Addressing Social Anxiety Concurrently With Prison-Based Sex Offender Treatment

Abstract

Emotional regulation may be an underaddressed therapeutic target in sex offender treatment. This article presents a case report of "Adam," a Caucasian male referred to a prison-based sex offender treatment program. Adam's social anxiety was recognized as an antecendent to his sexual offending, and treatment of such, as a critical adjunct to sex offender treatment, is discussed herein. Adam's individualized treatment included aspects of rational emotive behavior therapy and time-limited dynamic psychotherapy. Adam showed an increased understanding of his anxiety and improvement in his social interactions, both in the context of treatment groups and with female staff, and was willing to continue follow-up care in the community. This case provides support for the individualized treatment of incarcerated offenders as opposed to exclusively utilizing manualized psychoeducational interventions.