NCJ Number
97321
Date Published
1985
Length
15 pages
Annotation
A treatment program for paraphiliacs and the perpetrators of incest and their families uses the Masters and Johnson model and focuses on behavioral skills training and relationship issues.
Abstract
The program is mainly for paraphiliacs, who are persons with obsessive-compulsive behavior patterns that result from the interference with or displacement of the establishment and maintenance of intimacy between two adults. The paraphiliac engages in obsessional sexual thinking and compulsively acts out these fantasies. Paraphilia is almost exclusively a male disorder. Incest offenders may or may not be paraphiliacs. They require similar treatment, except that the families of incest offenders also need intervention. During phase one of the Masters and Johnson treatment program, the men participate in 10 group therapy sessions lasting 3 hours each. These counseling sessions focus on social, dating, and intimacy skills as well as stress management, problemsolving, and communication skills. Phase two involves 14 sessions of intensive, conjoint therapy. It combines the critical elements of the Masters and Johnson treatment model. These are social isolation, daily therapeutic intervention, a dual-sex therapy team, integration of marital therapies, communication skills, experience with sensate focus, and directive psychotherapy focused on improving intimacy between two adults. Phase Four, which is for incestuous families only, is family therapy. A followup period to document the effectiveness of the program has not yet occurred; however, positive effects have been observed. Descriptions of the components of treatment and a list of 56 references are supplied.