Our Services

FIRES provides one-off or ongoing consultation related to firesetting assessment, treatment and behavioural management to lawyers, correctional agencies, mental health, disability, child protection, housing and other supporting services who work with adults and young people who have deliberately set fires, or are at risk of doing so.

Our clinicians also offer feedback sessions following risk management assessments and are available to provide ongoing consultation related to implementing recommendations.

Consultations occur with professionals, following review of relevant documents and discussion with teams involved with the individual. Recommendations are made during the consultation and a brief report is provided to assist teams to implement the outcomes.

FIRES conducts comprehensive assessments for adults and young people who have deliberately set fires and/or are at risk of doing so. Our clinicians are informed by current research and use a best practice approach incorporating validated structured instruments.   

Comprehensive assessments include a record review, contact with collateral sources, clinical interview, risk assessment, and use of empirically supported psychometric tests (when applicable). Individualised recommendations for treatment, supervision, monitoring, supports, and risk management are offered.

Firesetting assessments can be completed in combination with other risk assessments, including violence, stalking and family violence assessment.

Our clinicians have experience conducting assessments for adults and young people with mental illnesses, traumatic brain injuries, and developmental disabilities including individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

FIRES can provide a range of tailored assessments:

• Risk Management Assessments- identifies risk factors, conditions in which risk is elevated or mitigated, treatment needs, and recommendations for supervision and supports

• Treatment Needs Assessments- identifies treatment recommendations and evaluates treatment progress

• Residential Consultation- identifies appropriate residential setting and supports to manage risk

• Pre-sentence and parole suitability assessment

FIRES provides individual treatment for adults and young people who deliberately set fires and/or who are at risk of doing so.

Our services are consistent with the current recommended best practice in this area, including use of the Multi-trajectory Theory of Firesetting (M-TTAF; Gannon et al., 2012) to help formulate the behaviour and identify treatment needs. This theory considers the developmental context, proximal factors (e.g., life events, contextual factors, internal affect/cognition, biology, and culture), moderators (e.g., mental health, self-esteem), and risk factors that contribute to deliberate firesetting.  

Our clinicians have been trained in the Firesetting Intervention Programme for Mentally Disordered Offenders (FIP-MO) and sister program Firesetting Intervention Programme for Prisoners (FIPP), which are standardized treatment intervention programs for individuals with a mental health and/or personality disorder who deliberately set fires. Our clinicians tailor this intervention to individuals, and can offer group interventions for services where their are multiple clients engaging in, or with a history of, deliberate firesetting.

In addition, our clinicians use cognitive behavioural-informed interventions, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Schema Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and psychoeducational approaches to treat deliberate firesetting. Our clinicians engage clients in a collaborative and trauma-informed manner.

FIRES currently provides forensic psychological treatment via telehealth only. 

Expert independent risk assessments will not be provided as part of treatment. These can be accessed as an additional service.

FIRES provides professional development training and workshops related to firesetting assessment, treatment, and risk management. We can also provide training on understanding and working with complexity in the forensic system.

Workshops can be individualised for specific groups (e.g., clinicians, residential support staff, emergency services, behaviour support practitioners/teams, legal professionals and correctional settings). We are also official trainers for the Firesetting Intervention Program suite (FIP-MO and FIPP).

Training can be delivered onsite or remotely, and can range from short 2 hour sessions to multiple day training packages, depending on the needs of your group.

We also contribute to the Forensic Mental Health Professional Development Program at Swinburne University’s Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science (CFBS).

Frequently requested training includes:

• Understanding, assessing and managing adult firesetting.

• Understanding, assessing and managing youth firesetting.

• Working with firesetting in residential settings.

• Understanding and treating adult firesetting (FIP-MO).

• Treatment planning and risk management for deliberate firesetting.

• Masterclass in formulating adult firesetting behaviour.

Please contact FIRES for more information related to the training offered.

We provide Psychology Board of Australia approved supervision to psychology students, registrars and registered psychologists.

We can provide individual or group supervision, which can be ongoing or one-off. Please get in touch to discuss your needs.