Stages of Accomplishment
Stage 2: Understanding Yourself
By Phil Rich

With an aim to foster rehabilitation and pave the way towards a brighter future, the Stages of Accomplishment workbooks help clinicians guide young people with problematic sexual behaviors through a journey of self-discovery. The workbooks are designed to be used as one element of a comprehensive treatment program, although each can be used independently. Clinicians can use the workbooks to extend treatment beyond the therapy session, provide a foundation for discussion and exploration, and engage clients in self-directed learning.

In Stage 1 of the Stages of Accomplishment workbooks, the emphasis was on preparing those who have engaged in sexually abusive or inappropriate behaviors to get the most out of individual, family, and group therapy. Clients were oriented to the therapeutic process and expectations, underscoring the necessity of taking responsibility for one’s actions and understanding how their behaviors impacted others.

The second stage of this program, Understanding Yourself, focuses on the client’s insight into their thought patterns, emotional experiences, and resulting behaviors.

Client Goal: To build self-awareness, reframe irrational thoughts and distortions, and develop a more comprehensive understanding of themselves.

By utilizing this workbook in their practice, clinicians will gain valuable insights into identifying and addressing the cognitive distortions their clients may be experiencing, such as:

• Denial
• Justification
• All-or-nothing thinking
• Overgeneralization
• Minimization
• Shifting the Focus
• Blaming the Victim
• … and many more

Client Goal: To recognize when distortions occur through:

• Self-Assessment Tools: Evaluate thought patterns and become more aware of the automatic negative thoughts and the specific cognitive distortions in use
• Tracking Worksheets: Track feelings, thoughts, and distortions during the day, which will help increase self-awareness and create an understanding of the triggers and contexts that lead to negative thoughts.
• Illustrative Case Examples: Understand how the concepts occur in real life. The case examples make the content more relatable and engaging, facilitating self-reflection and personal growth.

Client Goal: To use strategies to correct thought distortions

• Step-by-Step Exercises: Exercises that guide clients through the process of recognizing and then reframing cognitive distortions.
• Cognitive restructuring techniques that challenge clients to alter their changing irrational thoughts.

Helping Clients Recognize and Deal with Their Feelings

Individuals who have engaged in sexually abusive or inappropriate behavior are often not aware of what they are feeling and how their feelings influence their thoughts and behavior. The workbook addresses this in sections entitled:

• Recognizing and Identifying Feelings
• Tolerating Feelings, Dealing with Difficult Feelings
• Healthy and Unhealthy Coping

Clients engage with the workbook by identifying their feelings in lists and through questions that ask them to reflect on their feelings and figure out how to cope with them in healthy ways.   

Helping Clients Deal with Dysfunctional Behaviors

After focusing on a better understanding of thoughts and feelings, the workbook turns to behaviors—especially dysfunctional and destructive behaviors and their impact on others' lives. Of particular interest is helping clients understand when they are “acting out” behaviors instead of stopping to reflect on the thoughts and feelings that might lead to behaviors with very negative consequences for themselves and others.