications from this work, findings from a pilot study were published in the American Journal of Psychotherapy in 2019. He has written about the impact of Bertha Bornstein's ideas on contemporary treatment of children with behavior problems and the value of using In Wilma Bucci's linguistic indicators for understanding the process in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.

Timothy Rice - (MD) Candidate at Columbia University's Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research in New York City. He is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he focuses on inpatient child and adolescent psychiatry and teaching medical students. He is co-chair of the World Federation of Biological Psychiatry Associations' Task Force on Men's Mental Health, where he focuses on child, adolescent, and young adult populations and on fatherhood.

Tracy Prout – (Ph.D) She is an associate professor of psychology. at the Ferkauf School of Psychology at Yeshiva University. She teaches psychodynamic psychotherapy in the school’s integrated clinical pediatric doctoral program, mentors advanced graduate students in the psychodynamic psychotherapy practicum, and directs the psychodynamic psychotherapy laboratory at Ferkauf. She earned a certificate in psychodynamic psychotherapy from the Institute for Psychoanalytic Education at New York University Medical Center. She serves as co-chair of the Fellowship Committee of the American Psychoanalytic Association and co-chair of the Research Committee of APA Division 39. Dr. Prout is the principal investigator on several studies related to RFP-C and supervises all graduate students working on these projects.