Helping Adolescents Develop into Sexually Healthy Adults

Social isolation, loneliness, and difficulty fitting into social settings and networks are everyday experiences in the lives of adolescents. Many adolescents have given up hope of having truly fulfilling sexual relationships when they are adults. This training offers professionals who work with adolescents ways to talk with them about sex and sexuality and help them develop and practice the skills necessary for developing into sexually healthy adults. It addresses topics rarely discussed in programs for adolescents: the boundaries of flirting on- and off-line; what informed consent for sex is and how it works; relevant knowledge of how the body works; appropriate language for communicating about sex. Adolescents’ understanding of what is and isn’t acceptable and legal is vitally important for their future success in sexual relationships

ATSA is Calling for Abstracts for the 2023 Conference

The 42nd Annual Research and Treatment Conference sponsored by the Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse will be held at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora, Colorado, from Thursday September 28 to Sunday October 1, 2023.  

The organizers welcome all submissions related to assessment, treatment and management of individuals who sexually abuse and the prevention of sexual abuse.

2023 Pricing Update

On January 2nd, we will be raising the prices on many of our books by a small amount ($1 on workbooks; $2 on professional books). We only reluctantly raise prices on our books, but the increased cost of paper makes this unavoidable at this time. We will also be raising pricing for shipping of smaller orders, and international orders. But we will continue to offer free domestic shipping on retail orders of $75 or more.

Individuals Convicted for Sexual & Violent Offenses Who Have Personality Disorders: Treatment, Case Management, and Beyond

This workshop focuses on the challenging subject of personality disorder and its relevance to understanding men with sexual and violent convictions.  As an expert in this field Dr. Craissati adopts a psychological approach to the diagnostic dilemmas and will explore a number of options for making sense of complex behaviours and risk issues in these individuals.  Having reviewed the evidence base for psychological therapies in this area, she will describe the development of a pragmatic – and very promising – approach to ‘psychologically-informed case management’ in the UK.  This workshop is based around a slide presentation, with plenty of time to discuss the issues with the audience, and to think through the issues raised by some case studies. 

Compassion Focused Therapy In Forensic Practice

This training on the forensic application of CFT begins with a compassionate understanding of the origins of harmful behavior. It explores how one task of forensic practice is helping clients reimagine their sense of guilt within the context of compassionate motivations (for example, feeling bad about one’s actions rather than about one’s self and building on one’s inherent motivation to live amicably within society). The training next addresses the application of CFT to those whose crimes cause significant harm to others. It guides professionals in considering a trauma-informed approach to case formulation and draws on a compassionate understanding of the difficulties that can emerge from the survival strategies that human beings deploy under extreme adversity. Finally, the training addresses the importance of self-compassion for professional self-care in order to facilitate a compassionate (and sustainable) context for treatment

Cultural Humility in Correctional Assessment and Treatment

Sociocultural factors in the assessment and treatment of individuals who sexually offend are important to examine. Awareness of implicit biases and the cultural competence of the therapist are essential in ethical treatment.

Cultural humility is the ability to maintain an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented in relation to aspects of cultural identity that are more important to the client. Professionals become informed of cultural considerations throughout the assessment and treatment processes.

This workshop assists participants in identifying cultural factors (i.e., racial/ethnicity, language, religion, gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability) during assessment to better inform treatment and risk management recommendations.

Working with Persons with Special Needs in Forensic Settings

The Risk/Need/Responsivity (RNR) framework revolutionized correctional intervention schemes when it was first introduced in the 1990s. Since that time, practitioners and programs alike have worked to ensure that clients in forensic settings really do receive an intensity of intervention that is commensurate with the level of risk they pose (risk principle), while criminogenic needs are specifically targeted (need principle). However, despite gains in the areas of risk and need, the field continues to struggle with the responsivity principle, which encourages service providers to consider the nature of their involvement with clients.

Effective Use of Motivational Interviewing to Engage and Help People with Intimate Partner Violence

Motivational Interviewing has emerged as one of the most critical and effective screening, brief intervention approaches when working with people to promote behavior change, especially in working with intimate partner violence.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a person-centered counseling approach that helps individuals explore and resolve ambivalence about change. After an orientation to the underlying spirit, structure, and skills of MI, practical exercises help participants of this training strengthen skills for demonstrating empathy, recognizing and eliciting “change talk”, and rolling with client discord/resistance.