Working with Sexual Offenders: A Panel Discussion & Treatment Overview
Most social workers will work with someone who has committed a sex offense during their career, yet this population is usually not covered during formal education. This self-paced workshop is led by a social work student with a panel of experts from the Michigan Department of Corrections and Berghuis Psychological Services. The panel will discuss best practices, myths, and barriers to success when working with individuals who have committed sex offenses. The panel discussion has been segmented into smaller clips, divided by additional resources including: risk assessment tools, therapeutic models, history of legislative acts that have shaped the criminal justice response to this population, and the sex offender registry. Unlike our other self-paced courses, this course requires a combination of reading, videos, and slides.
Objectives:
- Learners will have an enhanced understanding of the barriers for individuals with sexual offenses.
- Learners will develop an understanding of the purpose and technique behind sex offense specific treatment, including the risk assessment tools.
- Learners will have increased empathy for people who have committed sexual offenses.
- Learners will become familiar with many research studies in the field of people who have committed sexual offenses.
Training Format:
The training will be delivered in an online, self-paced format delivered in four parts:
- Part I: What is a sexual offense, what common types of the crime are, and possible reasons why people commit sexual offenses. Adolescents who sexually offend.
- Part II: Assessing risk and the different actuarial risk assessment tools that can be used on adult males. Statistics on recidivism rates.
- In Part III: Treatment models including Relapse Prevention Model, CBT, RNR, and the Good Lives Model. Male versus female offenders. Self-care for clinicians who work with this population.
- Part IV: The YSOTP program, laws that have shaped the public and the criminal justice system's response to sexual offenses, and the sex offender registry.
Finally, you will need to complete and pass the post-test before accessing your certificate.
Notes:
Please note that you will receive access to the course about 2 hours after completing your registration. Your login instructions and credentials will be emailed to you shortly after registering for the course. This is done manually by one of our team members, but if you need quicker access, please visit: www.gvsu.edu/learn/login
Special Accommodations
Please contact our office regarding any accommodations you may need prior to attending our program(s). We will work with you to ensure your needs are met. You may email us at learn@gvsu.edu, or call us at (616) 331-7180.
To view our policies, please visit: www.gvsu.edu/learn/policies
Grand Valley State University School of Social Work, an accredited social work education program, is authorized by Administrative Rule 338.2963 to award Michigan social work continuing education contact hours.
| Fee: | $30.00 |
|---|---|
| Hours: | 2.00 |
| CEUs: | 2.00 |
ONLINE - Self-Paced
Program content is online, not-live and is self-pacedDavid Berghuis
David Berghuis is a limited licensed psychologist in the state of Michigan. He graduated with his Master’s Degree in counseling psychology in 1988. He has a background in work with victims of sexual abuse and over 30 years of experience in the field of sex offender treatment. He is the President of the Michigan Chapter of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers and the clinical director of Berghuis Psychological Services which he started in 2000. He has personally provided treatment to over 2,700 individuals who have committed sex offenses, in addition to providing supervision and clinical oversight to therapists serving thousands of other clients with sexual offense concerns. He has testified in several different courts as an expert witness in regard to sexual abuse assessment and treatment and provided training to various audiences in the areas of assessment and treatment of individuals who have committed sexual offense. Additionally, along with Dr. Arthur E. Jongsma, Jr., he has been the co-author or primary author on 10 books in the popular Practice Planner series.
Vincent Libiran
Vincent Libiran is a limited licensed psychologist and currently serves as the Senior Psychologist for Jackson Cooper Street Correctional Facility with the Michigan Department of Corrections. He earned his MA in Clinical Psychology from the Michigan School of Professional Psychology in 2010. Mr. Libiran began his career with the MDOC in 2011 at Newberry Correctional Facility providing group therapy that focused on assaultive and sexual offenses. The following year he transferred to Jackson Cooper Street Facility and continued assessment and treatment related to sexual abuse prevention. In 2020, he collaborated with James Kissinger to develop a program for women with sexually abusive behaviors, which was introduced to Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in 2021. He continues to run group therapy at both Jackson Cooper Street and Women’s Huron Valley facilities. He currently provides trainings on several MSAPP-related topics, such as females who sexually offend, the Good Lives Model, Thinking Reports, and Offense Pathways for prison-based treatment providers, community-based treatment providers, parole agents, parole board members, and others. He does treatment and documentation quality assurance for groups across the state.
Katy Pastoor
Katy Pastoor graduated from Western Michigan University in 2017 with a Master's in Counseling Psychology. She has worked for 7 years as a therapist for Berghuis Psychological Services, recently becoming a clinical supervisor. She has worked at the Michigan Department of Corrections' sex offense specific programming as part of her master's level internship and on a contractual basis. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Michigan Chapter of the Association of Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse. She is an author of the four newest editions of Wiley Practice Planner Progress Note Planners.
Miguel Quintanilla
Miguel is a fully licensed, Master’s level social worker in the state of Michigan. He graduated with his Master’s Degree in Social Work in 2009 from Grand Valley State University. Miguel has been in the therapeutic field since 2004, having 20 years of experience in group and individual therapy assisting those in need of developing coping skills for various life stressors (depression, anger, relationship issues, etc.). Miguel has had diverse and well-rounded experiences throughout his career including an internship working with at-risk youth through a juvenile court setting and work within a juvenile detention center that housed adolescents struggling with mental illness. Other experiences have involved case management/therapy for adults and children with mental illness or developmental disabilities, legal case work at Kent County Friend of the Court, and interning for his Master’s Degree at Spectrum Hospice. Since 2009, Miguel has worked as a clinical therapist under Dave Berghuis, at Berghuis Psychological Services, where he facilitates treatment groups as well as individual therapy sessions with individuals who are involved in the criminal justice system. He also provides outpatient therapy at the practice Life Support LLC, where he works with individuals from the age of 10 and up, with focus on the areas of trauma, depression and anxiety. Miguel has experience with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.