Managing Self-Harm: Psychological Perspectives

Self-harm often arises at moments of despair or emotional intensity, and its reasons are not necessarily available to the conscious mind. Managing Self-Harm explores the meaning and impact of self-harm, and the sense in which it is a language of the body. It is designed to help clinicians, people who self-harm and their families and carers to understand its causes, meaning and treatment.Each chapter integrates theory with clinical illustration, enabling the direct experiences of those who self-harm to be heard and reflecting the populations that are most likely to self-harm. The contributors are drawn from a wide range of backgrounds, including clinical psychology, psychotherapy, group analysis and psychiatric nursing.


Areas of discussion include:



self-harm and young people in foster care and residential settings
self-harm in women’s secure services
self-harm in people diagnosed with personality disorder


This book does not offer a prescription for self-harm cessation but rather describes therapeutic approaches to working with self-harm, and outlines the complex, subtle and meaningful interactions between those who engage in self-harm and those who seek to understand it. With a specialist interest in women’s self-harm, Managing Self-Harm will be essential reading for all mental health professionals, including clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses and social workers.

Anna Motz is a Consultant Clinical and Forensic Psychologist with Thames Valley Forensic Mental Health Services. She has particular interest in psychoanalytic approaches to understanding and treating violence and self-harm. She is the Past President of the International Association for Forensic Psychotherapy and the author of The Psychology of Female Violence: Crimes Against the Body (Second Edition,2008).

Motz, Introduction. Part I: Understanding Self-Harm. Motz, Self-Harm as a Sign of Hope. Motz, Jones, The Paradox of Self-Harm. Part II: The Wider Context: Systemic Issues and Self-Harm. Scanlon, Adlam, "Why Do You Treat Me This Way?" Reciprocal Violence and the Mythology of Self-Harm. Norris, Maher, The Trap: Self-harm and Young People in Foster Care and Residential Settings. Grocutt, Self-Harm and Attachment. PART III: Women, Self-Harm and Treatment Issues. Kleinot, Speaking with the Body. Greenwood, Absences, Transitions and Endings: Threats to Successful Treatment. Lawday, Self-Harm in Women’s Secure Services: Reflections and Strategies for Treatment Design. Grocutt, Self-Harm Cessation in Secure Units. Motz, Conclusion: "If you prick us do we not bleed?" The Meaning and Management of Self-Harm.