Understanding Self-Injury: A Person-Centered Approach

Description

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), the purposeful damaging of one's own body tissue without suicidal intent, is a common and serious mental health concern. Engagement in self-injury is associated with numerous mental health difficulties such as major depression. Of particular concern is recent evidence indicating that self-injury is a significant risk factor for suicide. Taken together, understanding self-injury and appropriately responding to people who self-injure is critical. Developing a compassionate understanding of self-injury requires not only knowledge of current research but also essential insights from individuals with lived experience. Understanding Self-injury: A Person-Centered Approach offers a significant departure from traditional texts in the field by adopting a person-centered, strengths-based approach to understanding and addressing self-injury. In addition to giving a general introduction to self-injury, this book offers practical tips for families and caregivers, schools, clinicians, and advocates who support individuals who self-injure. Importantly, priority is given to topics that individuals with lived experience of self-injury find central to their experiences, such as stigma, social media, resilience, recovery, and advocacy. This book is a must-read for anyone who interacts with or plays a supportive role in the lives of people who self-injure, including mental health professionals and students, school professionals, families, researchers, and, importantly, individuals with lived experience of self-injury. Cover Understanding Self-Injury Copyright Dedication Contents List of Illustrations Preface 1. Self-​Injury: An Overview 2. Self-​Injury and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors 3. A Person-​Centered, Strengths-​Based Framing of Self-​Injury 4. Self-​Injury and Stigma 5. Use of Appropriate Language to Discuss Self-​Injury 6. Rethinking and Addressing Contagion 7. Self-​Injury, the Internet, and Social Media 8. Addressing Self-​Injury in Schools: A Student-​Centered, Strengths-​Based Approach 9. Families and Self-​Injury 10. Clinical Approaches for Self-​Injury: Assessment and Intervention 11. Self-​Injury Recovery: A Person-​Centered Framework 12. Building Resilience Through Recovery 13. Supporting People With Lived Experience 14. Advocating for a Person-​Centered, Strengths-​Based Approach Postface References Index