Bringing Compassion to the Many Colors of Forensic Psychotherapy

• In Event: Roundtable: Incarceration Programs

Abstract

Judiciary clients are among some of the toughest clients in forensic psychotherapy. Many second-wave CBT approaches, combined with Motivational Interviewing, produced promising results. These results were bolstered by promising third-wave CBT approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (especially in cases of addiction), and Social and Community Responsibility Therapy, which has shown promise in assisting client rehabilitation through intervening on their values. Humanistic approaches known as The Good Lives Model have also aided forensic CBT therapists. However, it is still common for therapists to encounter resistance from court-ordered clients and experience difficulty building rapport. While the aforementioned modalities offer much by way of breaking down client resistance, they speak little to therapist compassion, which is a crucial element in all psychotherapy. Relationships characterized by compassion provide the curative factor in psychotherapy. Additionally, they create new possibilities for therapy to be a meaningful dialogue as opposed to the traditional dialectic of therapists acting as technicians. Drawing from a large body of work, currently referred to as Relational and Compassionate Psychotherapy, these authors will introduce philosophical concepts from Bakhtin, Mensch, Levinas, and Gadamer that illustrate how to have compassion in ways that augment current forensic CBT and humanistic approaches.

Authors

• Kevin Glenn, Anasazi Foundation

• Taylor Herndon, University of Arizona