Customer Reviews

Bodily Harm: The Breakthrough Healing Program For Self-Injurers

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

this is a thought-provoking book about self-injury and healing. the book is well-written and very descriptive. many narratives are used in the text, and this helps to create a greater understanding of individual experiences and struggles. this is important because each of us experiences things in our own way. that perception then becomes reality for us. once that happens, we find ways to deal with the emotional intensity that this can create. for many, the coping mechanism of choice is self-injury. self-injury is very difficult for many people to understand--even those who self-mutilate often come to treatment without a real understanding of why they harm themselves. once you understand the chain of events, you can start to better understand the compulsive nature of this behavior, the way in which the self-injurer sees self-harm as the only alternative, the only way to obtain some relief from the present experience. one caveat--i disagree with the authors' depiction of self-mutilation as NOT a manifestation of addiction. in my work with patients who self-injure, it has become very clear to me that this behavior feels very compulsive and can become habitual. also, in line with the AA model of treating addiction, patients most often do better when they recognize the power that self-injury has over them and start to explore the origins of their psychological pain in an attempt to stop expressing this pain through self-harm. information on the SAFE Alternatives program is also very helpful. statistics regarding success and healing are very encouraging, and these authors clearly have a good thing going. another excellent read is marilee strong's book *a bright red scream: self-mutilation and the language of pain.*

Okay, I know that Wendy and Karen would both back me up in saying that this program is by no means a cure. And as for the expense, well public aide in Illinois will foot the entire bill and the people i've seen go through it don't have much money and are solely dependent upon a mixture of insurance, public aide, and social security. SAFE isn't a cure. It just lays down the tools you can use to get better, and no other program that I've been in has done that. None but SAFE have given me any help in controling the impulses, well outside of the lovely rubber band. Have they stabilized me, yes, but it didn't actually help me. The bodily harm book lays out tools that therapists can use in the outpatient realm to help patients. Impulse control logs, alternatives, not using the "fake injury" alternatives; all of these help. Bodily Harm even says that they believe that most self-injurers can recover in an outpatient setting. And PTSD can have a lot to do with self-injury, but I know that I don't have it and I self-injured for 8 years. Okay, this has turned into a huge defense thing and not a review- but still. I will forever love and charish what SAFE gave me, because it gave me back myself- nothing more or less. And, inside the bodily harm book they do have what the success rate is, if you're willing to look for it. I believe it's like 3/4ths, but I may be wrong. If any therapist really wants to know how they can help self-injurers I advise you to call up the SAFE program and ask if you can observe for a week... and this will be the end of my rave and rant.

I was hospitalized for self injuring and the social workers got me into a program called SAFE Alternatives, so I read the book. The book let self injurers know that we are not alone. This book talked about the SAFE program and how they help you to find tools(5 Alternatives) to use to help fight the urges. I never fully understood why I injured myself until I read this book. I don't have to feel ashamed when someone sees my arms and asks what I have done. You never know who could be a self-injurer until they let you know. I was injuring for nine years and noone knew until a year before I went to SAFE. I went in March 1999 and it was the best decision I could ever had made. Thank you Karen, Wendy, and staff.

I went to the SAFE program in 1998 and I have been injury free since then. The program changed my life and I originally read the book because I'm one of the case studies. I think the best part is the discussion on why people self injure, and how the reasoning self injurers use is flawed. I would especially recommend the book for family members and friends of self injurers because it explains a lot and takes away some of mystery around why people engage in these behaviors.

I went to the SAFE program in 1998 and I have been injury free since then. The program changed my life and I originally read the book because I'm one of the case studies. Now I reread it when I'm feeling bad and the part that helps me the most is the reasons that people self injure and how that reasoning is flawed and destructive. I would especially recommend the book for family members and friends of self injurers because it explains a lot and takes away some of mystery around why people engage in these behaviors.

i think this was a really great book. i learned alot from it. the one thing with self help books like this is that you shouldnt read them right when youre feeling like you are cutting. alot of these books share other peoples stories, and in those stories they tell their techniques and really precise steps they took and how they did it. NOT GOOD IF READ WHILE FEELING LIKE CUTTING! but otherwise GREAT BOOK!!! :)

AMAZING. I read this book last spring when I was a freshman in college and had fallen back into the nightmarish mess of self-injury. At the time I was just looking for comfort, not a solution, so I didn't tell anyone I'd read it--no way was I *ever* going to go to the SAFE program. However, once things spun super out-of-control, I made the opposite decision. SAFE was the hardest thing I've ever done, but definitely the most worth it. I still injure on occasion, but I have the most amazing support network, better coping mechanisms and distractions, and methods of logging impulses.

This book is the only book on the topic that I've read that has not been triggering for me. If you self-injure or if you love someone who injures, this is a must-read. Please do it for yourself. You don't have to be considering the program, just open yourself up. Nothing else worked for me before this.

I AM STRONG. You can be, too!

This book was very helpful, infact because of this book I was able to realize and come to terms with things that were happening in my life that I hadn't opened my eyes up to before. It helped a great deal with a break through with counseling, infact right now my counselor is reading the book I got her. I personally recommend this book to everyone I know who has struggled with self-injury or someone who knows a self-injurer. Honestly this book is worth every dime even if you don't go to the S.A.F.E program. If I could have gone I would have in a heart beat! Thank you so much to the authors! Good luck to everyone! Stay safe! Hugs!

I must stress that this is my opinion and my attitude towards self-injury is not exactly standard.

My first issue with this book is that it starts out in the same sappy way that most self-injury books and articles do. "You're not alone" "You can stop" "People from all different backgrounds do it" and all that other jazz. None of this is new or helpful. Okay okay, maybe if it was your first time glancing through something that talked about self-injury. Then of course you would be happy to hear that you aren't alone. But come on people, this is the 90s. Self-injury is not something new and while it still lurks in the closet, we all know that it's out there.

I didn't like the way it was written. By the end I was very sick of hearing so and so's inspirational words about the S.A.F.E. program. I was annoyed at one of the urge logs in which a female writes "If they (people who had stopped self-injurious behavior) can do it so can I." It was tacky.

I will not deny that their program probably works very well. I also will not deny that this book could help people in their quest to stop the self-destructive habit. But it's the people who already want to change. The hard part is really actually wanting to get out of it. Denial and comfort are hard things to kill.

My main point about this book is don't expect to find anything particularly insightful that you haven't read a hundred times. In fact, don't waste your time with this book and just surf the web for a bit.

This book as some good points and the program it discusses may be very successful. My main problem with this book and most others on SI is it's emphasis on SI stemming from childhood abuse or trauma. I self-injured for nearly 4 years as a teen and have never been abused in any way. According to this book if I wasn't overtly abused, I was biologically frail and sensitive to less obvious abuse or trauma. That is just insulting. I am now a counselor myself and I can assure you, I was never abused. While many individuals who self-injure may have been abused I think it is time to acknowledge those who self-injure and weren't abused instead of simply dismissing their experiences.