What to do when self-harm comes to school

Becoming aware that a student is self-harming presents an urgent situation for a school counselor to address. If you are unsure, or need a refresher, on how to respond when self harm comes to school, here is a short curated list of resources to consult:

• ASCA Position Statement: The School Counselor and Suicide Risk Assessment
• ASCA Ethical Responsibilities Page
• School Counseling Principals: Ethics and Law (4th Ed.) (paid link)
• Ethical and Legal Issues in School Counseling (4th Ed.) (paid link)
• Critical Incidents in School Counseling (3rd Ed.) (paid link)

We also have access to the ASCA Legal & Ethical Specialist training which I highly recommend. This training will help you with most any legal/ethical situation you encounter, especially as you get into the fine details of how you need to ethically and legally respond. 

After I took the specialist training course I created this helpful resource to lean on anytime this situation came up for me, it was great to have on hand when another school counselor reached out to me this week for a consultation. Feel free to download and use the form as a guide as you work with your students when self-harm comes to school. I can’t recommend the ASCA specialist course enough, it is self-paced and packed full of useful information to help you feel confident in the work that you do. 

A few tips as you navigate cases of self-harm (or non-suicidal self-injury):

1. Be up front with your students about your duty to protect -- if a student is self-harming you must contact the adult in their life (all students who present with self-harming behaviors should be assessed for suicide risk)
2. Know your school district's policy on these types of situations and follow it
3. Notify your administrator of the situation
4. Call in a consult if you need to (this is always a smart move)
5. Assess the situation, create and action plan, and implement a safety plan (identify positive strategies, coping mechanisms, school based programs, school supports, emergency resources for outside of school hours and community-based programs)
6. Share all pertinent information with parents and talk through home safety measures. 
7. Focus on the facts and behavior unique to the situation, avoiding assumptions.
8. Call in crisis if your decision-making process leads you to believe their is an immediate need for intervention
9. Always make appropriate referrals on behalf of students who present with self-harming behaviors

Remember, self-harm is a coping mechanism. Use the knowledge that a student is self-harming as an invitation to build an even stronger relationship with them to help them discover new (healthier) ways of navigating and working through their pain...in collaboration with community-based mental health professionals.

If you find this post helpful, please drop a line in the comments. Do you have additional tips or resources to share?