Change for Good

Supporting young people to find ways to avoid harmful sexual behaviour 

A young person who has displayed harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) can find it hard to understand what has happened, or what’s going to come next.

Change for Good is a strengths-based manualised intervention programme for adolescents that have displayed HSB. It addresses HSB in the context of the social and emotional challenges the young person is facing and helps them to recover and regain control.

The intervention aims:

• to increase the likelihood of young people showing sexual and non-sexual behaviours that are socially acceptable and refrain from HSB
• to enhance psychosocial functioning, optimism about the future and a sense of wellbeing.

How it works

Change for Good provides a structured intervention for practitioners to work through, with flexibility to adapt to the needs of the young person.

There are around 30 sessions addressing individual issues, including activities like playing games and storytelling. The sessions cover:

• engagement
• relationships
• self-regulation
• road map for the future.

There are also projects for young people to complete at home between sessions. The programme can take up to a year.

Change for Good is underpinned by a cognitive behavioural approach and draws on attachment theory, mentalisation theory, psychodynamic and systems theories. We talk to young people about their strengths, to help them feel better about themselves and learn to handle problems positively.

The Change for Good manual was written by Professor Eamon McCrory, Professor of Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology at University College London. NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) recognised Change for Good in its HSB guidelines published in 2016.¹

“The work helped me out a lot. I know rights and wrongs now. It helped explain things so it’s a lot easier now. I know not to touch people unless they want to, that’s why I came here. It changed my life now ‘cos I could have carried on like that.”

Young person

Training and implementation support

We train and support organisations to adopt, implement and deliver the Change for Good programme in their local area.

Before implementing Change for Good, organisations must complete the HSB framework audit. This provides the foundation to set up a successful service.

Our training and implementation support package includes:

• a licence to deliver the service in accordance with the model but with the flexibility to meet local needs and practice
• expert guidance and practical support to guide you through setting up a successful service
• pre-training workshop to help senior managers identify how you can make the most of the service and establish methods for ongoing evaluation and outcomes
• a bespoke, individual needs-assessed training programme
• ongoing implementation support.

Change for Good can also be delivered by youth justice or social care professionals to help provide children and young people the support they need without escalation to services at a higher threshold. The work supports safety planning and risk management plans, helping agencies to progress towards a safe reduction in these plans and enabling young people to develop healthy social lives.