Psychological treatment of self-injury among adolescents.
Self-injury is a dangerous and pervasive behavior problem among adolescents. Clinical trials testing the effectiveness of psychological treatments for this behavior problem among adolescents are lacking; however, several treatments have shown promise, such as those focused on teaching emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal skills. The authors provide a case illustration of the use of dialectical behavior therapy, which is one of the most promising treatments for adolescent self-injury. They then discuss several important considerations in the treatment of self-injury, such as the use of strategies to increase treatment participation and the assessment of self-injury and related target behaviors over the course of treatment to determine its effectiveness and to manage risk of self-injury.
Nock
Matthew K
MK
Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. nock@wjh.harvard.edu
Teper
Romi
R
Hollander
Michael
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009629:Person-Centered Psychotherapy; D011379:Prognosis; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D013811:Psychotherapeutic Processes; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome