Expert Advice On Self-Harm

Experts have told us that they won’t necessarily try and get people who self-harm, to STOP straight away.

We’ve been speaking to ChildLine as part of our #HarmLESS campaign, and experts have explained, because self-harm is a coping mechanism, taking it away suddenly could do more harm than good.

Dave Dunn is a supervisor for ChildLine, and he deals with and counsels young people that call the charity for help.

He told us:

“It’s not necessarily about stopping them, it’s about talking to them the space to talk about what’s causing them to self-harm in the first place.”

“What we want to do is give the space to young people to talk about what’s going on in their lives, and what’s creating problems for them, the reasons they want to use self-harm as a coping strategy.

“Often when people find out that they’re self-harming, the first thing they’ll do it try and get them to stop, and that’s not necessarily how we work.”

You can hear all the advice and expertise from Dave, below: