more for professionals

Training available
Questions you may have
Confidentiality issues

Training Available

Quality Training UK
Quality Training UK run excellent two day workshops looking at self harm.

LCET
LCET offer tailor made training sessions to help understanding about how and why young people self harm.

Questions you may have

1. What can I do when a teenagers confides in me that they are harming themselves?
Be honest with yourself about if you feel out of your depth, and refer the young person to more experienced sources of support. It is worth being aware there is sometimes a tendency for self harmers to develop an unhealthy dependency on people offering support.

2. What support is there for young people in Luton?
Due to a generally lack of awareness and understanding about self harm, there is a very little specific support available. As a general rule, a doctor is a good starting point and will be able to refer a young person on to more specialised support.

CAMH (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit) is an NHS service for young people offering a wide range of theraputic support, including counselling and family therapy. Young perople must be referred by a professional (e.g. doctor, school, social services) to access this service. LCET run small psycho-theraputic groups for teenagers based in Luton. The groups aim to inform and educate on self harm as well as providing a network of peer support. Samaritans run a national phone support and listening service, and have a high level of knowledge on self harm.

3. How do I talk to a young person about self harm?
A high level of training and experience is recommended for working with young people who self harm. However, it is also possible for the subject to come up in another context (e.g. school mentoring). In these situations it is worth remembering:
- Honesty and openness is particularly important to those who self harm: do not promise something you cannot give.
- Encourage the young person to seek further help and support.
- Be aware of issues relating to confidentiality and make sure the young person knows if you are going to tell someone else what they have shared with you.

4. What about keeping confidentiality?
This is a highly complex area and professionals disagree as to the current state of the law in England and Wales. LCET has published a short guideline for it's own staff that you may find helpful. You can download it here.