The Boundary Project: Transformative Care for Young Minds

The Boundary Project created by Dr. Eliana Gil is rooted in current research treatment components that are effective in the short-term (reducing high-risk behaviors and attending to safety/supervision) as well as long-term recovery from the trauma, event, or familial circumstance that led to the behavior. The treatment model is an evidence-informed and family-focused for children ages 4 to 12 years who present with sexual behavior problems. This is an attachment-focused, integrative approach that includes attention to safety issues, supervision concerns, individual risk factors, trauma histories, and familial factors that may underlie the atypical or problematic sexual behaviors.

 

Clinicians utilize cognitive-behavioral therapy, expressive therapies, mindfulness meditation, and psychoeducation. Affect regulation and impulse control strategies are presented and practiced with children and at least one caregiver. Attachment-focused activities are built into each joint parent-child session to repair or strengthen parent-child relationships that may be strained prior to treatment. Boundary Project clinicians apply equal therapeutic attention to the caregiver(s) in order to maintain positive therapy outcomes following treatment.