Customer Reviews

Bodily Harm: The Breakthrough Treatment Program for Self-Injurers

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having recently gone through the SAFE Alternatives program myself, I can say that this book follows closely the inpatient treatment program and ideas, and would probably be very useful to people who cannot afford the program or who have been denied access to it for whatever reason. I agree with other reviewers who say that the program is presented as a "cure," which I don't quite think it is. What I do think it is, and what this book is, is a wonderful starting point on the road to real self-understanding and ending of self-injury. It's not a cure-all, and it's not guaranteed. I have injured since completing the program, but I have done so far less frequently and far less severely. The urges are less pronounced and I have more tools with which to deal with them. I recommend this book especially to family member of self-injurers as a way to understand the phenomenon, and also to people who are themselves injurers, because it is far less triggering than other books on the same subject.

I'm sorry as someone working in the social services area working with kids many of whom are self-injurers, I just think we're in the very, very early stage of understanding self-injurers and how to identify modalities that will produce long term change. I find this book interesting and useful, but I'm a little uneasy that almost all of the people who seem to rave about it are actually people who have been able to afford their expensive program (and I'm not knocking the fact that inpatient programs do tend to be expensive). I don't question that they are very helpful to many people, but none of my clients could ever dream of affording the "only treatment that works." I've never heard of professionals making such claims for any of the other posttraumatic stress disorders, which is what I think we're dealing with here. None of the world renowned experts in PTSD believe that there are easy or single "cures" that are effective for a high percentage of people, and that is what makes me skeptical about the claims here. And unfortunately, professionals who want to make claims about treatment modalities, usually have to do controlled research tovalidate the efficacy of their methods. The SAFE people have never done that. That's the difference between hype and hope. I can't help but notice that many of these "reviews" sound like ads for the SAFE program, although I don't doubt the enthusiasm of those who have been helped. My point is that there are many, many of us who are working in the very challenging area of providing support, understanding, encouragement and tools for growth for self-injurers. If there were easy answers that worked for everybody, we would see a study that demonstrated that.

What can I say about this awesome book that saved my life? I was browsing in the bookstore one day and I noticed a book on self-injury: Bodily Harm. Having been a self-injurer for a long time I thumbed through it to see if this book could offer me anything. The book was absolutely amazing. It explores the types of people who self-injure, the reasonings behind the self-injury and it contains an explanation of the S.A.F.E. (Self Abuse Finally Ends) Program TM. Founded by Karen Conterio in 1985 S.A.F.E. offers hope for self-injurers. After being hospitalized too many times, and after years of therapy, I decided to attend the S.A.F.E. Program in Chicago. There is no review that can communicate how S.A.F.E saved my life. I am now living as a whole person, without self-injury, for the first time in my life. I owe Karen and Wendy my life. I HIGHLY recommend this book not only to self-injurers but to their families and friends as well. I even more strongly recommend attending the S.A.F.E. Program. Thank you Karen and Wendy - I love you both!

Bodily Harm is a very comprehensive book that actually has some wonderful thoughts on self harm. It gives excellent concrete ways in which to stop self harm. It reaches the real reasons for this behavior, yet teaches that its an inappropriate coping skill. Sometimes those with this issue don't realize that self injury can result in death. Great resources made available for a little addressed disorder. I especially liked the fact that the authors could be so removed and authoritarian yet you could tell in everything they did that they cared.

I have to say the book is great! 5 stars! But, the actual program is better. I went to SAFE and I have to say that it changed my life, HONESTLY! I read a lot of bad reviews, and some good ones. The bad ones seem to be from people who didn't know what the program was about! Karen and Wendy are the greatest. People say that they make it sound like a cure to come to the program. Well, I didn't get that from their writing, But I know it was a cure for me and MANY others! Please remember that these women devolped this program, which helps thousands of people! Some say they are given too much creit, I say they are not given enough! They are both so kind, so are the rest of the staff their! But Karen and Wendy care so deeply for their clients. No words I can express now will ever compare to that wonderful program. But, please, if you have questions or comments for me, Please, E-mail me. I will be happy to talk to you about it. Thank you for listening to me!

I myself have attended the S.A.F.E program and was excited to hear that Karen and Wendy had written this book. I was sincerely hoping that there were some questions answered in there that were dodged while I was in treatment there. The first and most major was the question of success rates of the program. This question was asked of them many times and went unanswered.

I do know that there are clients/patients that go away from there helped, at the same time I've seen many go away more confused and self-injurious. Though this book seems to be well written in form and grammar, the content seems to fit an agenda. My question is whether that agenda is in the interest of finances or the people who suffer from this disorder. It just seemed like a well planned,gramatically correct visitors brochure.

