McLaughlin Psychological Services is proud to offer a Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB) service providing expert support to Local Authorities, Education, and Youth Offending Teams, and other agencies / professionals. This is a specialist service that provides consultation, assessment, and intervention for young people who display problematic and harmful sexual behaviour. The team includes professionals who have completed specialist training in the field of harmful sexual behaviour and who are trained in a range of assessment models such as the AIM 3 and the Juvenile Sex offender Assessment Protocol (J-SOAP-II). Assessments of online sexual offending (such as the sending and receiving of illegal images) can also be commissioned using the Technology Assisted Harmful Sexual Behaviour Guidance.

We recognise that young people who display harmful sexual behaviour have often experienced harm, potentially through their own experiences of trauma and adversity and this sits alongside the potential role for other social, emotional, and neurodevelopmental factors to underpin such behaviours. With this in mind, we believe it is essential to form a robust clinical understanding of each young person in order to a formulate bespoke understanding and intervention plan to address any concerning behaviours. The team is able to work effectively with other agencies in terms of consultation in order to provide clinical guidance for professionals and the networks around young people to inform their own assessments and plans. Where appropriate and helpful, a range of formal assessment tools can be used to provide an up to date and robust view on current risks that can support with the clear implementation of risk management strategies and safety planning but to also inform therapeutic intervention needs that often go hand in hand with interventions designed to reduce risk.