Trauma Of Self-Harm

The trauma those who self-harm are expressing can be anything from physical or sexual abuse, loss of a loved one, or even the breakup of a relationship (Trepal, et al., 2007). Self-harm is then sometimes adopted as a way of announcing these traumatic experiences to others. However, alternatively for others it is a popular way to gain attention from their peers. One report found that a number of girls at one middles school used self-mutilation as a way to receive attention from boys who they had previously dated (Trepal, et al., 2007). The girls in this school reported believing that if they had injured himself and made it noticeable to others than the boys they dated would feel obligated to date them again (Trepal, et al., 2007). Despite …show more content…
The first step would be to assess whether the self-inflicted injury is a result of a self-harming behavior or a suicide attempt (Trepal, et al., 2007). Once determined that the behavior is indeed self-harm the treatment process could move on and consider likely possibilities. Due to the high association, mental health professionals likely should probe to see if the client has a past experience with abuse. If it has been determined that there has been experiences of abuse than treatment may be given and the abuse could be ended if it is ongoing. Certainly when it comes to severe cases such as sexual abuse where the authorities must be involved. Furthermore, in addition to abuse it should be a priority for individuals who self-harm to be clinically assessed to determine if they have a commonly associated disorder such as depression (Trepal, et al., 2007). These steps would ensure the client is receiving the treatment they need for traumatic experience that may be leading them to harm themselves and/or a disorder that may have been previously …show more content…
As the behavior is common among young students it would be helpful to provide psychoeducational approaches to self-harm in the context of a classroom (Trepal, et al., 2007) This would provide students with an education to better understand the behavior and who they could talk to if they were self-harming. In addition group counseling is something that also could be beneficial. One study suggested that group counseling activities could be helpful to those who are already involved in individual treatments (Trepal, et al., 2007). This would provide the clients with a much needed support system and the fact that they are not