Protocol for a closed group in inpatient and outpatient settings for persons with histories of perpetrating sexual offenses

Group treatment for persons with sexual offense histories has robust empirical support and is preferred by patients over individual therapy. Manuals in this field offer group leaders various topics to explore with patients, such as emotion regulation, sexuality and sexual behavior, and expectations and beliefs about interpersonal relationships – issues that are very relevant to the treatment of this population. However, our clinical experience shows that patients are preoccupied with additional issues, such as the effects of pharmacological treatment and fear of sex offender supervision officers following release from prison. In this practice-informed article, we present a protocol for use in a closed group setting, which can be used by clinicians who are working with this challenging population, whether in a prison or an inpatient or outpatient forensic facility.