3-day introduction to working with sex offenders

These three consecutive days training will mean you are then eligible to receive client referrals from StopSO, subject to the rest of your application.

The training comprises of three days, which can be taken individually or all together. All training days open at 9.30 am to start at 10 am, and they finish at 4 pm.

Day one - Crossing the line

This one-day course is aimed for counsellors and psychotherapists who do not usually work with forensic clients but may find themselves faced with one unexpectedly, or whose current client subsequently discloses walking close to, or crossing, a legal line. What should you do? Through a series of case studies, this day aims to give confidence in dealing appropriately with the situation.

The aims of this course are;

• to help the therapist have confidence in managing and dealing with an unexpected legal situation
• to review assessment and containment procedures
• to know the principals of client and self-care
• to understand the ethical and legal issues of confidentiality and disclosure requirements

Objectives: By the end of the day, the delegate will be able to;

• list the necessary information required for an assessment
• understand appropriate referral procedures
• undertake a personal risk assessment in which to work
• discuss the ethical and legal issues relating to confidentiality

Day two - Assessing risk

The aim of the day is to provide practitioners with a broad understanding of risk assessment issues in order to inform practice, rather than to provide a standardised risk assessment tool to be used for reports. The day will explore risk issues pertaining to clients living on their own in the community, clients subject to contact arrangements with children following the break-up of the family, and clients living with families. Liaising with other professionals will also be explored, including working with criminal justice and social work professionals, including Multi Agencies Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).

Topics covered will include;

• confidentiality and contracting with clients about risk
• actuarial risk assessments
• clinical risk assessments
• assessing adult males accused or convicted of sexual offending
• assessing adolescent males accused or convicted or sexual offending
• assessing males who have been accused or convicted of internet sex offending
• profiles of sex offenders and related risks they pose
• assessing sex offenders in context

Day three - Treatment interventions

The aim of the day is to provide practitioners with a historic perspective of how the treatment of sexual offenders has developed, leading up to current rehabilitative thinking. By the end of the day, participants should be able to locate their own therapeutic practice within a broader perspective and take away additional tools to use with their clients. The day will also address how to work with denial, minimisation, lack of victim empathy and cognitive distortions.

Topics covered will include;

• the therapeutic alliance and self-reflective practice
• the psychodynamic perspective
• attachment theory
• trauma
• denial and minimisation
• the feminist perspective
• cycles and models of sex offending: Finkelhor and Wolf
• cognitive behavioural methods: group-work, one-to-one work
• strengths-based approaches - good lives, motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy
• relapse prevention/safety planning
• common outcomes of effective therapy