Therapy

Individual Therapy

Each young person at SWAAY is assigned an Individual Worker who will provide them with one-to-one therapy throughout the duration of their placement. Careful consideration is given to matching the Individual Worker to the needs of the young person, taking into account the dynamics that may arise based on the Individual Worker’s approach and demographic.

Alongside their Individual Work sessions, young people may be offered supplementary Art Therapy which may be provided for young people who are struggling to engage in more formal verbal therapy, allowing them the opportunity to explore their thoughts and experiences in a less directive manner.

Group Therapy

There are a number of benefits for the young people of engaging in group work. Group therapy aims to reduce the stigma around discussing harmful sexual behaviour and provides opportunities for increasing self-esteem and empathic responding. In addition, young people who commit harmful sexual behaviour tend to present with broad social deficits and distortions within social relationships (Seto & Lalumiere, 2010), and so by introducing the element of peer aged group members, it allows for an appropriate exploration of social norms and interactions.

Group Therapy Programmes

There are currently four group therapy programmes facilitated within SWAAY. These take a minimum of two years to complete and run throughout the duration of the young person’s placement.

1. Highway: The Highway group aims to gently introduce the young people to therapeutic group work, focusing on pleasurable, non-triggering activities. This provides an opportunity to: expand their emotional awareness, increase their ability to express themselves and their inner world, and improve their ability to regulate their affective states- the normal development of which is disrupted by developmental trauma and childhood neglect and abuse.
2. Pathway: The Pathway programme has been specifically developed to address social deficits found to be characteristic of many young people who display sexually harmful behaviour. Introducing both the Good Lives Model (GLM) and the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model of working, the Pathway group provides the young people with the motivation and opportunity to advance their social skills through developing a greater self-awareness, positive self-esteem and resiliency, perspective taking skills, problem solving and consequential thinking and improve conflict resolution skills.
3. Gateway: The Gateway Programme is a group therapy programme aimed at addressing previous harmful sexual behaviour and preventing reoffending through increasing insight into risky thoughts, feelings and behaviour and strengthening protective factors. Gateway is underpinned by the Good Lives model. Each group member develops their own “Good Lives Booklet”, which is updated throughout the Gateway programme with what they have learned after each module. The aim of the booklet is to help the young people to consolidate their learning and to have a comprehensive plan for how to use their strengths, skills and learning to keep themselves and others safe in the future.
4. The Progressors’ Group is designed as a programme for graduates of the Gateway group. Group members are encouraged to bring in their real world experiences and practice skills they will have developed during the Gateway Programme, such as managing risky thoughts, developing coping mechanisms and achieving positive goals. The Progressors’ programme is a talking based group where the young people are given more freedom, than in previous.