Health and Wellbeing
Support Young People to Break the Cycle of Self-Harm
Help a young person who self-harms find other ways to cope, by working out what the self-harm is doing for them.
- 28 minutes
- 9 modules
- Certificate
Members
Parent membership: all 50 courses for parents and carers, £40 a year or £4 a month after 14 days free.
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If you need help now
- If someone is in danger, call 999.
- For urgent mental health help, call NHS 111.
- Samaritans: call 116 123, any time.
- Shout: text SHOUT to 85258.
- Childline (for children and young people): 0800 1111.
- Papyrus HOPELINEUK (suicide, under 35s): 0800 068 4141.
What you'll learn
- Look past the injuries to the need the self-harm is meeting
- Find healthier ways to meet that need, together with the young person
- Write a safety plan for crisis moments with the young person
- Encourage safe wound care without judgement
- Make support easy to reach when they haven't hurt themselves
About this course
Finding out that a young person is hurting themselves is frightening, and it's natural to fix on the injuries. But self-harm that keeps happening is meeting a need. Maybe it brings calm or a sense of control, or maybe it's the one time an adult pays attention. Until that need is met some other way, it's hard to stop.
You'll learn to look past the wounds and work out with them what the self-harm gives them, then find healthier ways to meet that need. You'll make a written safety plan together for the moments of crisis, see why calm, matter-of-fact wound care matters, and make sure they can get your support without having hurt themselves first.
It's taught by a researcher who did her PhD on self-harm and has written books about it for families and schools.
9 modules
Open in order
- 1 min
Introduction
- 3 min
Look beyond injuries
- 6 min
What need is being met?
- 7 min
How else can this need be met?
- 5 min
Manage crisis moments with a safety plan
- 3 min
Injury management matters
- 3 min
Provide support outside of self-injury
- 2 min
You do not have to fix, walk with
- 2 min
Wrap up & Resources