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  • Self harm risk management -Woodley et al -accepted version

    Rights statement: The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Psychological Reports, 124 (5), 2021, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2020 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Psychological Reports page: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/prx on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/

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    Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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How Individuals Who Self-Harm Manage Their Own Risk— ‘I Cope Because I Self-Harm, and I Can Cope with my Self-Harm’

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<mark>Journal publication date</mark>1/10/2021
<mark>Journal</mark>Psychological Reports
Issue number5
Volume124
Number of pages20
Pages (from-to)1998-2017
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date28/07/20
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Self-harm is a complex and idiosyncratic behaviour. This article focuses on how those who self-harm manage their own risk. Utilising opportunity sampling, ten members of a self-harm support group were interviewed about how they risk manage their self-harm and the data analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The analysis showed that all participants were actively involved in risk management of their self-harm. Through a process of managing consequences, exercising control in the process, and an awareness of the social context. It is posited that people who self-harm should be viewed as actively engaging with the risks of self-harm whilst it is a coping mechanism, as opposed to passive or ignoring. This understanding can be integrated into current risk management plans within services and invites a more dynamic conversation of self-harm between services users and services. Effective risk
management involves good relationships between individuals who self-harm and
clinicians, services which promote positive risk taking as opposed to defensive practice, and true collaboration between services and service users.

Bibliographic note

The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Psychological Reports, 124 (5), 2021, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2020 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Psychological Reports page: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/prx on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/