Exploring people’s experiences of psychotherapy for self-harm: the importance of the therapeutic alliance

Digital,Collage,Modern,Art.,Holding,Hand

Hannah Wallace summarises a systematic review exploring people’s experiences of psychotherapy for self-harming behaviours, which highlights the importance of therapeutic rapport and the clinical competencies that support developing a good relationship between clinicians and service users.

[read the full story...]

Trauma informed care on acute inpatient units: reducing self harm and restrictive practices

aaron-burden-tQF8FCNYNrk-unsplash

Dr Kirsten Lawson is back! In this blog, Kirsten explores a service evaluation of trauma informed care practices in acute inpatient units, looking specifically at reductions in self-harm and restraint practices.

[read the full story...]

Sexual minorities, suicide and self-harm: new research in England deepens our understanding

jason-leung-AxKqisRPQSA-unsplash

In his debut blog, Liam Mackay summarises a recent study that shows an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and non-suicidal self-harm in bisexual and lesbian/gay individuals. The study also highlights common mental health problems, discrimination and bullying as potential contributors to this excess risk.

[read the full story...]

What factors predict youth mental health service use?

austin-pacheco-FtL07GM9Q7Y-unsplash

In her debut blog, Oleta Williams writes with Nick Meader and Nina Higson-Sweeney to summarise a secondary analysis of NHS administrative data to identify predictors of mental health service use in children and young people.

[read the full story...]

What emotions do male prisoners experience prior to suicide and violence?

Man's,Hand,Holding,A,Pencil,To,Writing,On,Paper

In this blog by Hilary Norman, she explores a new study on the emotions that male prisoners experience prior to suicide, self-harm or violence using a novel participatory visual method involving drawing their feelings.

[read the full story...]

Young people’s experiences of suicidal distress in their own words

Freedom,Of,Speech,Concept.,Group,Of,People,Protesting,Or,Making

India Bellairs-Walsh summarise a Scottish qualitative study of young people’s lived experiences of suicide and self-harm, which explores intention, rationality and authenticity, and has many implications for practice.

[read the full story...]

How do friendships influence adolescent self-injurious thoughts and behaviours?

sam-mcnamara-p0ZvBVpW3KY-unsplash

In her debut blog, Bella Brereton writes with Rasanat Fatima Nawaz to summarise a systematic review that explored the associations between self-injurious thoughts and behaviours and school-based friendship networks in adolescents, using sociometric data.

[read the full story...]

Sharpening the focus: viewing self-harm images online – harmful and protective?

visuals-2TS23o0-pUc-unsplash

Jo Lockwood, Camilla Babbage and Ellen Townsend consider a systematic review exploring the impact of viewing self-harm images online, which finds that images can trigger powerful emotions and may relate to a change in cognition, affect and behaviour.

[read the full story...]

Suicide and self-harm in children: prevalence rates cause for concern

niranjan-_-photographs-h8thkofHAts-unsplash

In Mahmoud Arif’s debut blog, he and Rasanat Fatima Nawaz summarise a meta-analysis published in The Lancet Psychiatry, which estimated the prevalence rates of self-harm behaviours and suicidal ideation in children aged 12 years and under.

[read the full story...]

Psilocybin for ‘treatment-resistant depression’: an island of hope in an ocean of uncertainty?

sinitta-leunen-08yfmU-PQUU-unsplash

In this blog, UCL MSc students consider an RCT published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which suggests that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy may help reduce depression in people with severe and enduring illness, but side effects are common and more research is needed to look into longer term effects.

[read the full story...]