I read the book cover-to-cover and have no doubt it will be popular, it's an easy read. Having worked with both Conterio and Lader, I have respect for both women, but the book makes the mistake of offering one of those "are you at risk" quizzes - the quiz goes on so long anyone with any emotional disorder can find themselves in the questions. What is missing is serious statistical information on their success rate - as well as information on just what they do for aftercare for patients who have left their program. In fact, they offer what is referred to as a "relapse" group for patients who have been through the program - but that only helps people in Chicago and implies that to go to the "relapse" group, the person must again be a self-injurer. Such a group is of no value to the hundreds of people who fly and drive to visit the SAFE "mecca" - only to return to the environments that put them into the program to begin with. The book fails to warn either potential patients or professionals that their "be all and end all cure" costs more than $30,000 - unless the patient is on government assistance. The book also offers little hope for folks who self-injure unless they attend the SAFE program - in fact, it appears that people are encouraged to head off to the promised land of Chicago to the SAFE program when they may not need inpatient help at all. The only part of the book I found to be of value was the section written for therapists in particular - and that offered little information about the recidivism rate of their patient population. The biggest question a therapist or potential patient will ask is whether or not the program will work, but the book doesn't even allow for the possibility that the program might fail. Instead, a rosy picture is painted of a "Metropolis" utopia of self-injurers/robots walking in the SAFE door and coming out somehow perfectly whole afterwards. Unfortunately, such is not the case. I suggest anyone reading this book also look at other books on the same topic and read with the knowledge that Conterio and Lader have an agenda - selling their alternative as the only alternative - when it isn't. I would like to see some serious work done by these talented women in the form of an honest follow-up - publishing the facts about recidivism, its causes and perhaps how to prevent people from returning to self-injury. I applaud their efforts, but urge caution - there are alternatives to SAFE for those who self-injure.

I expected that Conterio and Lader would have a bias toward their own program, but I've really had enough of their claiming to be the only answer, the only inpatient SI program in the country, etc, etc. I find it sad, since Conterio is obviously dedicated and has done some fine work in the field in the past. I respect her a great deal, and am sorry that this book never really realized its potential.

The huge four-part quiz to determine if you are a self-injurer is superfluous -- if you're damaging your body enough to be concerned, then you should consult a trained professional anyway. The only purpose I can think of it serving is to cause people who *don't* SI to worry about wheteher they're suddenly going to start.

Conterio and Lader do offer some useful exercises toward the end of the book, but much more helpful exercises can be found in Alderman's _The Scarred Soul_, an excellent self-help book. Also, if ther is a breakthrough in their program, I didn't see what it was. They don't even have success rates for their program; Marsha Linehan's DBT outpatient program has a high demonstrated success rate.

This book might be good if you're considering S.A.F.E., but otherwise, you'd do better to invest in Strong's _A Bright Red Scream_ or Alderman's _The Scarred Soul_.

I have attended the S.A.F.E. Alternatives in Chicago, Ilinois and I can honestly say it was the best decision of my life. I hadn't seen Seventh Heavan or 20/20 like some of the people who have gone to the program. It was my psychiatrist who gave me the literature about the S.A.F.E. program. If it hadn't of been for my psychiatrist and other professional I never would have been able to come. However, they believed in Lader and Conterio therefore so did I. The program offers hope and a huge range of choices into your own life. For the first time I know I have a choice to injure or not. No one can take the responsibility but me. The program is hard but if you invest your time into this program I can guarantee you will come out a winner. The program can't cure you or the staff who is there to help. Only you, the self injuror, can beat this. What the program does offer you is continuous support and tools to help people lead normal lives without self injury. Thank you Karen Conterio and Wendy Lader for a program that definately works.

It was encouraging to read a book that dealt so honestly with a problem that, because of shame, is often hidden or ignored. Too many people in emotional pain are dealing with that pain in a physical way. Scars don't fade, however, but emotional pain will eventually lose some of its edge. I know this the hard way, and I am still fighting this very difficult battle. This book gave me hope that winning is possible, and I never realized that before. The book offered a lot of insight as to why this behavior develops, and offered suggestions for treatment. I do feel that the authors were prejudiced in saying that their treatment program was the only way to get better. I am finally getting excellent treatment in a program in White Plains, NY that very openly confronts and deals with self mutilation. The program is helping me more than any other treatment program has before. While the SAFE program seems hopeful, the most important thing in any program is the patient's willingness to work the program. You have to be ready to heal, and once you reach that terrifying point where you are ready to face your pain, you can make any program succeed.