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Topic: Self-Mutilation Behavior in Youth and Adults

Place: Affinia Hotel, Manhattan, NY

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2006

Time: 7:30am – 3:30pm

Presented by: Joseph Shannon, PhD

Seminar was a comprehensive review of the topic on causes, treatments and prevention.

Self-mutilation is the "purposeful, intentional destruction of an individual's own body tissue" and can include cutting, bruising, burning, excessive body piercing and tattoos, inflicting flesh wounds and fracturing one's bones. Causes are multiple but are not usually suicide attempts (though they may indicate that) but rather an attempt to deal with painful emotions and situations. Often they co-occur with other psychiatric conditions that may require treatment such as major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and personality disorders.

Rather than being just "scary things" to not talk about cutting and other mutilating behaviors are indicators of treatment needs and there are many ways of treating them that have been helpful to people. The seminar provided many useful approaches to treatment and resources for the therapist or family members.

This excellent seminar provided a wealth of useful tools for treatment that I can use to better understand, diagnose and offer effective techniques to help people understand and successfully deal with this phenomena.

The seminar helped to demystify what is a "trendy" cry for help in an unusual coping mechanism.

M. Katherine McEwen L.C.S.W., A.C.S.W.

PCCF Staff Counselor