Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (therapy which focuses on changing behaviors and thoughts) is recognized as the most effective treatment for sexual offenders. Medical assessment and medication are also used in selected cases, to decrease problematic sexual arousal and/or normalize sexual behavior. Although there is no guarantee that every patient will succeed, the Behavioral Medicine Institute of Atlanta has been successful in helping over 90% of patients gain control over their problematic behavior.

Treatment is provided within a group setting and organized in modules to cover all aspects of inappropriate sexual behavior.

Evaluation

The initial evaluation consists of a clinical interview (1 to 2 hours), written tests, and a thorough testing in our physiologic laboratory to evaluate 20 separate sexual interests. Behavioral Medicine Institute of Atlanta conducts an objective measurement of sexual interest, but never uses plethysmography (direct genital measurement) or shows nude images to the client. The assessment can be scheduled over several days, if necessary. We request collateral information such as investigative reports, victim statements, prior treatment summaries, and/or accusations and charges be sent prior to the assessment.

Fees:

Please contact our office at 404-872-7929 for the cost of the initial assessment and individual therapy sessions. There may be additional charges for medication evaluations, drug screens, polygraphs, and consultative psychological screening.

Methods of payment include cash, personal check, or major credit card payments. We will provide you with insurance claim forms and any assistance we can with your insurance reimbursement. We do not participate in any insurance program.

Treatment Options

Standard Track: Patients meet for 54 weeks in small groups for 90 minutes. Targeted to each patients needs, the therapy focuses on stopping the dangerous behavior. The intensive phase of therapy consists of nine modules, which run for six weeks each (cognitive restructuring, ammonia aversion, anger management, covert sensitization, sex education, victim awareness, satiation, assertive skills and relapse prevention), the last session of each module is a session on coping skills. At the completion of the intensive phase of treatment, each patient is reassessed to make sure there have been treatment gains and is then placed into the relapse prevention phase (maintenance) of treatment which lasts for a minimum of three years. This phase of treatment consists of a 90-minute group session once per month. Costs for the standard track treatment option is as follows: Group session $80, Books $20 and $45, and Reassessment $200.

8-Week Fast Track: We offer an intensive, 8-week outpatient program for patients who need intensive short-term care. Patients are seen several times per day, five days per week. No lodging is provided. The cost for this 8-week program is approximately $1180 per week, which does not include the initial evaluation, the reassessment at the end of the 8-week program ($200) or the training books. Payment is made weekly on Friday for the week of treatment just complete. NOTE: There will be additional charges for individual sessions. As with our standard track treatment, the individual enters the relapse prevention phase after completing the 8-week intensive phase.

Treatment Modules

  1. These modalities are used to treat problematic sexual interest.
    1. Ammonia Aversion: Patients learn how to associate their deviant fantasies and behaviors with the negative consequences of offensive odor inhalation.
    2. Satiation: Patients learn how to satiate themselves with deviant fantasies until the fantasies are no longer erotic to them and to gradually replace the deviant fantasies with appropriate fantasies.
    3. Covert Sensitization: In this treatment, patients learn the full impact of the consequences of their deviant behaviors and how to remind themselves of those consequences continually so as to control their inappropriate urges and behaviors.
  2. These modalities are used to target social adjustment.
    1. Sex Education/Intimacy: Patients learn what constitutes appropriate sexual behavior in our culture and how to improve the quality of a partnered relationship.
    2. Cognitive Restructuring: Patients confront the incorrect beliefs and rationalizations that have supported their involvement in deviant sexual habits and behaviors in the past.
    3. Anger Management: Patients learn appropriate skills to replace maladaptive and problematic styles of expressing anger.
    4. Assertiveness Training: Patients learn to more effectively deal with others without aggression, passivity or passive aggressive behavior.
    5. Relapse Prevention. Patients learn to identify situations that place them at risk for re-offending and strategies to appropriately cope with these situations.
    6. Victim Empathy: Patients learn the consequences of their inappropriate sexual behavior for their victims and for others.
    7. Coping Skills: Patients learn various techniques to help them more effectively cope with a variety of common problems such as loneliness, anxiety, boredom, stress, depression, marital discord, work problems, etc.
  3. Surveillance: This component of the program is ongoing throughout the maintenance portion of the treatment program. Surveillance involves bringing together individuals from the client's family, school, and social life, who, in the normal course of their lives, will come into contact with the client. These individuals are informed of what the client has done in the past to allow himself to engage in his problematic sexual behavior. The surveillance team is taught what to watch for that will give cues that the client may have started the chain of events that could lead him to re-offending. The surveillance network will report their observations of the client's behavior outside of the treatment setting.

