Trauma Resolution Treatment as an Adjunct to Standard Treatment for Child Molesters A Qualitative Study

Abstract

A literature review of current treatment models for child molesters and contemporary theories of etiology suggests a gap between theory and practice. Despite emerging recognition of the importance of addressing etiological issues in sexual offender treatment, many programs resist addressing the trauma sequelae of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in those sex offenders where it is present. Adding trauma treatment to standard sexual offender treatment was identified as a means to closing some of that gap. Ten child molesters with reported histories of CSA were treated with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. Subsequent to adding this trauma resolution component, there was improvement on all six subscales of the Sex Offender Treatment Rating Scale as well as decreased idiosyncratic deviant arousal as measured by the penile plethysmograph. The current study reviews qualitative data collected during treatment and at posttreatment interviews.