Advocacy With Young People Who Engage in Nonsuicidal Self-Harm

Like suicidality, talking about self-harm directly with young people who have been engaged in this coping mechanism can be hard. However, because such a vital part of our work as advocates is to discuss coping strategies and help survivors discover what mechanisms work best for them, discussions that involve self-injury, self-medication, eating disorders, engaging in risky sex, and other self-harming behaviors are integral.

Advocates are often the only people in a survivor’s life that are there to provide non-judgmental support and we can further foster this by fearlessly engaging in conversations about behaviors that many might find squeamish.

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