Keeping Youth Safe & Assessing for Risk: Self-Harm 101

For professionals working with youth in Monterey County

Facilitated by Skye Nashelsky

Training Summary:

The course is designed to provide participants with an overview of non-suicidal self-injury, particularly as it shows up in adolescence and young adulthood. It covers material focusing on:

•            Adolescent development: Features brain, body, and identity development that affect self-injury behaviors, management and reduction/ recovery in the adolescent and young adult years.

•            Non-suicidal self-injury basics: The who, what, where, when and why of self-injury. The difference between non-suicidal self-injury and suicide thoughts and behaviors, common myths, and factors that influence contagion.

•            Detection and intervention: How to effectively detect and respond to, manage, contain, and treat self injury. We will also cover effective care strategies and the nuts and bolts of developing protocols for handling self-injury.

•            Recovery: This section focuses primarily on how and why self-injury stops, what to expect as recovery occurs, how you can best support youth in the recovery process, and how self-injury can create opportunities for healing and empowerment.

•            Prevention: The final section covers prevention of self-injury behavior.

Class Objectives:

•   Increase understanding of self-harming behaviors and identify the difference between non suicidal self-injury and suicide

•   Explore common myths surrounding self-harm, and issues around stigma

•   Consider helpful responses and strategies to support young people who self-harm, obtain knowledge on evidence based practices in supporting clients that self-harm

•   Reflect on the feelings that self-harm can elicit in us as professionals, and how to support our own wellbeing