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Program grants
second chances
(August/September
2005 Issue)
By Jennifer Chase Esposito
Even if you believe in second chances, chances are if your loved
one is hurt by one of these men you'd want the guy to suffer.
They have careers and families; many have been married a long time.
They're men who might be at your neighborhood barbecue or host it.
But they're men who after the last guest goes home may tell their
wife they're going out for a ride and instead, they case a neighborhood
looking for the next child to molest, an opportunity to expose themselves
or act out a recent fantasy. Or worse.
For the past 25 years, New Directions for Men (NDFM) has served
clients who are child molesters, exhibitionists, pedophiles and
rapists as well as men who suffer from addictions to cybersex and
Internet pornography.
Run as an outpatient program for adolescent and adult sexual addicts
and offenders, the program helps men recognize what they've done,
treat them during criminal probation and get them on a road to ending
their destructive and dangerous behavior.
Find it hard to believe that men like that can heal? You're not
alone. "There's a myth that these men will never recover," says
Kristin Shea, LICSW, who has been at NDFM for about 20 months and
works primarily with its developmentally delayed clientele. "But
these men can in fact recover if they are committed and have other
strengths, like [strong] careers and families."
NDFM was founded in 1980 by four men who worked for Emerge, the
first anti-abuser education program in the nation that, at the time,
only handled issues of battery.
In the late 1970's, Emerge started getting calls about treating
men with other sexually deviant diagnoses. So David Adams, Ph.D.,
Isadore Penn, Psy.D., Dennis Balcom, LICSW and Joseph Doherty, Ed.D.,
founded NDFM to help treat the problems of sexually deviant men.
"In terms of trauma to victims these types of crimes are different
than others," says Doherty. "Clients don't self-refer. They don't
walk in and say 'treat me, because I'm a child molester, I've exposed
myself....' Initially, they don't have the ability to empathize.
They have a very difficult time thinking what they're doing was
bad."
Today, only Doherty, a licensed psychologist, remains as NDFM's
clinical director. The program encompasses 11 groups that meet weekly
at NDFM's Wareham and Cambridge, Mass. locations. Its six-member
staff includes psychologists, medical doctors and social workers
who work to help men who commit crimes that are difficult for families
to get over and harder for men to admit to.
Some of NDFM's most successful counseling, Doherty says, takes
place through its Spanish-speaking curriculum and a program for
developmentally delayed offenders.
NDFM is one of the few outpatient mental health facilities that
works with both sub-sets of offenders. They have been successful
components for five years.
"Latinos who come into our services have a much greater respect
for the mental health profession," says Doherty of the Spanish-speaking
program. "When they come in, they'll shake the doctor's hand, make
some small talk for a while and then get into it … It's very formal.
With non-Spanish clients, the level of respect doesn't seem to be
there."
Doherty and Shea also run a 'Significant Other' program to educate
wives and girlfriends on how to help the client during his treatment.
"It's been wildly successful," says Doherty. "We've realized that
the unintended victims of crimes are the wives and girlfriends.
Most focus is on the man, but the woman is left to fend for herself,
for the most part. It's the first opportunity for women to talk
about the situation and a way for them to get support," he adds.
As for advice to psychologists who may be dealing with sexual offenders,
Doherty says that unless psychologists have had special training,
they really shouldn't attempt to treat those clients.
"They should make a referral, because it's a very different clientele
we work with," says Doherty. "It's a very manipulative clientele
and an inexperienced person may think they're making great gains
when maybe they're not making any at all."
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