RALIANCE sat down recently with Melissa Grady, Professor and Chair of Clinical Concentration at Catholic University’s School of Social Service, to hear about her research on how addressing the trauma of individuals who have harmed can help advance the broader goal of safer communities free of sexual violence. Catholic University is a two-time recipient of a RALIANCE Impact Grant, having been honored in both 2019 and 2025.
Through the RALIANCE Impact Grant Program, RALIANCE has disbursed nearly $4 million in grant funding from to prevention programs and organizations like Catholic University that are working to address sexual violence and support survivors.
RALIANCE: Can you provide a brief overview of your organization and the work it does to address the issue of sexual violence?
Melissa Grady: My colleague Jamie Yoder from Colorado State University and I are testing out an intervention model that seeks to integrate trauma treatment along with treatment for problematic sexual behavior (PSB). This model is an enhanced version of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) that we developed in collaboration with the developers of TF-CBT and our colleague Anette Birgersson from Sweden. It seeks to address one of the most significant contributors to sexual violence in adolescents, which is their own trauma histories. Historically, the treatment for their own trauma and the trauma they have caused have been separated. We are working to integrate both of their aspects of their identities into one treatment.
RALIANCE: Can you share more about how research in this area has progressed over the years?
MG: The current study builds on the previous RALIANCE grant that I received along with Jill Levenson, who was one of the first people to research and investigate the level of trauma people who have committed sex crimes have experienced in their past. In that RALIANCE-funded study, we explored how well clinicians are integrating trauma into their treatments focused on sexual violence and found that there was a huge discrepancy between what clinicians say they’re doing in terms of integrating trauma into the PSB treatment and how clients experience that treatment. Clinicians stated they were integrating trauma into their PSB treatments, but clients did not report this to be the case. Based on this research and another survey of clinicians about their knowledge of how to treat trauma in PSB treatment that I did with Dr. Yoder, we have discovered that clinicians are struggling with how to address the complex needs of individuals with PSB who have also experienced their own trauma. With this current study, we hope to provide them with an additional tool they can use with these individuals that helps them to address both trauma and PSB within the same intervention model.
RALIANCE: Could you share how this research connects to the broader goal of preventing sexual violence?
MG: In order to prevent sexual violence in our communities, we must learn why it occurs and then use that knowledge to build better programs aimed at primary prevention and tertiary intervention to ensure that it does not happen again. This project is a tertiary program, as it seeks to address the root causes of sexual violence by addressing it within the context of a PSB treatment intervention program, as it targets trauma as a leading contributing factor.
RALIANCE: How is your current study going, and where does it go from here?
MG: In another project led by Dr. Yoder, we conducted a feasibility and pilot study to explore how well this new intervention, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for adolescents with PSB (TF-CBT for PSB-A), worked in practice. Based on this study, we are revising the training approach for clinicians on the model. They will then meet twice monthly for consultations with nationally certified trainers to ensure they correctly implement the model. In addition, in this study, we will have a comparison or control group of adolescents who did not receive TF-CBT for PSB-A, which will allow us to compare the treatment group to a non-treatment group to see what differences there are in risk factors associated with PSB, including trauma symptoms.
After the completion of the intervention phase of the study, we will conduct focus groups with the clinicians about what worked, what didn’t work and what they need more of, so we can further revise the intervention. With this information, along with the client and clinician data, we hope to further strengthen the treatment. Once we have completed any additional refinements, the ultimate goal is to share with others who work with this population so that they have another tool to use when they have clients who come in with both PSB and trauma histories.
RALIANCE: Where can readers of RALIANCE’s blog look to stay informed on this topic?
MG: There are several organizations that focus on sexual violence prevention and intervention. These include the Association for Treatment & Prevention of Sexual Abuse (ATSA), which hosts conferences, publishes resources online, is the publisher of the journal of Sexual Abuse, provides treatment guidelines, and has a referral network. It also has local and state chapters for those who want to connect with others in their geographic area. Other organizations include Stop It Now, B4U-Act, and Help Wanted, which seek to provide services for those who are worried about their own attractions and want to seek help. The Safer Society Foundation is another fantastic resource that offers online trainings, publications, articles, workbooks and pocket guides for parents, clinicians and clients.
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