Self-Harm Behaviors

When emotional pain overwhelms, some people will turn to self-harm to cope. Self-harm is intentionally inflicting pain on one’s self.

At Bloom, we treat self-harm through a harm-reduction lens because we know that self-harm can help to manage difficult emotions. Harm reduction means that we will help you replace self-harm with healthier and safer skills to cope with pain.

About 17% of all people will self-harm during their lifetime. Self-harming behaviors can include cutting, scratching, burning, carving words or symbols, hitting/punching oneself, piercing, pulling hair, or picking at wounds.

Self-harm is connected with other emotional struggles, including depression, suicidal ideation, confusion, sadness, anxiety, and trauma. People use self-harm to manage pain for many reasons: to feel relief, for self-punishment, or to break through feelings of numbness.

The treatment approaches we utilize at Bloom help you address your patterns of self-harm, identify the thoughts and feelings connected, develop adaptive practices, and build emotional resiliency.