Chapter 1 The Process of Correctional Counseling and Treatment Goals of Offender Counseling and Treatment The goals of offender counseling and treatment are challenged by the convergence of three recent trends 1 Political and scholarly debate concerning the effectiveness of offender therapy 2 A litigiously based drive for hyper vigilant if not excessive agency accountability o Medical care use of force property damage crowding food services and nutrition etc o Habeas corpus petitions o The prison litigation reform act 1996 3 Declining fiscal and personnel resources The primary goal of correctional counselors is to intervene with clients who are offenders Types of therapeutic interventions o Prison adjustment o Prisoner re entry o Risk of future offending o Substance abuse o Education and employment o Trauma o Family concerns o Metal health concerns 1 Body 2 Values 3 Expectations 4 Senses 5 Words and voice 6 Past experiences Four essential qualities of good correctional counseling 1 A sense of timing and good communication 2 Effective risking 3 Therapeutic intention and outcome 4 Professional humility Therapeutic intention is a key quality the counselor attempts to impact to his or her clients through modeling empathy genuineness and storytelling Six basic elements to communication The Counseling Process Additional Concerns include cultural and ethnic sensitivity and gender responsiveness Motivational interviewing a client centered directive method for enhancing intrinsic motivation to change by exploring and resolving ambivalence This is done through a process of eliciting and selectively reinforcing times when clients demonstrate change talk or their own self motivational statements Types of Correctional Counseling Correctional counseling occurs in both community based and institutional based systems o Community based systems parole and probation officers halfway house counselors drug court case managers etc o Institutional based systems intake assessment staff vocational instructions prison chaplain psychologists and psychiatrists etc Types of interventions used in these settings include o Individual consoling and case work o Educational and vocational counseling o Recreation o Psychotherapy Effectiveness of offender counseling and treatment o Meta analysis are the most effective tools to determining the effectiveness of correctional counseling programs Effective counseling is comprised of o Focusing intensive interventions on high risk offenders o Utilization of behavioral and cognitive behavioral interventions o A high degree of treatment integrity and program quality o A method for matching characteristics of the offender therapist and program o A cooperative treatment community o Administrative and institutional support o Practical life skills and treatment experiences that reinforce personal accountability o Relapse prevention strategies o A well trained and educated staff Treatment vs Security Counselors are often faced with reconciling the competing roles of public safety and the rehabilitation and reintegration of an offender Counselor client confidentiality Security concerns that accompany the use of recreational programs Chapter 2 Understanding the Special Challenges Faced by the Correctional Counselor in the Prison Setting Principles and Techniques interventions A collaborative relationship between counselor and client is required for successful While personal involvement with the offender is essential it is important to maintain interpersonal boundaries Looking to the past for understanding of an offender s behavior is often fruitless as offenders generally think more in the here and now Inquiries into an offender s past often provide the offender with one more excuse or justification for their criminality Counselors are advised to seek collateral information about their clients Effective treatment techniques include group counseling cognitive behavioral interventions and challenging the thinking errors of the offender Eight Primary Criminal Thinking Patterns Elliot and Vedeyen 2002 The blaming game I feel nothing I should get what I want I can get by with anything I m in charge Look at me being good That s too much work I talk one way and act another Walters 1990 Mollification Cutoff Entitlement Super optimism Power Orientation Sentimentality Cognitive Indolence Discontinuity Resistance to Treatment The Dirty Dozen 1 Testing 2 Diversion 3 Extortion 4 Sphere of Influence 5 Disreputation 6 Rumor Clinic Ethical Dilemmas Power struggles are counterproductive to effective counseling To avoid power struggles between counselor and offender the 3 R s should be used 1 Redirection return focus of attention to task issue at hand 2 Reframing encouraging offender to adopt a different perspective 3 Reversal of Responsibility reflect the offender s resistance back at him her in a manner that assigns responsibility and accountability 7 Solidarity 8 Negotiation 9 Revenge 10 Ingratiation 11 Splitting 12 Boundary Intrusion Successful treatment can occur only in a secure environment treatment vs security Several ethical dilemmas can occur in the therapeutic environment Definition of the client Dual or multiple relationships Competency issues Confidentiality Contextual Demands Working in a bureaucracy Handling excessive paperwork Managing large caseloads Responding to racial and ethic skewing Working with special needs offenders Providing crisis intervention services Surviving the dehumanizing effects of the prison environment Final Considerations Burnout prevention is important for the correctional counselors to be aware of Maintaining and exercising a healthy sense of humor can help to prevent burnout Ten Commandments for Prison Staff 1 Go home safe and sound at the end of the day 2 Establish realistic expectations 3 Set firm and consistent limits 4 Avoid power struggles 5 Manage interpersonal boundaries 6 Don t take things personally 7 Strive for an attitude of healthy skepticism 8 Don t fight the bureaucracy 9 Ask for help 10 Don t take your work home with you Chapter 3 Psychoanalytic Therapy Psychoanalytic Psychodynamic Theory Psychoanalytic therapy is based on a theory of the human mind that focuses on unconscious as well as conscious thoughts and desires Psychoanalytic theory was developed by Sigmund Freud at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries He and other psychoanalysts modified this theory considerably over time Psychoanalysis was the first major