Therapeutic Engagement of
Women Who Have Been
Mandated to Participate in
Therapy
Ann Marie Dewhurst, Ph.D.
Karen M. Nielsen, Ph.D
Athabasca University
November 7, 2008
Common Mandating Agents
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Criminal Justice System
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Child Protection Services
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Parole or Probation systems
Drug Court
Return of children from protective care
Prevention of children being taken into care
Family Court Services
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Participation in high conflict parenting situations
Family violence situations
Motivation to help
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Mandatory response to criminal activity
Concern for well-being and health of the
woman.
Protection of children and vulnerable
people
Protection of community
Women and Acting Out

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Mad or bad
More deviant or flawed for same acts
Motivations for therapy

Sincere interest in change
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A means to an end
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Avoid negative consequences
Woman Centred Work
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Professional helpers
Strategies used to engage resistant
women
Bringing People Together
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Engage people in a shared view
Ensure that mandates are made explicit
Demonstrate respect for mandates
Build common goals to meet client and
system needs.
Risk and Need Assessment
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Describes problem behaviour
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Determines potential barriers to change
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Determines strengths and supports
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Identifies treatment goals
A few ethical issues before we
begin any intervention
(O’hare, 1996)
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Gain specifics of the mandate the woman is facing.
Explore the woman’s understanding of the mandate &
consequences of participating or not participating in
therapy.
Ensure goals of the intervention process are understood
& agreed to by the woman & mandating agency.
Ensure that reporting requirements are clear &
acceptable to both the woman & the mandating agency.
Acknowledge existing dual roles.
Feminist Counselling Principles
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Egalitarian relationship
The person is political
Valuing the female perspective
Good Lives Model
There are nine basic human goals
1.
Life (Healthy living, optimal physical functioning, sexual satisfaction)
2.
Knowledge
3.
Excellence in work and play (including mastery experiences)
4.
Excellence in agency (autonomy and self-directedness)
5.
Inner peace (freedom from emotional turmoil and stress)
6.
Relatedness (including intimate, romantic and family relationships)
7.
Spirituality (broad sense of finding meaning and purpose in life)
8.
Happiness
9.
Creativity
Basic Problems Leading to Offending

Problems of means used to attain goals
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Lack of scope within a good life plan
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Presence of conflict among goals or confusion between
goals
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A lack of the necessary capacities to form & adjust a
Good Life plan in response to changing circumstances.
Understanding the woman’s
context
Financial
situation
Overall level
of functioning
Resiliencies
Cultural
Context
Woman who
x has offended
Social
Supports
Past trauma
experiences
Family
structure
Power
Dynamics
In family
Stages of Change
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I don’t have a problem – you do
There is a problem – I am not sure what it
is or what to do about it.
Learning about what I need so I can fix
what is wrong
Putting my plan into action
Figuring out if my plan works and
tweaking it until it does
Therapeutic Engagement
Working With
Nurturing
Expressive
Seeking
Engaging
Collaborative
Ambivalent
Questioning
Lost
Unsure
Frustrated
Helpless
Stressed
Confused
Distancing/ avoidant
Working Against
Angry
Overwhelmed
Defiant
“antisocial”
Defensive
Hopeless
Rejecting / avoidant
Fear and Resistance
Resistance is not futile
Women mandated to therapy
 Have experience resisting.
 Resistance is how they have survived.
 We do what we know. Coping strategies previously
called upon return and are sometimes amplified.
 It may not be efficient but it is better than no response.
 May be survivors of abuse themselves and may be coping
with PTSD
 Are often socially isolated with few positive supports.
Push & Pull
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Pushing = forcing someone to act where they have no
option but to obey.
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Based on another having authority that impacts the needs of
the person.
The level of threat is perceived as high and real.
Pulling = creating conditions the person choses
themselves.
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showing them how something else will be beneficial to
them.
They decide rather than just you deciding.
Push
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Short term option.
Creates fear
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Create the crisis in some cases
Requires the least effort from external
sources.
Works in situations where you just need to
get people moving.
Starting to Pull
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Where and how you’ve lived influences
how you understand reality – experience
matters.
The words you use can be liberating or
limiting – our reality is reflected in our
language.
Starting to Pull
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We have to have a vision to move to
before change can happen.
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stories of change help to model change.
The stories we experienced influence our
ability to see possibilities and have hope.
When we shift our viewpoint within our
own stories we see new options for
alternative truths.
Understanding Trouble
Trouble
Hibernates
Coping
with
trouble’s
wake
Trouble
Enters and
settles in
Trouble
shows its
face
Intervention
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Therapeutic Stories
Listen to major themes in the presented
story.
The Backpack Story
Transforming Resistance
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Clarify the dominant stories
Look for alternative stories where themes of action,
cooperation and collaboration exist.
Negotiate what aspects of the story needs to be changed and in
what order.
Find agreement.
Create change strategies highlighted in alternative stories part
of a more dominant story – one of hope rather than resistance
& despair.
Clarify what might need to happen for more change to occur
on the shared goals.
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