Program Abstract/ Program Description
EMDR and Sex Offender Treatment Part 2: Healing the harmer with EMDR is an advanced workshop enabling EMDR therapy clinicians to work effectively with clients who are sex offenders. Managing the dual needs of the client and society often factor in the treatment of sex offenders. Part 2 sharpens clinician practice by focusing on contextualizing and implementing current knowledge and theoretical bases for EMDR case conceptualization and treatment throughout the eight phases.
Building on the theoretical models of sexual offense etiology (Efrati, Shukron, & Epstein, 2020; Keulen-de Vos, Giesbers, & Hulsken, 2023; Ricci & Clayton, 2016; Ward & Siegert, 2002; Van den Berg, van Beek, Bouman, Janssen, Smid, & Gijs, 2024; Van den Berg, van Beek, Smid & Borsboom, 2020; Van denBerg, Kossakowski, Smid, Babchishin, Borsboom, Janssen, van Beek, & Gijs, 2022) and the documented use of EMDR in the treatment of sexual offenders (Allen, McKillop, Katsikitis, and Millear, 2022; Bartels, Harkins, Harrison, Beard, and Beech, 2018; Clark, Tyler, Gannon & Kingham, 2014; Cox & Howard, 2007; Dohrmann, 2009; Finley, 2002; Hartung & Philbrick, 1997; Miller, 2010; Ricci & Clayton, 2008; Ten Hoor, 2013; Wright & Warner, 2020) participants will be guided in case conceptualization, target selection, and implementation of EMDR treatment throughout its eight phases. The origin of the offense driver is the treatment target in EMDR (Ricci & Clayton, 2016). For many who sexually offend, their own experiences of and responses to childhood sexual abuse or other childhood adversity influence their beliefs about sexual offending and their perception of their victims (Wright & Warner, 2022). Offense driver assessment in Phase 1 History Taking may uncover various groupings including implicit core beliefs like entitlement to offend, vulnerability factors such as deficits in social skills or role models demeaning and objectifying women, distorted sexual scripts, or deficits in self-regulation (Ricci & Clayton, 2016). Using offense driver theory to uncover etiological memories will help providers astutely develop multiple EMDR treatment plans for individual clients, each targeting a general group of offense drivers. To facilitate generalization of treatment gains, providers may make use of clusters to target numerous incidents holding similar offense driver etiology. Phase 2 Preparation calming techniques may be emphasized as a means of self-care that may heal the drive to offend. In Phase 3 Assessment, negative and positive cognitions will help the sexually offending client strengthen their belief that change is possible and will begin to bring awareness to their changing somatic reactions to earlier memories. Phase 4 Desensitization, Phase 5 Installation, and Phase 6 Body Scan will illuminate the reality of change. Phase 7 Closure can prepare incarcerated clients and clients at risk of reoffending with the transition necessary to avoid harm. Phase 8 Reevaluation allows both client and provider to check treatment gains or setbacks and to check for potential new targets when additional memories begin to hold new meaning for the sexually offending client. Wright, Palmer, Kelly, & Derefaka (2024) found that after EMDR therapy, men convicted of sexual offenses against children reported pro-social changes in their views of their offending behavior and victims, reduced preoccupation with sexual fantasy, reduced sexual arousal related to children, and increases in desire for healthy adult relationships.
Course Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
- Explain the potential increase in self-compassion and the positive disturbance that sex offenders may experience after EMDR treatment of their own history of child sexual abuse.
- Identify how to derive an EMDR target from an offense driver.
- Differentiate between best use of the standard EMDR protocol and an addiction protocol in the treatment of sex offenders.
Schedule
Friday, March 21, 2025
Course runs in Pacific Time.
Time: |
Course Content: |
|
|
12:45 – 1:00pm
|
Attendance - Check in between 12:45 and 1:00pm for attendance and to clear up any tech issues before we begin.
|
1:00 - 2:30pm 90 min |
EMDR Phases 1-2
Cultivating self-compassion and positive disturbance in sex-offending clients with histories of sexual abuse.
Identifying client offense drivers and eliciting an appropriate target.
|
2:30 - 2:45pm 15 min |
Break |
2:45am - 4:15pm 90 min |
EMDR Phases 3-8 Standard protocol uses and addiction protocols in the treatment of sex offenders.
|
4:15-4:30 pm 15 min |
Q & A and Wrap Up |
|
|
Total: |
3 hours |