What is Self-Harm?
Self-harm is when someone hurts themselves on purpose as a way of trying to manage distressing or overwhelming feelings and experiences. Someone who is self-harming might be dealing with lots of intense thoughts and feelings, and hurting themselves may feel like the only way to cope. Or, they might feel numb and hurt themselves in order to feel something.
If your child is self-harming, or you’re concerned they might be, it can be incredibly worrying and upsetting for you as their parent. The important thing to remember is that you and your child are not alone – lots of young people go through this and come out the other side with different ways of coping with their feelings.
What Do We Do?
At Childhood Health Associates of Salem, our Behavioral Health Consultants work with your child’s PCP to provide behavioral strategies to help manage symptoms. This can include learning alternative coping skills, providing education and support for patients and their family members , and supporting the patient in learning lifestyle changes to promote their overall health. We can also support in getting connected to resources in the community to further address symptoms.
Questions?
Give us a call and speak with a nurse or schedule an appointment to speak with one of our providers.