Understanding and Managing Stalking Behavior: Assessment, Risk, and Treatment Interventions
This training will be converted into an on-demand format within two weeks following the live event. The on-demand version will be available for separate purchase, providing access to the training content for those who were unable to attend the live event or prefer a self-paced learning experience.
Stalking is a complex and evolving form of interpersonal violence that has gained increasing scholarly and legal attention over the past three decades. During that time, stalking has become recognized as a serious social and psychological concern with
profound consequences for victims and stalkers alike. Early literature on stalking emerged in the 1980s and 1990s within forensic psychiatry and criminology, focusing primarily on celebrity and ex-partner cases. Since then, the literature has broadened to include typologies of stalking, the diverse relationships in which it occurs, and models for risk assessment.
Dr.’s Spence and Imhof developed this training to give professionals a comprehensive overview of what research and practice has revealed about stalking. The presenters distinguish stalking from related behaviors, such as harassment, with stalking now understood as a persistent pattern of surveillance and control—not isolated incidents of annoyance or intimidation. The training reviews evidence-based typologies of stalking, including the rejected, resentful, intimacy-seeking, incompetent, and predatory trajectories, each driven by distinct psychological motivations or “drivers.”
The presenters focus on evidence-based assessment and recommended treatments, with equal attention on protecting those who have been victimized and rehabilitating those who have engaged in stalking behavior. Dr.’s Spence and Imhof discuss the implications related to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and review specific behaviors that should merit additional support for victims. Through case examples, they explore definitions, structured clinical judgments and risk-management approaches, and cognitive-behavioral interventions.
Interactive Follow-Up Meeting
Attendees are invited to join an open discussion 15 minutes following the end of the training, where you can engage with fellow attendees by turning on your camera and microphone. This is an opportunity to share your experiences and contribute to a meaningful exchange of ideas. Time will be allocated to address questions or insights from the training. Please note that attendance is optional and will not affect your eligibility for a training certificate.
1) Identify structured clinical judgement (SCJ) tools for identifying potential risk factors for targeted violence or stalking
2) Describe typologies commonly associated with those who perpetrate stalking
3) Describe evidence-based interventions for treating perpetrators who engage in stalking behavior
Audience
This training is primarily for professionals working with adults who have engaged in stalking behavior. This includes psychologists, social workers, counselors, probation and parole officers, victim advocates, and law enforcement personnel.
Content Level
Disclosure
Cancellations
Continuing Education Approval
American Psychological Association (APA)
Safer Society Foundation, Inc. is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Safer Society Foundation, Inc. maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)
Safer Society Foundation, Inc., provider #233, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 6/6/2026-6/6/2029. Social workers completing this course receive 3 clinical continuing education credits.
Who's Presenting
Kim Spence, PhD
Dr. Kim Spence is the Clinical Director of Autism Support Services for Specialized Treatment & Assessment Resources and has worked for the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) since 1999 as an Autism Disorders Specialist. For the past 20 years she has lectured internationally regarding assessment, treatment supports, specialized therapeutic intervention, and the creation of specialized sexuality education programs for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Dr. Spence began providing specialized sexuality education training for parents, teachers, and care providers of individuals with ASD in 2000 and has offered numerous trainings focused on discriminating between maladaptive sexual behaviors versus mental health issues and specialized educational and behavioral interventions to support healthy sexual knowledge for individuals with ASD across the life-span. She has been training emergency responders, law enforcement personnel, and members of the criminal justice system across the nation since 2001 and is an appointed Advisory Board Member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse (MEPIC). Dr. Spence serves as a consulting editor for the peer-reviewed journal Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and on the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council (FDDC)/Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Training First Responders (Law Enforcement Officers & Emergency Medical Staff) Grant Advisory Committee.
Eric A. Imhof, PsyD
Dr. Imhof began treating, evaluating, and studying typologies of sexual offenders in 1993 as a therapist/case manager in a large juvenile sex offender treatment program in Virginia. In 1996, he received his doctorate in clinical psychology and was certified as a Sex Offender Treatment Provider in 1998. In 1999, Dr. Imhof accepted a position as the director of a Juvenile Justice Level 8 program for sexual offenders in Florida and one year later established Specialized Treatment and Assessment Resources, PA. For the past 25 years, Dr. Imhof has served as a forensic examiner and expert witness for the Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) Program and federal and local courts with a specialty focus on internet and child pornography offenders. In 2015, after having undergone extensive training in ASD assessment, including the ADOS-2, Dr. Imhof began working on specialized cases involving comorbid cases of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Paraphilias. He has previously maintained an appointment as an Assistant Professor with Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia, and has served as a consultant to a number of mental health organizations. In 2005, he was appointed by Florida’s Governor Bush to the Task Force on Juvenile Sexual Offenders and their Victims and, in 2007, he served as chair of the Department of Juvenile Justice Sex Offender Workgroup, which focused on implementing the recommendations of the Task Force. He has lectured to legislators, judges, attorneys, probation officers, and mental health professionals on topics including sex-offender diagnosis, treatment, and risk assessment and advocates for empirically-based sex offender laws and policies with Florida legislators, particularly regarding child pornography offenders. Dr. Imhof began collaborating with Dr. Kim Spence in 2015 to develop a nationally recognized, evidence-based model for the comprehensive forensic evaluation and treatment of individuals with ASD with sexual behavior problems and individuals who engage in stalking behavior.
Dr. Imhof is a member in good standing with the American Psychological Association (APA), the Florida Psychological Association (FPA), the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), and the Association of the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA), having served as the co-chair of the 2008 annual ATSA conference. He has served on the board of the Florida ATSA (FATSA) chapter since February 2004, serving as the President from 2007 to 2010 and was reelected to serve an additional two terms from 2013 to 2018.