Oaklodge Residential Services Ltd provides a service for young people with sexual behavioural problems who cannot live at home at the present time. The unit provides a comprehensive assessment for the young people placed there. A typical length of stay for the assessment is between four to six months.  The assessment will include the following:

• Educational ability and needs
• Initial psychological screening and level of functioning
• Level of concern or risk
• Level of strengths
• Social and personal skills and needs
• Therapeutic/treatment needs
• Placement needs

The assessment will include the young persons family/carers if appropriate.

Assessment tools include AIM2, ERASOR, Psychometric testing in addition to clinical interviews.

We can provide medium to long-term placements for young people aged 12 to 18 with sexual behavioural problems. A typical length of stay will be twelve to thirty six months. If the young person is placed on the recommendation of a previously undertaken comprehensive risk assessment then a therapeutic treatment programme appropriate to the young person's needs as recommended in the risk assessment report, will be put in place. Alternatively, the young person may be placed at the unit having previously been assessed at the Oak Lodge New Ross unit.

Therapeutic treatment is needs led and will be determined by a comprehensive assessment. Therapeutic treatment programmes will be matched to each persons' individual therapeutic and psycological needs and may include family work where appropriate. There are, however, some areas which are commonly included as part of the treatment programmes for young people with sexual behavioural problems. Typical this will include a cognitive behavioural component specific to young people who display sexual problematic behaviours and will address the following areas.

• The cognitive distortions which justified the abuses
• An affective, cognitive, behavioural and situational pattern analysis of the sexually problematic behaviour (the offence cycle).
• Understanding the effects of the abuse on their victims, both at the time of the abuse and in the medium and longer term (victim empathy).
• Identifying and understanding the high risk affective states cognitions, situations or behavioural patterns which are a precursor to a lapse and developing strategies to safely manage these (relapse prevention)
• Understanding and psychotherapeutically processing the deeper hidden causes of the sexual abuse.
• Controlling 'deviant' sexual fantasies
• Sex education/knowledge
• Sexual Experiences
• Attitudes
• Masculinity
• Safe sexual behaviours
• Relationships

In addition these areas there may be therapeutic needs related to:

• Experiencing trauma in childhood such as physical, sexual abuse, witnessing domestic violence
• Low self-esteem and lack of confidence
• Inability to make and sustain relationships with peer aged young people
• Anger Management
• Issues of loss, bereavement
• Attachment dysfunction and/or rejection
• Family problems
• Bullying
• Isolation/emotional lonliness
• Impulse control
• Sexual orientation

The aims of therapeutic treatment are to:

• Prevent further abuse
• Help young person to connect feelings, thoughts and behaviours which led to the abuse (cycle)
• Help young person to understand impact of the abuse on victim (victim empathy)
• Help young person with any other issues which may have contributed to the abuse (self-esteem, bullying, anger management,trauma etc).
• Help carers to come to terms with the abuse and help their children (family work).
• Help carers and young people to develop strategies to prevent further abuse (relapse prevention)
• Admission of behaviour and acceptance of responsibility
• Understanding thinking patterns
• Understanding appropriate and inappropriate sexual behaviour
• Accurate self knowledge/insight
• Awareness of consequences to self and family
• Appropriate social skills
• Anger/impulse control
• Reduction of deviant arousal patterns

The therapeutic regime at Oak Lodge Residential Services is overseen by Clinical Director, Dr. Nicholas A J Bankes. Dr. Bankes is available for consultation to all staff in Oak Lodge and provides clinical supervision to the senior staff at Oak lodge.

Dr. Bankes Clinical Director of A.C.T. (Ireland)  and Oak Lodge Residential Services Ltd, is an independent social work consultant, trainer and psychoterapist. He has worked as a child protection specialist since 1989. This has included work as a co-ordinator, investigator, assessor, counsellor and supervisor. He has been working with adults and adolescents who sexually abuse for the past seventeen years, both as a practitioner and as a consultant, in family, school, religious and residential settings.