Life after Self-Harm : A Guide to the Future

In many countries there has been an alarming increase in rates of suicide and self-harm, yet the stigma attached to these difficulties often leads to sub-optimal care.

Life After Self-Harm: A Guide to the Future is written for individuals who have deliberately harmed themselves. Developed through a major research project the contents of the manual have been informed and shaped by many users and expert professionals. Illustrated with multiple case-histories, it teaches users important skills:

• for understanding and evaluating self-harm
• for keeping safe in crisis
• for dealing with seemingly insolvable problems
• for developing coping strategies
• for re-connecting with life.

Health workers who regularly come into contact with individuals who have self-harmed will find the wealth of practical advice in this book extremely valuable for recommendation to patients either as a self-help book, or in the context of brief therapy.

Ulrike Schmidt is a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital and Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, London.

Kate Davidson is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Greater Glasgow Primary Care NHS Trust. She is currently Director of the Glasgow Institute of Psychosocial Interventions.