49 episodes
The Psychology of Self-Injury: Exploring Self-Harm & Mental Health Nicholas J. Westers Psy.D. ABPP
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- Health & Fitness
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4.9 • 51 Ratings
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Why do people self-injure? And what is the best way to respond when someone tells us they self-injure? Dr. Nicholas Westers, a clinical psychologist at Children's Health and Associate Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, collaborates with the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury (ISSS) to interview the leading experts in the field of self-injury and self-harm as well as individuals with lived experience of self-injury and parents and family members of those who have self-injured. This podcast is meant to be a resource for parents, professionals, and people with lived experience.
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Self-Criticism as a Predictor of Self-Injury, with Christina Robillard
Christina Robillard, M.Sc., from the University of Victoria in Canada explains the relationship between self-criticism and self-injury as well as other self-harm behaviors like disordered eating.
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Lived Experience: Thomas' Story of Self-Injury & Gender Dysphoria
Thomas from Ontario, Canada shares his story of lived experience of self-injury and gender dysphoria, including how self-harm evolved for him over time as a transgender man.
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Do Youth Self-Injure More Now Than 15 Years Ago?, with Dr. Jonas Bjärehed
Jonas Bjärehed, PhD, from Lund University in Sweden compares rates of self-injury and self-harm among youth from 2007 to 2023.
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Supporting Siblings of Individuals Who Self-Harm, with Dr. Amy Lucas
Amy Lucas, PhD, from Speek Health in the United Kingdom talks about how we can support siblings of those who self-injure and self-harm.
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DSM-5 & Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Disorder, with Dr. Greg Lengel
Greg Lengel, PhD, from Drake University in Iowa walks us through self-harm in the DSM-5 and the six criteria for the proposed diagnosis of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Disorder.
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How Should Self-Harm Be Defined?, with Drs. Brooke Ammerman & Greg Lengel
Brooke Ammerman, PhD, and Greg Lengel, PhD, define nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and self-harm.
Customer Reviews
E42 of Season 3
Wow thank you so much for agreeing to interview Allison, I have lived experience with NSSI, and I was always feeling like my experience was different than everyone else’s because I didn’t happen upon NSSI accidentally, but I deliberately chose to use NSSI—and it was always premeditated. Also, I wanted scars (I think I may have been the person you mentioned in the podcast in regarding a response you received to an episode on scarring in Season 2!)
I so resonated with what Allison was saying in regards to feelings when scars fade—as I was sad when mine started fading and would experience urges to NSSI wanting more prominent scars again. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for this episode and it was validating to hear that I am not the only one with this experience regarding NSSI scarring.
Start your education on self harm here!!!
As a nurse, mother of teens & mindful family/community member, my desire to educate myself on NSSI (or SH) for awareness & to be an advocate lead me to this podcast. It’s everything I was looking for & more. It explored the topics I wanted to learn about then answered questions I didn’t even know to ask.
Each episode contains a thought leader in this field along with their social media accounts to follow, their websites that contain even more resources & current research their working on. After only a few episodes, I began to feel more confident on how to care better for my patients with SH history & on being resource for any young person in my life in crisis. If someone came to me today & needed help, I would know where to send them or find answers.
The info is straightforward. As a parent, I can imagine some of the info or stats could be hard to hear if you’ve just discovered your child is engaging in SH. While it’s respectfully & mindfully discussed, it’s not sugarcoated. Be emotionally prepared for sensitive topics, take breaks if it gets too emotional, have a plan for self care as you process the info. Then come back & keep listening. Because information is power. And a well informed, supportive parent is protective against worse case scenarios in kiddos (I learned that from this podcast). There are plenty of hopeful statistics & encouraging tidbits as well. Like they say, the unknown is usually scarier than reality.
I’ve only found a handful of audiobooks on the topic, but this podcast was better than any book I could have imagined.
Thank you Dr. Westers! Keep it up!
Excellent
This the best podcast I have heard on this subject!