Because I Hurt: Understanding Self Injury and Healing the Hurt

by Jan Sutton, Deb Martinson

This deeply compelling, compassionate, and landmark book illustrates clearly that for many people self-injury is a 'gift of survival'. It challenges a multitude of assumptions about this baffling behaviour. It explains how self-injury serves as a powerful coping mechanism for staying alive in the face of overwhelming emotional pain, and works as an effective tool for ending frightening episodes of dissasociation, depersonalization and derealization. It gives guidance on effective therapeutic interventions and most importantly - it carries a message of hope to self-injurers that, with acceptance and understanding, healing the hurt from the emotional wounds that drive the physical injuries is possible.

224 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2007