Counselling for Self-harm in Portsmouth

Managing self-harming with counselling and support

Self-harm can occur for a number of reasons and provide a sense of release for the self-harmer. However, counselling can help you to learn to replace harmful habits with safe ones while allowing you to still feel a sense of release and feel empowered to move forward.

Self-harm may or may not be interlinked with other emotional issues such as anxiety and depression or low mood. Self-harm can be an expression of thoughts into visible feelings. Self-harm can also bring back a sense of control.  Counselling will help you find new ways to gain that feeling of control.

Some people self-harm to feel something or to stop feeling numb. Self-harm can give someone or other people in their life a reason to show care physically or even love, to make things feel temporally better. Some people self-harm to stop feelings or experiences of dissociation. Self-harming may be due to suicidal feelings or a cry for help.

Once self-harming becomes a habit it can be difficult to stop without support. Many do not seek help but without it, this circle of behaviour may continue. Counselling will help to break old patterns of behaviour and help to reinforce new and positive ways to cope.

1 in 10 young people self-harm in some way but self-harm can occur at any age. In the case of hospital admissions, 80% of people overdose and 15% cut themselves. In the community it is believed that cutting is more common.

Self-harming can be triggered by many things such as sexual abuse, depression, relationship issues, unemployment, others not listening,  hopelessness, isolation, feeling powerless, feelings of guilt. Some people view self-harm as a quick fix. 

By starting to address any underlying causes and resolving them it may been that you no longer feel the compulsion to self-harm. During your sessions you are supported in challenging any destructive patterns from the past, changing any limiting self-beliefs and examining your negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours.  As a result, you will be able to live your life in a more satisfying way for you. Together we will build up a bank of resources and tools to help you simply be able to cope better and more positively within your own life. By gaining a new control over your life you can deal with emotions a less self-destructive way and move forward with support. By talking through what may be the root causes of your own self-harming behaviour we can help deal with any unresolved issues or feelings. We will look at triggers and different ways that your feelings can now be expressed in a safe and secure way.

Self-esteem can also be interlinked with self-harm. Counselling can help to raise your self-esteem and future proof your own resilience so that you have the tools and skills to move on from self-harming permanently.

We will look at self-care and how to show yourself the care and love that you deserve and need in your life. By challenging your own negative internal dialogue we can start to help you become more positive about yourself and the world around you. You will take back charge of your life and feel more in control.