Tony L. Sheppard – 11 Essentials for Self-Harm Recovery: Helping Children & Teens Reclaim Their Lives

Outline

Defining Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI)

Conceptualizing the Problem

• Primary motivations
  • Controlling external/internal environment
  • Impacts on various settings
  • Neuropsychology of NSSI
  • NSSI and trauma

Assessing the Problem

• NSSI and suicide
  • Statistics
  • Differential diagnosis
  • Clinical assessment/screening
  • Formal assessment tools
• 5 questions every therapist should ask during assessment

Treating the Problem

• Multi-systemic approach
  • Engaging families, school, peers, social media
  • Determining who needs to know/how much they need to know
• Working with parents
• The role of the school
• The role of peers
• Social media
• Replacement behaviors
• Using the stages of change/MI model in treatment
  • Assessing readiness
  • Gauging interventions
  • Sustaining and maintaining recovery
• 6 key components of therapeutic intervention
  • Developing distraction strategies
  • Building coping skills
  • Enhancing self-esteem and self-acceptance
  • Improving relationships and relational skills
  • Addressing Trauma (“big T” and “little t”)
  • Developing problem-solving skills
• The role of adjunctive therapies

Legal & Ethical Issues

• Assessing properly is key
  • Screening for NSSI at intake
  • Documentation/diagnosis
  • Treatment planning
• Reporting
  • Schools tend to have stricter reporting rules than mental health settings
  • Factors in reporting
  • Involving other professionals
  • Balancing the clinical and the legal

Integration of Learning

• Group treatment planning activity