Early Parenting Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ‘Early PACT’ for parents of infants with cerebral palsy

Early PACT is a parenting intervention grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for parents of children with Cerebral Palsy. Early PACT includes ACT technologies already established in an RCT as effective with families of children with CP, including mindfulness, experiential acceptance and cognitive defusion (Whittingham et al., 2014; Whittingham et al., in press; Whittingham, Sanders, et al., 2013). It includes some techniques from the established parenting literature but focuses on strategies to enhance the parent-child relationship and promote parental emotional responsiveness. Early PACT is provided as an online course via the edX platform, an open source course management system created by founding partners Harvard and MIT (www.edx.org/). The course incorporates virtual written text, video presentations, screen-based interactive activities, journal activities, reflections, guided experiential and mindfulness exercises and participation in a moderated discussion board. The course is offered to participants as three modules plus a review session four weeks after the final module. Modules are scheduled to be completed each fortnight, with a four-week break after that to allow for practice of the materials from the course (10 weeks total), with flexibility to move through content. Modules contain content exploring the parent’s values, thoughts and feelings, mindfulness techniques, ways to meet their child’s needs, and exercises for learning compassion. Modules contain videos for parents to watch and reflective exercises on what they have been shown gearing toward practice with their own child. Adherence to the course is monitored via website analytics, the coordinator can access information on whether participants have completed the course and assessments. Regular contact via phone with the parent will also occur to monitor their progress and adherence to the study.