Self-harm can take different forms, and people may experience it differently.

It can include deliberately hurting yourself, but it can also involve other behaviours that cause harm or are used to cope with difficult emotions.

You may find yourself self-harming when you're:

• Feeling overwhelmed or emotionally flooded

• Angry, frustrated, or unable to express what you're feeling

• Trying to cope with intense emotions

• Feeling numb or disconnected

• Looking for a way to feel something

• Trying to regain a sense of control

• Experiencing shame, guilt, or self-criticism

• Struggling with difficult thoughts or experiences

You don't have to understand exactly why you're doing it before asking for support.

We can explore that together.

There isn't one reason people self-harm.

For some people, it can temporarily change how they feel when emotions become difficult to manage. For others, it may be connected to feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, angry, numb, or needing some sense of control.

Sometimes self-harm becomes a way of coping that works in the short term but creates other difficulties over time.

Understanding what self-harm is doing for you can be an important part of finding other options.

The goal isn't to judge the way you've been coping. It's to understand it and find other tools that can help.

There isn't one approach that works for everyone.

Counselling may involve exploring what tends to happen before and after self-harm, understanding emotional patterns, learning ways to manage intense feelings, and finding alternatives that feel realistic for you.

Depending on what you're working on, we might:

• Identify situations or emotions that tend to lead to self-harm

• Understand patterns around when and why it happens

• Build skills for managing intense emotions

• Explore ways to tolerate difficult feelings without acting on them

• Work on self-compassion and reducing shame

• Develop other ways to communicate or express difficult emotions

• Find strategies for getting through particularly difficult moments

• Explore experiences that may be contributing to what you're experiencing

• Develop a safety plan when appropriate

Sometimes the first step isn't stopping completely.

It may be understanding what's happening and creating a little more space between the feeling and the action.

You may feel unsure about stopping self-harm.

It may be one of the ways you've learned to get through difficult moments, and the idea of giving it up can feel complicated.

You don't have to pretend otherwise in counselling.

We can talk honestly about what self-harm does for you, what you get from it, what you don't like about it, and what you'd want to be different.

You can start from where you actually are.

Change isn't always straightforward.

You may have stopped for a while and started again. You may have tried different strategies that didn't work for you. Or you may have periods where things feel manageable and others where they don't.

That doesn't mean you've failed.

Counselling can help you understand what makes things harder or easier and build a wider range of ways to cope.

We'll focus on what you can do from where you are now.

If someone you care about is self-harming, it can be difficult to know what to say or do.

You may feel worried, confused, frustrated, or afraid of making things worse.

Counselling can provide space to understand what's happening and think through how you can offer support while also taking care of yourself.

For parents and caregivers, this may include learning how to talk about self-harm without judgment, understanding when additional support is needed, and figuring out how to respond when you're concerned about safety.

You don't have to know exactly what to say before reaching out.

Self-harm and suicidal thoughts can sometimes occur together, but they aren't always the same thing.

If you're experiencing thoughts about suicide, it's important to talk about that openly with your counsellor so that you can receive the appropriate support and safety planning.

You won't be judged for telling us what's happening.

If you're in immediate danger or think you may act on thoughts of suicide, counselling isn't the right place to wait for help. Please contact emergency or crisis support in your area.

Talking about self-harm can feel vulnerable, and having a counsellor you feel comfortable with matters.

Different counsellors have different experiences, approaches, and ways of working. It's okay to ask questions, talk with more than one counsellor, and figure out what feels like the right fit for you.

You deserve to be able to talk about what's happening without feeling judged or defined by it.

We'll meet you where you are and work together from there.