What to Look for in a Treatment Provider: Learning Objectives

1. What to Look for in a Treatment Provider: Learning Objectives • Identify basic qualifications of sex offender-specific treatment providers • Describe desirable traits of sex offender-specific treatment providers • Explain the importance of attitudes and practices supportive of multidisciplinary collaboration • Identify referral sources to locate sex offender-specific treatment providers Short Version: Section 5

2. Lack of Standardization Lack of standardized certification or other credentialing in most jurisdictions presents a major difficulty in promoting common standards of practice Short Version: Section 5

3. What to Look For in the Absence of Defined Standards • Degrees—necessary, but not sufficient • Continuing and specialized education • Experience with involuntary and offender clients • Membership in Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers and other professional associations Short Version: Section 5

4. ATSA Suggests Specialized Training • Assessment • Psychometric and psychophysiological testing • Psychopathology • Risk assessment • Counseling and psychotherapy • Cognitive therapy • Couples and family therapy Short Version: Section 5

5. ATSA Suggests Specialized Training (cont.) • Family reunification • Pharmacological therapy • Relationship and social skills training • Relapse prevention • Sexual arousal control • Social support networks • Victim awareness and empathy Short Version: Section 5

6. Other ATSA Requirements for Treatment Providers • Participation in a minimum of 15 hours of continuing education annually • Must be informed about mandatory reporting requirements related to their work Short Version: Section 5

7. Ethical Treatment Practice • Obtaining informed consent of the individuals being evaluated and treated • Maintaining appropriate confidentiality and informing the offenders in their care of the limits of confidentiality • Providing for the reasonable security of others and themselves Short Version: Section 5

8. Ethical Treatment Practice (cont.) • Taking steps to provide continuity of care for offenders with whom providers work • Maintaining appropriate boundaries • Obtaining information for evaluation purposes in a variety of areas and from several independent sources Short Version: Section 5

9. Sex Offender Treatment Providers as Collaborative Partners A willingness to collaborate with other professionals, including: • Probation and parole • Victim advocates • Polygraph examiners • Other assessors, evaluators, and treatment providers • Attorneys, prosecutors, and other criminal justice representatives Short Version: Section 5

10. Locating Sex Offender–Specific Treatment Providers • Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers 4900 S.W. Griffith Drive, Suite 274 Beaverton, OR 97005 (503) 643-1023 Email: atsa@atsa.com Web site: www.atsa.com • Safer Society Foundation P.O. Box 340 Brandon, VT 05733-0340 (802) 247-3132 Web site: www.safersociety.org Short Version: Section 5

11. Training Summary • The primary goal of sex offender-specific treatment is the protection of the community • Recent treatment outcome studies indicate that treatment works • The four domains of treatment are: sexual interests, distorted attitudes, interpersonal functioning, and behavior management • The most widely accepted form of treatment is cognitive-behavioral therapy with relapse prevention • Treatment providers must work in close collaboration with others who manage sex offenders Short Version: Section 5