Keeping the Brain in Mind: Treating neurodiverse youth engaged in problematic sexual behavior

Neurodivergence is a non-medical term that refers to variations in the brain regarding sociability, learning, attention, mood, and other mental functions. Attending to and understanding how neurodevelopmental issues can contribute to the emergence of sexual behavior problems in children not only assists in shaping our assessment and treatment interventions, but it can also dissuade us from over-pathologizing the motivations and intentions of the children who present with these behavioral issues. While the specific research on effectively addressing the assessment and treatment of neurodiverse youth exhibiting problematic sexual behavior remains limited incorporating approaches with neurodiverse youth from outside the PSB field can serve to improve our effectiveness and broaden our understanding of the challenges these children and adolescents may face in integrating and utilizing various treatment interventions (Blasingame, Creeden, and Rich, 2022; Byrne, 2022; Creeden, 2023; D’Amico, et al., 2022).

This training will focus on highlighting the common principles and obstacles associated with the effective assessment and treatment of neurodiverse youth exhibiting problematic sexual behaviors while identifying specific treatment needs and treatment interventions for some of the different constellations of social, emotional, and cognitive difficulties with which these youth may present.

About the presenter

Kevin Creeden - Director of Assessment and Research at the Whitney Academy in East Freetown, MA