Help, Hope and Healing
for Those Who Cut

Recovery from Self-Injury Is Possible

If you are an active or recovering self-injurer or if you are concerned about a friend or family member, you'll find understanding as well as practical suggestions for help, hope and healing from Elaina Whittenhall. Drawing on her own experience as a recovering cutter as well as current research, Whittenhall describes

• what self-injury is
• who self-injures
• why people self-injure
• how to spot trouble in someone you care about
• how to help those you care about
• how to get help for yourself
• what types of therapy and treatment are most helpful
• how to handle relapses
• what makes recovery possible

You'll also find information about therapy options and treatment programs nationwide and suggestions for further reading on the topic of self-injury.

Whittenhall writes, "Getting over self-injury is not easy. . . . But I've been injury-free for a while now. Self-injury still has its temptations, and sometimes they're pretty strong, but I know that life as a whole is better without self-injury. I'm more stable. I'm less depressed. I stay farther away from despair. I get more work done. I have more energy to enjoy my hobbies, like writing, scrapbooking and quilting. I have better and closer relationships with people around me, particularly my husband. I have found and am still finding other ways to soothe myself and cope with difficult feelings. And I am accepting that the only one who needs to sacrifice his body for my and others' sin is Christ. It is by his wounds, not mine, that I am healed (1 Pet 2:24; Is 53:5)."