PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES
Competencies
Child Sex Trafficking Competencies for Counselors
The Child Sex Trafficking Competencies for Counselors provide a framework and describe the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes and beliefs for those working with sex trafficking survivors and persons at risk for sex trafficking. Statements are organized around five dimensions: (a) intervention strategies and the helping relationship, (b) trauma and sex trafficking, (c) assessment of risk factors and indicators, (d) ethical practice, and (e) cultural diversity and human growth and development (See Interiano-Shiverdecker et al., 2022)
Instruments
Child Sex Trafficking Competency Scale for Counselors: Self-Report ©
Child Sex Trafficking Competency Scale for Counselors: Supervisor-Report ©
The Child Sex Trafficking Competency Scale for Counselors: Self-Report (CSTCS-C) and Child Sex Trafficking Competency Scale for Counselors: Supervisor-Report (CSTCS-SR) assess counselors’ and trainees’ level of competency to prevent, identify, and treat sex trafficked youth and those at-risk. The CSTCS-C and CSTCS-SR consist of 127-items that measure overall competence, as well as competence in five domains: (a) intervention strategies and the helping relationship, (b) trauma and sex trafficking, (c) assessment of risk factors and indicators, (d) ethical practice, and (e) cultural diversity and human growth and development. Copyright 2021 by Interiano-Shiverdecker, Romero, and Elliott.
Publications
2024
“A Learning Curve”: Counselors’ Experience Working with Sex Trafficking
Abstract: In this transcendental phenomenological study, we interviewed 10 counselors who have clinical experience working with sex trafficking survivors. Through in-depth individual interviews, participants discussed their lived experiences providing counseling to this population. Our analysis revealed four primary themes: (a) counselor knowledge: “learning curve,” (b) counselor skills: “creating a safe space to dive into work,” (c) counselor attitudes: “being able to listen to the client’s story,” and (d) counselor action: “more than just a counselor.” The findings indicated that counselors working with sex trafficking survivors needed to understand and address the different aspects of trauma. Our findings also demonstrate that working with sex trafficking survivors requires additional competencies such as recognizing the signs of sex trafficking, vulnerable populations, and the processes by which traffickers force people into sex trafficking. We discuss these findings in more detail and identify implications for counselor training and practice.
2022
Development of Child Sex Trafficking Counseling Competencies in the United States: A Delphi Study
Abstract: Child sex trafficking (CST), the unlawful recruitment of any minor to engage in commercial sexual exploitation through force, fraud, or coercion, is a growing epidemic worldwide. Sex trafficking can have devastating consequences for children, including long-lasting physical and psychological trauma. Counselors working in clinical and school settings have first-hand access to a number of at-risk populations due to the nature of their work. Yet, counselors in the United States report lack of training on CST as a limitation to their ability to identify and effectively work with CST victims. Limited training derives from the absence of competency standards to guide counselors working with CST victims. To address this critical gap, this research study utilized expert consensus to develop an initial list of CST competencies for counselors working in the United States. A heterogeneous sample of 19-CST experts participated in a four-round Delphi process. The expert panel reached a consensus on 128 CST competency statements organized into five domains: (a) intervention strategies and the helping relationship, (b) trauma and sex trafficking, (c) assessment of risk factors and indicators, (d) ethical practice, and (e) cultural diversity and human growth and development. This article assists in identifying standards of practice necessary for counselors to detect, prevent, and assist sex-trafficked youth. Creating an initial list of competency standards can serve as guiding points for clinical practice training curricula, and quality control assessments for counselors, and possibly other mental health professionals, working with CST.
A Content Analysis of Sex Trafficking Instruments
Abstract: This content analysis examined assessments available for the screening of sex trafficking to provide professional counselors further insight into the features of sex trafficking and how to best identify and measure this phenomenon. The authors reviewed 12 articles that included a complete or partial use of 13 instruments and completed a content analysis using Krippendorff’s procedures. The final analysis resulted in five overarching categories: (a) commercial sexual exploitation, (b) risk factors, (c) forms of abuse, (d) mental and physical health assessment, and (e) unstable living conditions and caregiving. The authors also provide psychometric information for each available sex trafficking instrument. Discussion, implications for clinical practice, and recommendations for future research are provided.
2021
Review of Child Sex Trafficking Instruments
Abstract: Child sex trafficking (CST) has continued to exist in plain sight and often goes unidentified or misidentified in mental health settings. Often generalized as human trafficking, official statistics of children who fall victim of sex trafficking remains unknown and understudied. With social platforms becoming more available to youth, children are increasingly vulnerable to CST and are unaware of their exposure to victimization. Counselors working with children and adolescents are in a unique position to prevent and disrupt CST if detected in the counseling relationship, but the lack of CST assessment tools hinders an accurate assessment of CST. Therefore, the authors reviewed existing published screening or identification tools for CST available and applicable for mental health and school settings. At the completion of an expansive search of tools, the authors excluded results that did not meet the strict criteria. This paper reviews the four remaining instruments and presents information on their scope, reliability, validity, strengths, limitations, and source. The authors also discuss considerations for each instrument in clinical practice, providing a resource for counselors seeking a CST assessment tool that best fits their population and setting.
Counselors Against Sex Trafficking 