Sexual pleasure as forbidden secret: a single-case study into emotion-focused therapy with an emotionally avoidant client who committed sexual offences

ABSTRACT A major challenge in offender therapy is to facilitate clients’ emotional engagement, especially with clients who over-regulate their affect. It has been suggested that treatments that focus on improving clients’ affect regulation (AR) and deepen client’s emotional experience during treatment may enhance treatment outcomes. In this systematic mixed-methods case study the role of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) to change clients’ problems with AR during inpatient treatment for individuals who committed sexual offences against children was investigated. It was observed that clients’ over-regulation of affect was coupled with a lack of connection to a part of the self that was deemed unacceptable. Over the course of treatment, this hidden part of self that had instigated the misbehaviour became more accepted and integrated. Verbatim clinical vignettes are included to illuminate key interventions, hindrances, and possible mechanisms of change. Quantitative analysis showed significant change in AR based on self-report and observation.