By Stephen C. Schultz
Oxbow Academy has now been serving families since 2006—wow!
I am writing this specifically for mental health practitioners and allied health professionals. Those in the legal profession may find this interesting as well. Please allow me to share some observations I have made over the years that may be useful as you assist the families you work with.
The majority of students currently enrolled at Oxbow have come to us with some previous treatment experience. We are often contacted when these previous treatment settings fail to meet the clinical needs of the student. I’d like to share a couple of scenarios that may be helpful in understanding these students and how to assist them in working through their sexual issues:
- The Student in a General Treatment Program
The student enters a general treatment program—wilderness or residential treatment center (RTC). They are admitted for more traditional reasons such as anxiety, depression, anger, or substance abuse. It may also be due to trauma of some kind. Any sexual issues are either denied, minimized, or not known about. Often, if sexual issues are known, they are not perceived by families and clinicians as the primary issues.
The student develops a healthy therapeutic alliance with the therapist and program. He feels comfortable and trusts enough to share. He mentions in a group session that he has had some “inappropriate touching” with a sibling, cousin, neighbor, etc. The student trusts enough to risk sharing this very sensitive information; however, it is usually met with negative responses from peers and staff. Peers often feel uncomfortable around the student. The clinical team will struggle with the process surrounding mandatory reporting laws. Questions arise, such as: “We know it needs to be reported, but who do we report to? How do we tell the family? Will the family be drawn into some kind of investigation?”
The therapist generally shares with the student, “We’ll just talk about this in individual therapy from now on.” While the therapist has good intentions, this kind of response, along with the increased attention from staff, reinforces the shame the student feels surrounding these issues. Now, the student realizes it’s not safe to share this information anymore. The student then starts to become emotionally and behaviorally dysregulated, and the program begins looking for another placement.
- The Student Who Acts Out
Here is another common scenario. The student enters a general treatment program under the same circumstances as the example above. However, this student begins very subtle grooming behaviors and eventually acts out sexually with another student. Based on our experience, most treatment programs have some kind of unofficial “three strikes” policy toward this behavior.
We often receive a call from the educational consultant, therapist, and/or program in crisis mode because the student has not responded to increased prompts and supervision. Staff members find themselves in a “cops and robbers” situation, and the student now poses too big a risk to the rest of the population. The program then looks for another placement.
These are not pleasant situations for any of the parties involved—the therapist, the educational consultant, the family, or the treatment program.
Below are some links to articles I have written that can be shared with colleagues or families you are working with. I hope this is helpful.
- Adolescent Therapy: Is There an Elephant in the Room?
- The Polygraph: A Lie Detector or Clinical Tool?
- The Rocky Landscape of Teen Sexuality
Oxbow Academy specializes in providing a 60-90 day Pychosexual Evaluation and Functional Assessment. You can learn more at www.oxbowacademy.net
New Help! New Hope! No Secrets!
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