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Individual Therapy

Individual therapy attempts to transform an offender into a law-abiding citizen through oneon-one sessions with a counselor or psychiatrist. Unlike group therapy, individual therapy provides the clinical environment for treatment that can be targeted to each client differently. It also provides an opportunity for people who have difficulty participating in a group to be treated. In practice, individual therapy is often part of a group therapy program such as drug abuse or sex offender treatment. Despite challenges to the goal of rehabilitation in the current “get tough on crime” era, most correctional facilities continue to offer some form of individual therapy, ranging from an initial assessment with a prison psychologist to more extensive ongoing counseling throughout a person's sentence.

Background

Those working in the field of mental health draw on a series of different traditions and ideas, all of which rest on a belief that people can change so long as they want to. There are more than 200 different theoretical therapy models, which can be reduced to four distinct categories—psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioral, and cognitive. Some therapists draw only on one set of ideas, while others use elements from a number of categories, combining them as they deem appropriate and effective in assisting in change. For example, some subscribe to ideas of psychoanalysis that developed from the work of Sigmund Freud. Others use methods of clinical psychology originating in the work of Lightner Witmer, who, in turn, was influenced by the experimental psychology of Wilhelm Wundt. Still others draw on the ideas of Frank Parsons, who first developed vocational guidance, in developing their individual counseling programs.

Educationally, practitioners of individual psychotherapy and individual counseling may hold a variety of degrees from a bachelor's degree to a doctorate (PhD, PsyD, or EdD). They may be psychiatrists, with medical degrees that entitle them to prescribe medications in treatment, or counselors who seek to help others manage their stress levels. Most states in the United States have licensing laws, which determine the minimal education and training for mental health counseling and the psychotherapeutic professions.

Current Practice

Authors of a report submitted to Congress that reviewed funded programs initiated in 1996 found that cognitive behaviorally oriented therapy, for both individuals and groups, appeared most effective (Sherman et al., 1998). This type of therapy attempts to change behavior by changing the ways individuals think. It addresses attitudes, beliefs, and thinking patterns, to shift people's moral reasoning and development as well as how they process information.

Anger management courses in prison are based on cognitive behaviorism. These courses, such as the Philadelphia Crime Prevention Program (PCPP), may be either individually focused or based on group work. The Philadelphia program tries both to change people's deviant behavior, to reduce their reoffending, and to alter their sense of self. Sex offender treatment programs are also generally based on cognitive behavioralism.

Effectiveness and Limitations

The use and effectiveness of individual therapy in criminal rehabilitation have long been a source of heated debate because the element of personal choice that is so fundamental to therapy is severely compromised in prison. Inmates are often required to undergo psychological counseling as part of their sentence, and so do not choose of their own free will to embark on self-transformation. Others are offered a sentence reduction for participating in certain programs, which may be more important than the experience of therapy itself. Likewise, the therapeutic relationship between the individual inmate and the therapist is based on trust and confidentiality, which may be difficult to establish within an incarcerated population because the therapist is an employee of the justice system. Finally, not all institutions support individual therapy since it is both expensive and requires numerous staff. As a result, group therapy is more commonly offered.

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