Intensive Session: What Were You Thinking? A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach to Community Supervision

SESSION INFO

Sunday, August 18, 2019
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Session Type: Intensive

"Increasingly, community corrections officers are being asked to do more than temporarily monitor the clients under their authority -- they are expected to positively influence behavior and reduce reoffending. Successful supervision requires a focus on a set of risk domains and thinking patterns that facilitate criminal behavior, beyond probation conditions and mental health symptoms. Step-by-step guidelines will be provided for analyzing specific criminal events to better understand the relative influence of criminogenic thinking patterns (beliefs that drive criminal and self-destructive behaviors) and other key risk domains (e.g., substance misuse, antisocial companions, maladaptive leisure time) at the time offenses were committed. The analysis of criminal events provides a unique snapshot of the potential causes and maintenance of criminal behavior that can enhance risk assessments, guide supervision discussions, and identify relevant intervention targets for community practitioners. This workshop also highlights the unique academic-agency collaboration transforming adult and juvenile probation in Connecticut."

SESSION PRESENTERS

Bethany LaPierre
Chief Probation Officer, Connecticut Adult Probation


Bethany LaPierre, is a Chief Probation Officer for the State of Connecticut, Court Support Services Division (CSSD), Department of Adult Probation. She currently oversees the implementation of the Forensic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy training program for all adult probation officers and supervisors. Prior to this assignment, Bethany was an Adult Probation Officer for 11 years, supervising adult probationers of all levels within the community including the domestic violence and technical violation units. She was trained and later received a certification in forensic cognitive behavioral therapy from Central Connecticut State University in conjunction with CSSD, after they were recipients of the SMART probation grant. Bethany is a member of APPA and currently on the editorial board for APPA’s Perspectives Journal.


Dr. Raymond Chip Tafrate
Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Central Connecticut State University


Raymond Chip Tafrate, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Central Connecticut State University. He is on the advisory board of the forensic special interest group for the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, the editorial board for Criminal Justice and Behavior, a Fellow and Supervisor at the Albert Ellis Institute in New York City, and a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers. Dr. Tafrate frequently consults with criminal justice agencies and programs regarding difficult-to-change problems such as anger dysregulation and criminal behavior. He has presented his research throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. His most recent books are: CBT with justice-involved clients: Interventions for antisocial and self-destructive behaviors (2018; Guilford Press) and Forensic CBT: A handbook for clinical practice (2014; Wiley).