lilstar,
Self-harm isn't something to be ashamed of. It has the same effect that many other forms of addiction have on the brain. It releases endorphines which in turn makes you feel better in a way, but as other addictions have damaging effects, I am certain that you are very much aware that cutting does as well.
I had a friend who was a cutter on another board. She was a reader and researcher about her issues much as I am. She was determined to overcome her struggle with cutting, and after reading Inside a Cutter's Mind by Jershua Clark, she had a bit of a breakthrough.
I actually purchased the book an read it. It proved beneficial as I was counseling with a teen who had suffered SA at the hands of her grandfather. In the process, she came to me one day rather sheepishly, and when I pried into what was the cause of her mood, she exposed the insides of both her forearms which had cut from wrist to elbow. There were probably a hundred one-inch slits in that space...very shallow but present none the less. I believe her incident was in exposure to a book that she had read and was honestly one more means for her to scream "HELP ME!"
When I began working with her, I had told her parents that if I felt that the situation became more than just us talking and working through some of her issues I would immediately stop seeing her and that professional assistance should be sought. (I do have a Master's in Biblical counseling, and I was working in a church setting at this time as she was a member of our youth group...just wish I had had the opportunity to have finished my clinicals and supervision in the licensed counseling program that I was in... ) Without the book, I would have been lacking any insight at all into this issue and its action on the brain.
Has your counselor, in the past, shared information about the physical effects of cutting and where the impulse comes from?
