Treating Self-Injury A Practical Guide

by Walsh, Barent W.

• ISBN13: 9781462518876
• ISBN10: 1462518877
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-09-23
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

This trusted practitioner resource is acclaimed for its clear, compassionate, and hopeful approach to working with clients who self-injure. Barent Walsh provides current, evidence-based knowledge about the variety and causes of self-injurious behavior, its relationship to suicidality, and how to assess and treat it effectively. Illustrated with detailed case examples, chapters review a wide range of cognitive-behavioral interventions. Essential guidance is provided on tailoring the intensity of intervention to each client's unique needs. Walsh is joined by several colleagues who have contributed chapters in their respective areas of expertise. Reproducible assessment tools and handouts can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

New to This Edition

*Incorporates up-to-date research and clinical advances.

*Now uses a stepped-care framework to match interventions to client needs.

*Chapters on the relationship between suicide and self-injury, formal assessment, family therapy, and residential treatment for adolescents.

*Special-topic chapters on the "choking game," foreign body ingestion, multiple self-harm behaviors, and self-injury in correctional settings.

Author Biography

Barent W. Walsh, PhD, is Executive Director of The Bridge of Central Massachusetts in Worcester and Teaching Associate in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. The Bridge specializes in implementing evidence-based practice models according to protocol in public-sector settings. It comprises over 40 programs serving persons with mental health or developmental disability challenges, including special education; residential treatment; wraparound services; supported housing services; a drop-in center for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teens; and a program for homeless people. A recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, Dr. Walsh has worked with self-injuring persons for over 40 years and has conducted research, written extensively, and presented internationally on self-injury. He has consulted on this topic at numerous schools, outpatient clinics, group homes, psychiatric hospitals, and correctional facilities, and has also served on the clinical and research faculties of the Simmons and Boston College Schools of Social Work.

Table of Contents

 

I. Definition and Contexts for Self-Injury

1. Definition and Differentiation from Suicide

2. The Relationship between Self-Injury and Suicide

3. An Overview of Direct and Indirect Self-Harm

4. Major Groups in Which Self-Injury Occurs

5. Body Piercings, Tattoos, Brandings, Scarifications, and Other Forms of Body Modification

6. A Biopsychosocial Model for Self-Injury

II. Assessment and Treatment: A Stepped-Care Model

Treatment: Step 1

7. Initial Therapeutic Responses

8. Formal Assessment of Self-Injury, Jennifer J. Muehlenkamp

9. Cognitive-Behavioral Assessment

10. Contingency Management

Treatment: Step 2

11. Replacement Skills Training

12. Cognitive Treatment

13. Family Therapy, Michael Hollander

14. Psychopharmacological Treatment, Gordon P. Harper

Treatment: Step 3

15. Body Image Work

16. Prolonged Exposure or Cognitive Restructuring for Treating PTSD and Related Self-Injury

Treatment: Step 4

17. Treating Persons with Multiple Self-Harm Behaviors

18. Residential Treatment in AdolescentsTargeting Self-Injury and Suicidal Behavior, with Leonard A. Doerfler and Ariana Perry

III. Specialized Topics

19. Managing Reactions to Self-Injury: A Guide for Therapists and Other Caregivers

20. Social Contagion and Self-Injury

21. A Protocol for Managing Self-Injury in School Settings

22. Asphyxial Risk Taking (the Choking Game), Amy M. Brausch

23. Understanding, Managing, and Treating Foreign-Body Ingestion, with Ariana Perry

24. Self-Injury in Correctional Settings, Kenneth L. Appelbaum

25. Treating Major Self-Injury

Afterword

Appendix A. Breathing Manual

Appendix B. Body Attitudes Scale (BAS)

Appendix C. Clinical Scales to Assess Self-Injury

Appendix D. Helpful Websites Related to Self-Injury
Appendix E. Bill of Rights for People Who Self-Harm