Group treatment program
The group program provides intervention for men who have been assessed as moderate to high risk for sexual reoffence. It is a cognitive-behavioural based program with a focus on skill development.
Participants are supported to identify the patterns and ways in which their offence(s) have unfolded in the past. Sexual offences are not seen as isolated events but are instead construed as a culmination of a chain of events. Identification of these events, referred to as a “behavioural progression” is considered to be important in an effort to establish risk factors and situations that increase the likelihood that they will engage in similar offending in the future. From this, themes and triggers are identified as this is helpful for both the individual and those supervising if clear indicators are established which serve as signals that risk might be increasing.
Each session includes activities and/or discussion to practice self-management skills related to risk mitigation and enhanced problem solving. Skills covered include: mindfulness (breathing exercises, 5 senses, body scan, progressive muscle relaxation); self-monitoring (“Catch it, Check it, Change it”; Consequences, Personal Values, Reality Check; identifying thinking traps); understanding personal values; emotion regulation (emotion identification and “Opposite Action” exercises); healthy and unhealthy relationships; assertive communication; healthy and unhealthy sex; sexual interest modification; emotion-, task-, and avoidance-focused coping; SMART goal-setting; perspective-taking; and self-compassion. All skills are taught in the context of the cognitive behavioural therapy model, as is currently recommended in the risk-need-responsivity literature.
Each participant develops a Self-Management Plan which identifies goals for improvement in several areas of their lives (i.e., Healthy Living; Sense of Purpose; Positive Relationships; Healthy Sexuality; and Managing Life’s Problems). Strategies for achieving these goals are identified with an emphasis on making them realistic and specific. In doing this, group members are encouraged to become self-determining agents in efforts to achieve lives that feel meaningful and worthwhile to them. There is evidence that offenders who feel more content and happier with these different aspects of their lives are less likely to reoffend.
Individual one-on-one treatment
One-on-one treatment may be appropriate for individuals with responsivity issues that preclude their participation in a group setting (e.g., low cognitive functioning, severe mental health issues, severe ADHD). Similar to the group program structure the focus is on identifying risk factors, and skills are focused on those issues considered most relevant to the specific individual. A behavioural progression and Self-Management Plan are developed.
Individual one-one-one treatment for sexual deviance
Treatment for sexual deviance may be provided for individuals who are moderate to high risk for sexual reoffence with few dynamic needs other than sexual deviance or who have previously received treatment but who continue to demonstrate issues of sexual deviance. The sessions include having participants keep sexual fantasy logs as a monitoring strategy, with discussions and exercises focused on managing sexual deviance, pornography use, masturbation, consent, and age appropriate relationships. Behavioural strategies are introduced that focus on the management of sexual arousal including healthy fantasy, satiation, and covert sensitization.