The history of Juliet’s work as founder of StopSO, and work with sexual offenders
Prior to StopSO, there was no UK wide service that offered face-to-face counselling to someone who knew that they were attracted to children, with a view to preventing contact offending or use of the internet to view images or videos of child abuse.
2010 Juliet saw a few sexual offenders in her private practice as a psychotherapist.
2011 Juliet and a group of people met with a view to tackling the problem of child abuse in the UK, in Juliet’s home. The aim was to think about how to prevent child abuse and all types of sexual offending. We decided to offer therapy to the perpetrators, with the intention of preventing the first crime where possible. We also decided to work with people who had already committed a crime but wanted to stop, and those who had been arrested, or who had recently come out of prison.
2012 Trudy Hannington, Dana Braithwaite, Paul Hunt and Juliet Grayson set up the Specialist Treatment Organisation for the Prevention of Sexual Offending. Juliet Grayson was voted Chair.
2012 Juliet Grayson established the Slippery Slope workshops. Using Pesso Boyden System of Psychotherapy with those at risk of committing a sexual offence, and those who have already done so.
2012 Training courses were created to enable therapists to work with this client group. Three-day foundation skills training: Crossing the Line – the legal and ethical lines. Risk Assessment. Treatment Interventions. These courses were approved for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) by College of Sex and Relationship Therapy (www.cosrt.org.uk)
2012 Juliet was instrumental in creating a viable financial model to ensure that StopSO could function – until such time as government or large scale funding was available. This involved therapists paying for training courses, membership subscription and a referral fee.
2012 July: The online forum: StopSO Support Group for Professionals Working with Sex Offenders was created.
2012-2019 There were lots of radio, documentary, and TV appearances and Articles
2014 A chapter by Juliet Grayson was published: “Back to the Root: Healing Potential Sexual Offenders’ Childhood Trauma with Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor.” Published in “Sexual Diversity and Sexual Offending: Research, Assessment and Clinical Treatment in Psychosexual Therapy.” Editor Glyn Hudson-Allez. Published by Karnac Books.
2014 Juliet Grayson delivered a presentation at the conference for the College of Sex and Relationship Therapists (COSRT) Conference: The Phone Call From Hell: What to do when a sex offender calls
2014 Juliet Grayson delivered a presentation at the conference for the National Organisation for the Treatment of Offenders (NOTA) Conference in York: Cultivating The Seeds of Hope with those at risk of sexual offending or re-offending – an introduction to the use of Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor methodology
2015 Juliet Grayson delivered a presentation at the conference for the Neuro Linguistic Therapy and Counselling Association (NLPtCA) Conference: The Phone Call From Hell: What to do when a sex offender calls
2016 January: the online forum: StopSO support Group for Family Members (of sex offenders) was created
2016 A ten-day Professional Certficate in Therapeutic Practice with Sex Offenders was approved by COSRT for CPD
2016 November: StopSO became a registered charity: number 1170470
2017 Singer Songwriter Joss Stone met with Juliet and some people who had committed sexual offences, to support the work of StopSO
2017 Juliet Grayson delivered a presentation at the conference for the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA) conference Cardiff on StopSO UK
2018 February StopSO planted 1183 pin wheels on the bank of the Thames. This represented the number of children in the UK who were sexually abused at that time, each and every day of the year, 365 days a year (this is based on police statistics). StopSO wanted to raise awareness of the issue of a lack of funding for therapy for perpetrators who wanted therapeutic help but could not afford to pay for it (approximately 20% of those perpetrators asking StopSO for help)
2018 Spring Juliet on behalf of StopSO commissioned a series of articles for a Special Edition of The Psychotherapist, which was about sexual offending and sexual abuse.
2018 May: StopSO’s First Conference in London: Tacking Sexual Abuse in the 21st Century. Speakers Chief Constable Simon Bailey,Juleit Grayson (Chair of StopSO), William Ayot (poet in residence), three ‘core members’ (sex offenders), a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, the wife of a ‘core member’ (sex offender), Julie Newberry (Psychotherapist and Trainer) and Terri Van Leeson (Forensic Psychologist),
2018 May: Chief Constable Simon Bailey, National Police Chief’s Lead on Child Sexual Abuse, agreed to become Patron of StopSO.
2018 May: StopSO changed it’s name to reflect the fact that StopSO now offers therapy to victims and survivors of sexual abuse, as well as to perpetrators. StopSO: The Specialist Treatment Organisation for Perpetrators and Survivors of Sexual Offences. The primary purpose remains prevention of sexual offences.
2019 May: London, Second Conference: Insights into sexual offending: Facing the Reality. Speakers included CC Simon Bailey, Klaus Beier (Prevention Project Dunkelfeld), James Cantor (Neuroscientist who has studied the brains of pedophiles), Juliet Grayson (Chair of StopSO), William Ayot (Poet in residence), as well as 2 ‘core members’ (perpetrators) and the wife of a ‘core member’ (perpetrator).
2019 September Juliet resigned as Chair of StopSO. She established herself as an independent freelance consultant in the field of sexual offending. At this point StopSO had received more than 4,250 requests for help from potential and actual perpetrators. StopSO had over 150 therapists who were trained to work with those at risk of committing a sexual offence, as well as those who have already done so.
2019 Juliet Grayson delivered a presentation at the conference for 7th International PBSP Conference in Prague: Working with survivors and perpetrators of sexual abuse: the common thread.
2019 Dec Juliet spent 3 days in Prague, where she joined the 1st international advisory board of the Czech programme to work with sex offenders: Primary Intervention PARAPHILE, as an independent consultant.