2013-3: Psychoeducation MID (Call 2013-3)

Target group

Clients with Mild Intellectual Disability (IQ range from 50/55 to 70) who end up in the criminal justice system due to inappropriate behaviour, or are at risk of ending up there.

Psychoeducation: 'Know what you can do'

The module ‘Know what you can do’ is aimed at informing patients with mild intellectual disability (MID) about their disability and also offering them the tools to deal with it. In the forensic field, clients with a MID are overrepresented. These people often have little awareness of their disability, overestimate themselves and are also often asked too much of themselves. The combination of the disability itself, failure experiences and unfavourable environmental factors provides a breeding ground for behavioural problems, including criminal behaviour. The MID itself cannot be treated, but psychoeducation can reduce the risk of failure experiences and increase the willingness to accept help.  Psychoeducation in this target group is, therefore, an important condition for the successful treatment of risk behaviour (principle of responsiveness).

The psychoeducation module ‘Know what you can do’ was developed as part of this call. In this module, clients are made aware of the risk they run, as a result of their MID, of 'getting into trouble' and the ways to reduce that risk. The module also pays a lot of attention to their strengths, which can help them to increase their self-confidence. The module focuses explicitly (also) on daily counsellors and loved ones, who play an important supporting role for people with MID.

Application and effects

An advisory group of clients played an important role in the development of the module, which, in part because of this, fits in well with the learning style of people with a MID (click here to see how their input was processed). The module has been developed for the forensic field but is also used in Mental Disability Care and regular mental health care. The module is a form of training and requires an HBO (higher professional education) level of working and thinking from the trainer. An easily accessible training course ensures good preparation. When the module is used for the target group, it usually takes between 6 and 12 meetings. The guideline for the duration is 45 minutes for an individual session and an hour and a half for a group session. Trainers also need the usual time for preparation, reporting and transfer.

Executive party

Trajectum, in cooperation with Transfore and Minddistrict (for the online module).