Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a baffling, troubling, and hard to treat phenomenon that has increased markedly in recent years. Key issues in diagnosing and treating NSSI adequately include differentiating it from attempted suicide and other mental disorders, as well as understanding the motivations for self-injury and the context in which it occurs. This accessible and practical book provides therapists and students with a clear understanding of these key issues, as well as of suitable assessment techniques. It then goes on to delineate research-informed treatment approaches for NSSI, with an emphasis on functional assessment, emotion regulation, and problem solving, including motivational interviewing, interpersonal skills, CBT, DBT, behavioral management strategies, delay behaviors, exercise, family therapy, risk management, and medication, as well as how to successfully combine methods.

Nonsuicidal Self-Injury moves beyond the basics to tackle the clinical and conceptual complexity of NSSI, with an emphasis on recent advances in both science and practice. Directed towards clinicians, researchers, and others wishing to advance their understanding of NSSI, this volume reviews and synthesizes recent empirical findings that clarify NSSI as a theoretical and clinical condition, as well as the latest efforts to assess, treat, and prevent NSSI. With expertly written chapters by leaders in the field, this is an essential guide to a disorder about which much is still to be known.

Suicide is a perplexing human behavior that remains among the leading causes of death worldwide, responsible for more deaths each year than all wars, genocide, and homicide combined. Although suicide and other forms of self-injury have baffled scholars and clinicians for thousands of years, the past few decades have brought significant leaps in our understanding of these behaviors. This volume provides a comprehensive summary of the most important and exciting advances in our understanding of suicide and self-injury and our ability to predict and prevent it. Comprised of a formidable who's who in the field, the handbook covers the full spectrum of topics in suicide and self-injury across the lifespan, including the classification of different self-injurious behaviors, epidemiology, assessment techniques, and intervention. Chapters probe relevant issues in our society surrounding suicide, including assisted suicide and euthanasia, suicide terrorism, overlap between suicidal behavior and interpersonal violence, ethical considerations for suicide researchers, and current knowledge on survivors of suicide. The most comprehensive handbook on suicide and self-injury to date, this volume is a must-read text for graduate students, fellows, academic and research psychologists, and other researchers working in the brain and behavioral sciences.

"Parents who discover a teen's self-injurious behavior are gripped by uncertainty and flooded with questions - Why is my child doing this? Is this a suicide attempt? What did I do wrong? What can I do to stop it? And yet basic educational resources for parents with self-injuring children are sorely lacking. Healing after Self-Injury provides desperately-needed guidance to parents and others who love a young person struggling with self-injury"--

Non-suicidal self-injury and eating disorders represent significant problems among today’s youth and pose unique challenges for clinicians, particularly when they co-occur. This book is a rare resource in that it provides cutting-edge information on the interactions between self-injury and disordered eating, empirically informed treatments for the co-occurrence of these behaviors, and specific topics relevant to understanding nuances in the risk factors, treatment, and prevention of both self-injury and eating disorders. Practitioners, graduate students, and researchers working within this specialized area will find this text to be instrumental in advancing their knowledge and improving the treatment of self-injury in those with eating disorders.

Grounded in a wellness, strengths-based, and developmental perspective, Non-Suicidal Self-Injury is the ideal guide for counselors and other clinicians seeking to understand self-injurious behaviors without pathologizing them. The book covers topics not previously discussed in other works, including working with families, supervising counselors working with clients who self-injure, DSM-5 criteria regarding the NSSI diagnosis, NSSI as a protective factor for preventing suicidal behavior, and advocacy efforts around NSSI. In each chapter clinicians will also find concrete tools, including questions to ask, psychoeducational handouts for clients and their families, treatment handouts or treatment plans for counselors, and more. Non-Suicidal Self-Injury also includes real-life voices of individuals who self-injure as well as case vignettes to provide examples of how theoretical models or treatments discussed in this book immediately apply to practice.

This edited volume features evidence-based reviews and practical approaches for the professional in the hospital, clinic, community and school, with case examples throughout. Divided into five major sections, the book offers background historical and cultural information, discussion of self-injury etiology, assessment and intervention/prevention issues, and relevant resources for those working with youths who self-injure.