Self Harm Awarenss for Adolescents

Hello ! I became a member of the World Café as part of my MA in Critical and Creative Thinking and a project that I had to create for my Dialogue Processes course. This course led me to the Circle of Seven, in which Anne Dosher is a prominent figure. Searching Anne led me here.

I am now in the dire need of creating awareness about self-harm among adolescents. This is my Synthesis project for my MA in Critical and Creative Thinking at UMass Boston. My presentation is to be in May 2015.

I am a mother of twin daughters, I discovered my 12 year old daughter has cuts on her body. Later, I discovered these were self induced. Now, my daughter, now 14, has multiple scars on her body and one hospitalization for a suicide attempt.

My project for my MA synthesis, is to promote awareness about self-harm. It appears that there are numerous Suicide Awareness sites... yet few Self-Harm sites.

Shouldn't we seek to intervene at the earliest point? Shouldn't we address Self-Harm before we allow it to progress to Suicide Ideation?

As a dental hygienist of 22 years, we would treat a small cavity rather than let it progress to a root canal or extraction. This seems to be common sense, no?

I see self-harm as the precursor to suicide, or suicidal ideation...shouldn't we act preventatively?

I welcome any advice, suggestions, currents practices....

Thank You!

Concerned, Overwhelmed Mom

Kerri Arruda, FAll River, Massachusetts

774-526-0018

[email protected]