ADOLESCENT SEX SPECIFIC TREATMENT

Adolescents who are referred to Behavioral Medicine Institute of Atlanta for sex specific problems first undergo a behavioral assessment, which takes between six to eight hours. The assessment can be scheduled over two days, if necessary The assessment consists of a comprehensive interview, psychological tests and questionnaires, and objective measurement of the adolescent's sexual interest pattern. Once the assessment is complete, the results are reviewed with the adolescent and the parents or guardian. At that time the family is informed of the treatment recommendations.

Treatment: The adolescent treatment group meets every Thursday at 4 p.m. The first 15 minutes of the session is used to address family and other relevant issues that cannot be addressed in the group. The duration of treatment is for a minimum of one year and the total length of treatment is determined by the progress of the client meeting his or her treatment goals.

The group focuses on the following modalities of treatment:

  1. These modalities are used to treat the adolescents problematic sexual interest.
    1. Ammonia Aversion: The adolescent learns how to associate his deviant fantasies and behaviors with the negative consequences of offensive odor inhalation.
    2. Covert Sensitization: In this treatment, the adolescent learns the full impact of the consequences of his deviant behaviors and how to remind himself of those consequences continually so as to control his inappropriate urges and behaviors.
  2. These modalities are used to target social adjustment
    1. Assertiveness Training: The adolescent learns to more effectively deal with others without aggression.
    2. Sex Education: The adolescent learns what constitutes appropriate sexual behavior in our culture.
    3. Relapse Prevention: In this module the adolescent examines his or her motivation to make appropriate changes in behavior, to identify thought patterns and situations that put him at risk to act out, and to develop more appropriate coping skills to deal with stress.
    4. Cognitive Restructuring: The adolescent confronts the incorrect beliefs and rationalizations that have supported his involvements in deviant sexual habits in the past.
    5. Victim Empathy: The adolescent learns the consequences of his inappropriate sexual behavior for his victim and for others.
  3. Maintenance: In maintenance therapy, the adolescent continues to practice the methods he/she learned in group therapy while we continue to evaluate his/her progress. Adolescents participate in maintenance for a minimum of two years and possibly longer. As the clients demonstrate greater control, frequency of attendance is reduced.

Surveillance: This component of the program is ongoing throughout the maintenance portion of the treatment program, which follows the intensive portion of the program. Surveillance involves bringing together individuals from the adolescent's family, school, and social life, who, in the normal course of their lives, will come into contact with the adolescent. These individuals are informed of what the client has done in the past to allow himself to engage in his problematic sexual behavior. The surveillance team is taught what to watch for that will give cues that the client has started the chain of events that may lead him to relapse. The surveillance network will report their observations of the client's behavior outside of the treatment setting.

If the adolescent is on probation while in treatment, the probation officer will receive monthly updates as to the progress the probationer is making in treatment.

For Your Appointment:

It is important that we have this at the time of your appointment to make the process more efficient

Behavioral Medicine Institute of Atlanta - Gene G. Abel, MD, Medical Director
1401 Peachtree Street, Suite 140 | Atlanta, GA 30309 | Phone 404-872-7929