Treating Self-injury

 

Barent Walsh, A leading authority on Non-suicidal Self-injury and related self-destructive behaviors, Dr Barent Walsh is the executive director emeritus of Open Sky Community Services and a teaching associate in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. In his executive director role, Dr Walsh oversaw more than 40 programs for children, adolescents and adults with major mental health challenges. He is a bestselling author and has published extensively on self-destructive behaviors. In addition, Dr Walsh has specialized expertise in atypical, severe NSSI.

Contributing course experts

Module 1 - What is NSSI?

• Lesson 1: Introduction to Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI)
• Lesson 2: Welcome to the course
• Lesson 3: Lived experience: introduction
• Lesson 4: Meet the experts
• Lesson 5: What is self-injury?
• Lesson 6: Classification of self-injury
• Lesson 7: Expert interview: the function of self-injury
• Lesson 8: Lived experience: emotions

Module 2 - Differentiating Suicide and Self-Injury

• Lesson 1: The function of suicide vs self-injury
• Lesson 2: Pay attention to the method
• Lesson 3: Frequency
• Lesson 4: Means safety
• Lesson 5: Empirical link
• Lesson 6: Lived experience interview: suicide
• Lesson 7: Expert interview: suicide
• Lesson 8: Summary

Module 3 - The Informal Response

• Lesson 1: Lived experience: attention seeking
• Lesson 2: Compassionately dispassionate
• Lesson 3: Respectful curiosity
• Lesson 4: Checklist for direct and indirect self-injury
• Lesson 5: Role-play: compassionate curiosity
• Lesson 6: Using humour
• Lesson 7: Role-play: session with Alicia
• Lesson 8: Lived experience: building relationships
• Lesson 9: Wrap up
• Lesson 10: Expert interview: validation and identity

Module 4 - Assessment Part 1

• Lesson 1: Introduction to assessment
• Lesson 2: Antecedents one
• Lesson 3: Antecedents two
• Lesson 4: Antecedent example
• Lesson 5: Urge charting
• Lesson 6: Role-play one: wounds
• Lesson 7: Role play two: wounds
• Lesson 8: Lived experience: scars and wounds

Module 5 - Assessment Part 2

• Lesson 1: Lived experience: experience of self-injury
• Lesson 2: Does it hurt?
• Lesson 3: Role-play: does it hurt?
• Lesson 4: Hidden vs exposed
• Lesson 5: Use of tool: time of day
• Lesson 6: Words incised
• Lesson 7: Atypical severe NSSI
• Lesson 8: Role-play: foreign body ingestion part 1
• Lesson 9: Role-play: foreign body ingestion part 2

Module 6 - Assessment Part 3

• Lesson 1: Expert interview: motivation to change
• Lesson 2: Cyber space
• Lesson 3: Consequences of self-injury
• Lesson 4: Role-play: consequences of self-injury
• Lesson 5: End of assessment
• Lesson 6: Role-play: end of assessment
• Lesson 7: Role-play: short term therapy
• Lesson 8: Intervention story
• Lesson 9: Summary
• Lesson 10: Lived experience: do you want to stop?

Module 7 - Social Contagion

• Lesson 1: Expert interview: self-injury in schools
• Lesson 2: Social contagion
• Lesson 3: Example and group recommendations
• Lesson 4: Role-play: social contagion
• Lesson 5: Reinforcing social contagion
• Lesson 6: Lived experience: schools

Module 8 - Treatment Part 1

• Lesson 1: Lived experience: therapy
• Lesson 2: Treatment
• Lesson 3: SUD scale
• Lesson 4: Distract skills
• Lesson 5: Mindful breathing
• Lesson 6: Role-play: mindful breathing - SUDs
• Lesson 7: Flexibility with mindful breathing
• Lesson 8: Visualization
• Lesson 9: Role-play: visualization
• Lesson 10: Matching skills to clients
• Lesson 11: Role-play: introducing DBT
• Lesson 12: Expert interview: DBT replacement behaviors
• Lesson 13: Lived experience: DBT

Module 9 - Treatment Part 2

• Lesson 1: Negative replacement behaviors
• Lesson 2: Vigorous exercise
• Lesson 3: Artistic expression
• Lesson 4: Phone apps
• Lesson 5: Reviewing replacement skills
• Lesson 6: Role-play: reviewing replacement skills
• Lesson 7: Relapse
• Lesson 8: Expert interview: setbacks and recovery
• Lesson 9: Lived experience: hospitals
• Lesson 10: Expert interview: DBT treatment
• Lesson 11: Role-play: introducing DBT
• Lesson 12: Expert interview: DBT replacement behaviors
• Lesson 13: Lived experience: DBT

Module 10 - Self-Care

• Lesson 1: Introduction
• Lesson 2: Self-care
• Lesson 3: Relationships
• Lesson 4: Support for practice
• Lesson 5: Provider resilience app
• Lesson 6: Pacing of clients
• Lesson 7: Wrap up

• Identify non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and differentiate it from suicidal thoughts and behaviors

• Dispel common myths and misunderstandings about NSSI

• Understand how non-suicidal self-injury works to alleviate emotional discomfort

• Learn and witness tried and true strategies for effectively engaging clients, reducing resistance and increasing willingness to change

• Develop key therapist skills such as how to validate NSSI without condoning it and how to manage risk

• Understand best treatment approaches and recovery from non-suicidal self-injury, including setbacks

• Understand best practices in distraction techniques

• Overcome professional fear and feel competent in treating people with NSSI

• Prioritize therapist self-care and prevention of compassion fatigue