Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one’s own skin tissues, usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury, and self-mutilation have been used for any self-harming behavior regardless of suicidal intent. The most common form of self-harm is using a sharp object to cut the skin. Other forms include scratching, hitting, or burning body parts.
Self-injury can be as addictive as any drug, and the secrecy and shame many sufferers feel about this behavior can keep them feeling trapped. But if you’re ready to replace self-harm with a set of healthy coping skills, this compassionate and practical book can help.
This complete guide to stopping self-injury gives you the facts about self-harm, corrects common myths about this behavior, and provides self-soothing techniques you can begin using right away for regulating difficult or overwhelming emotions. Freedom from Self-Harm also includes self-assessment worksheets, guidance for seeking professional help, and information about the most effective therapies and medications. Drawn from treatments such as dialectical behavior therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy, the tools in this book can help you cope with your emotions whenever you feel the urge to self-harm.
A seminal work on treating self-mutilation, revised and updated with illuminating case studies and newly available resources.
Nearly a decade ago, Cutting boldly addressed a traumatic psychological disorder now affecting as many as two million Americans and one in fifty adolescents. More than that, it revealed self-mutilation as a comprehensible, treatable disorder, no longer to be evaded by the public and neglected by professionals. Using copious examples from his practice, Steven Levenkron traces the factors that predispose a personality to self-mutilation: genetics, family experience, childhood trauma, and parental behavior. Written for sufferers, parents, friends, and therapists, Cutting explains why the disorder manifests in self-harming behaviors and describes how patients can be helped.
From National Book Award finalist Patricia McCormick, a new look for her debut novel, which THE BOSTON GLOBE called “Riveting and hopeful, sweet, heartbreaking.”A tingle arced across my scalp. The floor tipped up at me and my body spiraled away. Then I was on the ceiling looking down, waiting to see what would happen next. Callie cuts herself. Never too deep, never enough to die. But enough to feel the pain. Enough to feel the scream inside. Now she’s at Sea Pines, a “residential treatment facility” filled with girls struggling with problems of their own. Callie doesn’t want to have anything to do with them. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with anyone. She won’t even speak. But Callie can only stay silent for so long….