The Scarred Soul: Understanding & Ending Self-Inflicted Violence (Paperback)

by Tracy Alderman (Author) "The term self-inflicted violence is best defined as the intentional harm of one's own body without conscious suicidal intent..." (more)
Key Phrases: bruising yourself, psychotropic drug treatment, ritual mutilation, Never Sometimes Very, Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
f-inflicted violence. Written for the victims of this addiction--and for mental health professionals--The Scarred Soul explores the reasons behind this behavior and shows how to overcome the psychological traps that lead to self-destructive acts. Illustrations and charts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; 1 edition (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572240792
• ISBN-13: 978-1572240797
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #210,862 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cutting, December 12, 2004

By	D. P. Birkett (Suffern, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is basically a self-help book. I think it might be a little too scary for a young person just doing a little mild cutting, because it describes some severe chronic cases. It might not be of much help to a professional dealing with a severely mentally retarded or autistic self-mutilator.
I bought it after reading an excellent article by Anthony Bateman in the British Journal of Psychiatry. The proper reference for that is:
Bateman AW (2004) Self-help books on deliberate self-harm. British Journal of Psychiatry 185: 441-442.
Bateman rated it as the best of the bunch. As he says, cutters often get more help off the internet than from books. He recommends a British site, the website of the National Self-harm Network www.nshn.co.uk.
SIV victims often get more help from talking to each other than from therapists or pills. A large part of their distress comes from being ashamed of their addiction and having to hide their scars.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Being a Scarred Soul, December 20, 2001

By	Michaela Klein "EarthAngel" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This is the best book I have read on Self Injury and how to deal with it and to eventually stop self injury. This is the book that helped me to finally get a handle on my own self injury patterns and I have now been able to go almost 4 year with self injuring.

I recommend this book to EVERYONE....particualry other self injurers and their loved ones, and also to therapists. I gave a copy of this book to my therapist to use with other clients and she too has found it to be invaluable.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best book on the subject around!, July 24, 1998

By A Customer

I bought this book for myself because I self-injure, and lent it to my therapist, a friend of mine whose daughter self-injures, and friends who know I injure and feel a need to understand. Now I have to order more copies as they want copies of their own. The scarred soul includes the all latest thinking on SIV. It is much more accurate about why people injure, and when and how they can stop than other books I have read on the subject. The writing is clear, direct and accessable. I found it hard to read through only because it so accurately describes the pain I feel. I hope it goes through many editions and becomes a standard work. If you cut or hurt yourself, or care for someone who does, this book can help you 'keep safe'.