If you suspect that your child might be engaging in self-injury, how do you start the conversation and how often should you check in with your child so that you are not being too invasive? How can parents safely set rules if they fear their child might self-injure in response to these rules? In this episode, we answer these questions and more as we talk about how parents and loved ones can foster healing for their children who self-injure or self-harm as well as for themselves.

Dr. Whitlock’s book “Healing Self-Injury: A Compassionate Guide for Parents and Other Loved Ones” is available on Amazon (www.amazon.com/Healing-Self-Injury-Compassionate-Guide-Parents/dp/0199391602). Dr. Whitlock is a Research Scientist in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research at Cornell University and the founder and director of the Self-Injury & Recovery Resources (SIRR) research program, which serves as one of the best and most comprehensive collations of online resources about self-injury: www.selfinjury.bctr.cornell.edu. It is a go-to resource for parents, therapists, friends, family members, schools, other caring adults, the media, and individuals with lived experience of self-injury. Follow them on Instagram @cornell_crpsir. 

Dr. Whitlock is also Senior Advisor for The JED Foundation. To learn more about The JED Foundation, visit https://www.jedfoundation.org/.

Follow Dr. Westers on Instagram and Twitter (@DocWesters). To join ISSS, visit itriples.org and follow ISSS on Facebook and Twitter (@ITripleS).