Child and Family Services

Child sexuality develops and evolves as children and their families move through their life span. Some children, as an expression of their ability to survive and adapt in a difficult or unsafe environment, develop problematic behaviors. Sometimes these behaviors may harmful to themselves or others both in and out of their own families and may be sexual in nature. Each child reacts differently and is unique in their ability to survive in an unsafe environment.

Project Pathfinder offers a community- based treatment program for those children and their families. Our programs emphasize community safety, eliminating abusive behavior patterns and learning about the types of sexual behavior that may be appropriate for a child’s developmental age. Our goal is to help children find a standard of sexuality expression that is individual and positive within the total expression of the self. 

The first step in child and family services is evaluation of the child to determine social and emotional development, community safety factors and potential for sexual aggression through a series of tests. A child might then be introduced to our program options or be referred for other services.

Our treatment programs include evaluation , sexual abusers treatment , Children Learning and Improving Boundaries and training and IEP consultation.
 
Psychosexual Evaluation     (top)
 

The psychosexual evaluation process consists of clinical interviews, psychological testing, review of related documents and consultation with adults/professionals involved in the child’s life.  The evaluation provides a determination of the child’s psychological status, an assessment of community safety factors and potential for continued sexual aggression.  Recommendations for treatment include the amount of supervision needed if outpatient treatment is recommended and adjunct services.  The standard psychological testing battery that is administered includes:

  • Child sexual behavior checklist
  • Personality inventory for children
  • Rorschach projective test
  • Projective drawing tests
  • Projective sex card set

Additional psychological testing is used on an as needed basis.  Additional tests that may be utilized include:

  • Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
  • Test of Variable Attention (series of three)
C.L.I.M.B.    (top)
 

Children Learning and IMproving Boundaries

 

The C.L.I.M.B program is a family-focused curriculum designed to intervene on and prevent inappropriate sexual touch among children and their families.  The curriculum takes 10 to 12 hours to complete and all information is presented in a sex-positive, age appropriate manner.  At the conclusion of the C.L.I.M.B. program participating families will have generated two collages that illustrate healthy and unhealthy sexuality and a list of their family values with supporting behaviors to guide their sexuality development and expression.  This curriculum is not a replacement for sexuality treatment or a psychosexual evaluation.  It is intended to address the emerging inappropriate sexuality expression among children and their families

Treatment Programs    (top)
 

Child and Family Sexuality Treatment

This program is designed for children who have engaged in inappropriate sexual behaviors.  There are four goal areas which must be met at three different levels.  The goal areas are:

  • Responsibility
  • Empathy
  • Understanding
  • Prevention

This program consists of weekly group therapy, weekly individual or family therapy and consistent contacts with other adults involved in the child’s life. 

 

Sibling Incest Treatment 

This program specializes in working with children who have been sexually victimized, to help the child and family heal from the trauma of incest.  Each treatment plan is specific to the child’s unique situation.  The focus is on the child’s strength and adaptability to survive; and because each child is unique and different in their abilities to survive in an unsafe environment, these individual differences are respected and recognized.

Training and Consultation

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School Consultation

 

By working closely with the school professionals, we can assist the school in reducing the incidences of sexual harassment and violence.  The consultation services include prevention curriculum and groups, intervention groups for at-risk students, teacher training and IEP consultation.  When appropriate, on-site psychosexual evaluations can also be completed.