At Little Futures, our therapists guide parents step-by-step through PMT, providing tools and coaching to make everyday parenting more calm, consistent, and effective.
What is Parent Management Training?
PMT is a structured therapy program that teaches parents how to:
- Stay calm and confident during challenging moments
- Increase positive behaviors through praise and reinforcement
- Set clear expectations and follow through with consistent consequences
- Use predictable responses to minor misbehavior and attention-seeking
- Establish predictable routines and rules at home
What the Research Shows
Parent Management Training has been studied for over 40 years and is one of the most well-researched treatments for child behavior problems. Clinical trials consistently show that PMT:
- Reduces oppositional and defiant behaviors
- Improves parent-child relationships
- Increases cooperation and positive behaviors at home and school
- Leads to lasting changes when parents consistently use the strategies
Importantly, PMT is designed to be brief and highly effective. Many families see significant improvements in just a few months when skills are practiced consistently at home.
Does This Sound Familiar?
“My child knows coping skills, but doesn’t use them when it matters.”
“The strategies seem to work in therapy, but not at home.”
“My child refuses to use the tools we’ve practiced.”
“My child is always negotiating with me — I joke they’ll make a great lawyer one day.”
“I feel like I’m walking on eggshells at home, never sure what might set my child off.”
If any of these sound like your family, Parent Management Training may be the missing piece.
PMT helps both when children already know coping skills but struggle to use them and when parents need clear, effective strategies for handling constant pushback, power struggles, or emotional intensity. It gives parents the tools to help coping skills generalize into daily life and restores confidence at home.
What PMT Helps With
PMT is especially helpful for families of children who struggle with:
- Tantrums, aggression, or frequent outbursts
- Defiance or refusal to follow directions
- Hyperactivity, impulsivity, or inattention (including ADHD)
- Emotion dysregulation (big feelings that quickly escalate)
- Parent-child conflict or power struggles
- Difficulty with routines and transitions at home
How PMT Works at Little Futures
At Little Futures, PMT is a collaborative, skills-based approach. Parents meet with a provider (without the child present) to:
- Learn evidence-based parenting strategies in a supportive environment
- Practice skills through role-play, examples, and problem-solving
- Receive coaching and feedback to apply strategies at home
- Track progress and celebrate improvements in their child’s behavior
Unlike PCIT, where parents are coached live with their child in session, PMT sessions are focused directly on parent learning and practice. This makes PMT a flexible option for parents of children across a wide age range.
Benefits of PMT
Families who participate in PMT often report:
- Fewer tantrums and disruptive behaviors at home and school
- Improved compliance and cooperation from their child
- A calmer, more positive parent-child relationship
- Increased parent confidence in managing difficult behaviors
- Skills that carry over across siblings and family routines
Getting Started with PMT
If your child knows coping skills but struggles to use them—or if parenting feels stressful and exhausting—Parent Management Training can help.
Contact Little Futures today to learn more about PMT and how it can support your family.
Do These Sound Familiar?
💬 “My child knows coping skills but won’t use them.”
💬 “They’re always negotiating — future lawyer in the making.”
💬 “I feel like I’m walking on eggshells at home.”
➡️ PMT gives parents the tools to handle these challenges and help coping skills carry over into real life.