This self-access class introduces Psychosexual and Relationship Therapists to the work of STOPSO (Specialist Treatment Organisation for Perpetrators and Survivors of Sexual Offending). It offers practical guidance on recognising and managing sexual risk safely and compassionately within therapeutic practice.
Designed to build confidence, awareness, and emotional resilience, the session particularly supports newly trained therapists who may feel uncertain or anxious when faced with potential indicators of sexual risk in clients.
This self-access class is a recording of a live event held in January 2026.
Session Outline:
- Introduction to STOPSO: mission, structure, and clinical remit.
- Understanding client presentations and the continuum of sexual risk.
- Recognising red flags and early indicators that may be missed in session.
- Managing therapist reactions — including shock, fear, and moral judgement.
- Clinical frameworks for managing risk safely and ethically.
- Case discussions and role-based examples.
- Using supervision and reflective practice to maintain professional resilience.
Learning Outcomes:
- To increase understanding of STOPSO’s role, referral pathways, and ethical framework.
- To support therapists in identifying red flags that may indicate sexual risk or boundary issues.
- To enhance therapists’ ability to respond calmly and professionally to challenging disclosures.
- To strengthen clinical safety through supervision, consultation, and reflective practice.
By the end of this self-access class, participants will be able to:
- Describe STOPSO’s purpose, structure, and how to access specialist support.
- Identify subtle clinical cues or “red flags” that may indicate risk, denial, or grooming patterns.
- Recognise common areas newly qualified therapists may overlook, such as language minimisation, boundary testing, or avoidance patterns.
- Apply a calm, structured response when concerns arise, using a model such as Assess – Contain – Consult – Refer.
- Balance confidentiality and safeguarding obligations in line with ethical practice.
About the Trainers
Trudy Hannington is a Senior Psychosexual Therapist. She has worked in sexual health for over 25 years, and specialises in combining medical treatments with sex therapy.
She is one of the founders of STOPSO (Special Treatment Organisation for Perpetrators and Survivors of Sexual Offending).
Trudy was also the specialist psychosexual therapist in the Channel 4 documentary “The Week The Women Came”
- Wrote the chapter on sex therapy in the 4th edition of the ABC of Sex
- Wrote the concluding chapter in the book “Testosterone Deficiency” by Professor Hugh Jones
- Written contribution to the BSSM (British Society For Sexual Medicine) Women’s Health Book including case studies.
- You tube video release on prostate cancer with male care
- Various radio and newspaper contributions
- Written the chapter for the new to be released book for STOPSO on why non offending partners stay with a sex offender titled “should I stay or should I go”
Senior Accredited member and Supervisor of COSRT (College for Sex & Relationship Therapists) and Fellow of COSRT. A former Chair of the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT). Won Yorkshire Woman of the Year award in 2004. She is also a Committee Member for the British Society of Sexual Medicine and current Treasurer. Highly qualified in this field Trudy Hannington’s team has NHS contracts with a number of NHS areas in the region and also sees patients on a private basis. She has lectured nationally and internationally, on the Management of Sexual Dysfunction, most recently in Florida, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Leger Clinic is a flagship service, which offers a “one stop shop” for all areas of sexual difficulty, either medical or psychological.
Antounette Philippides has over 30 years experience in working with predominately high risk of harm offenders in her career as a Probation Officer.
She work in various settings within that role, including many generic field teams across the city, mental health teams, prison, Courts, Group work, Peripatetic specialist team and Multi Agency Gang Unit. She retrained as a psychotherapist and now runs a private practice in Birmingham. For the past 5 years, Antounette has been a trustee of StopSO and Chair of the Board of Trustees for 3 years.
Antounette believes that therapy is the missing link in the assessment and management and of sexual offenders. She has focused her work for the charity on extending the understanding of the value of therapy for anyone who wishes to understand, control and change their behaviour. This is how StopSO represents Child protection- through the work with perpetrators.
StopSO also works with survivors and family members of those affected by abuse as well as those who are both survivors and perpetrators. It is important to Antounette that StopSO, with 165 therapists UK wide, offers its members support and training in this ever changing field of child sexual abuse.
