[.ca] Bodily Harm (Cloth) The Breakthrough Healing Program For ... (ISBN 0786864648)

It's not a cure.:
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.

worth a read, but a bit preachy:
I read this book because I've been really interested in the topic lately from a mental health worker's persepctive. Although the authors seem extremely familiar with the phenomenon of self-injury and with the strategies that may help sufferers overcome the behavior, their writing style conveys a certain condescending preachiness. Placing self-injury on a continuum with other body modifications such as piercings and tattoos not only seems false, but is also rather culturally insensitive. Additionally, the main points of the book are stressed fairly early in the text and just keep resurfacing. It may have been better to leave out a few chapters and save some paper. ;) On the plus side, the elements of the SAFE program that they outline sound like very helpful tips for those struggling with self-injury or for their family members. In addition, the case study-like vignettes about patients provided a human touch to the book.

GOOD HELP:
This is a very good self help book, just start with part two becasue part one is just all information. People who didn't like this book probably didn't really have the dirve to stop cutting anyway. You have to want to change, and it says that a million times. Yes, of course they promote their own program, but who wouldn't. It provides a ton of useful tools to quit self injuring. It even provieds sample impulse control logs and ways to interview a potential therapist. The only thing I dissagree with is that they do not consider SI to be an addiction, and I think that it is. Either way, the book is amazing.

First, do no harm:
Bodily Harm is a book every person who self injuriers, and for the people who love them. The book does a great job of explaining all the different things that can lead to self injury, the types of self injury, and why the some ways of dealing with self injury just doesn't work. The second part of the book explains their program ( the S.A.F.E. Alternatives program) and their believes on self injury and what they have found so successful with their past clients that self injured. It gives actual things you can do to stop injuring, that has helped so many. If you're interested in this subject, also try "Cut," the collection by McCrae titled "Children's Corner," and a book called "Bright Red Scream."

Don't waste your time:
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.