FORENSIC PSYCHOTHERAPY:Exploring therapeutic alliance, Music Therapy

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Forensic Psychology (PSY - 513)

Lesson 36

FORENSIC PSYCHOTHERAPY

Objectives

To know about the forensic psychotherapy

To learn about the basic and important features of forensic psychotherapy

To understand the importance of working systematically and getting institutional support

for the success of FPT

Forensic Psychotherapy FPT

Forensic psychotherapy is an emerging exciting new development in psychology particularly developed

only for psycho-legal types of problems. Can't we call all other therapies use in forensic setting forensic

psychotherapy? There is a difference because all other therapies are developed as generic therapies and

are still used in non forensic settings.

Many other therapies are also used in forensic settings, but those therapies are used in non forensic

settings too. FPT is solely design to use with the forensic population with legal concerns, although many

techniques are borrowed from other psychotherapies like psychoanalysis, humanistic approach e.t.c.

Main features of forensic psychotherapy are as follows:

Balancing act

As discussed earlier that creating a balance in between empathy and firmness and positive regard and

professional limits and boundaries is the crux of therapeutic relationships.

Exploring therapeutic alliance

Exploring the client's behavioral pattern towards therapist in counseling process. In group therapy

interaction with other group members is also explored to determine the degree of change and to focus on

targeted areas. Childhood experiences are also explored.

Providing a whole range of experiences

In forensic settings, therapist has to work with a wide range of clients like:

1. One who have been living in slumps, on streets and had not experienced love, sympathy,

affection and comfort in life.

2. On the contrary hand there is offenders who were spoiled and developed narcissistic

personalities with excessive money and facilities but with overindulgent and affectionless

parenting.

3. Third types of offenders are those who can not develop trust for any one because they

have been a victim of child sexual abuse or incest.

Although range of people is quite wide but their experiences are very limited and narrow. One can think

that the offenders who are brought up in slumps or street born can not be short handed of different

flavors of experiences but many of them have not experienced the real happiness and mirth. They have

lived an emotionally deprived life, and can not experience different types of emotions. A therapist

provides them a whole range of experiences through:

Exploring emotional life in safe environment

Art therapy

Music therapy

Drama therapy

Fantasy and Imagery Exercise

Relationship problems are solved

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Forensic Psychology (PSY - 513)

Home works assignments

Exploring emotional life in safe environment

Forensic psychotherapists need to think about their patients--how and why they committed their

offences, and why they present complex management problems to colleagues. Therapist allows talking

freely about childhood relationships with father, mother, siblings and other family members.

Discussions take place about the bullying experiences in school years. Then adolescence emotional

experienced are also explored like many young boys or girls are sexually exploited by older aged man

or women and consequences of such experiences can be dangerous. Discussion of such experience in

safe environment is a totally new experience for clients then therapist exposes them to new experiences

like expressing emotions through drawings and paintings.

At therapy

Art is used to explore personalities; in FPT art is not used as a tool to assess personality rather for the

exploration of personality.

Music Therapy

Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish therapeutic

goals by a qualified professional who has completed an approved music therapy program. Every session

has some theme and clients are allowed to beat drums or play any other instrument with the help of

trained musician.

Specific goals of music therapy in forensic settings may include the following:

Increase self-awareness

Improve reality testing and problem-solving skills

Improve respect for others, including peers and authority

Develop healthy verbal and non-verbal communication skills

Decrease impulsivity through practical techniques

Accept responsibility for thoughts and feelings

Learn relaxation and coping skills

Improve physical conditioning

Develop effective leisure skills

10.

Explore feelings and make positive changes in mood states

Drama Therapy

The use of dramatic process and theater as a therapeutic intervention began with Psychodrama.

developed by Moreno. DT is intentional use of theater techniques to facilitate personal growth and

providing an offender a variety of experiences that they usually could not experience in their lives.

Drama therapy is an expressive therapy Drama therapy exists in many forms and can be applicable

to individuals, couples, families, and various groups.

Often, drama therapy is utilized to help a client:

Experience a wide range of experiences and emotions

Solve a problem

Achieve a catharsis

Delve into truths about self

Understand the meaning of personally resonate images

Explore and transform unhealthy patterns of interaction

Drama therapy is extremely varied in its use, based on the practitioner, the setting and the client

from fully-fledged performances to empty chair (talking to fictitious personality), role-play, and

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Forensic Psychology (PSY - 513)

role reversals. Such techniques are borrowed from creative arts. We use psychodrama with those

clients that really need to experience other emotions.

Now take an example of a depressed incarcerated man, who was convicted and sentenced for ten

years. Spending one day in prison is difficult and he has to stay there for eight more years, how as a

forensic therapist you can evoke hope in him. In such situations Fantasy Exercise is very effective,

in which client is asked to close eyes accompany by deep breathing and imagine that he is a

superman, who can fly over the sky but live as a disguised prisoner and when ever wants can fly and

help needy people.

By practicing such imagery exercises two concerns can be touched:

1. Developing positive feelings like prisoner is very powerful and eliminating depression.

2. At the same time developing the feeling to use that power for needy people so creating

altruism in an offender.

Relationship problems are solved

Offender is persuaded to give gifts to wife so relationships problems are solved and a healthy support is

created for therapeutic process. Researches support the notion that drug addiction is a reaction to

negative relationships. And addiction is a core reason of many crimes.

Therapeutic Structure

Patients may be treated in individual therapy, in group therapy or through mixing individual with group

therapies.

Working systemically

Although forensic psychotherapy is psychodynamic based, which is individual oriented therapy but the

importance of system is also realized in FTP. The idea is not to upset many people and attract people in

your side. Like working with collaboration with prison guards, frequent contact is maintained. With out

cooperation of all concerned people work of a forensic therapist is almost impossible as he will stay

with all positive attitude just during therapy session but client has to spent all other time with other

prison staff and if their behaviuor is inhuman and humiliating then the positive regard and empathy of

therapist would not effect or contribute the healing process.

Building alliances with staff

In process of working systematically forensic therapist working in a prison setting try to persuade the

prison staff to join training groups to learn the strategies to deal with job related stress. These groups

are intestinally entitled as training group because usually joining a group for psychotherapy is

considered stigma. Training groups are formed and psychological principals are taught to the prison

staff so they also strengthen the healing and helping process. Work in this dimension is very important.

Forensic psychologist has to deal with many difficult challenges and need to be very careful even in

selection of words while interacting with system. They have to work very politely and diplomatically to

create alliances. Alliances are not only established with prison staff but also with other key individuals

through regular meetings other than group meetings. Like Alliances with home ministry, interior

ministry, policy makers and decision makers are essential to reform the prison environment so;

vicious cycle of violence can be breached.

But the importance of balancing limits is equally important here. The professional responsibility of a

psychologist is to call a spade a spade. So in consideration of alliances making they ought not neglect

their basic purpose of challenging and confronting the maltreatment.

Pinpointing the people who are creating the and to clear them the metaphor of change gradually obstacle

is equally important.

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Forensic Psychology (PSY - 513)

Getting institutional support

A forensic psychotherapist can not work in a vacuum and one man army is not the idea so like minded

people are founded and alliances are established. Institutional support is sought to strengthen the

changes that have occurred and cultivate the future successes.

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