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ENCOUNTERING SELF‐HARM IN PSYCHOTHERAPY AND COUNSELLING PRACTICE
Author(s) -
Turp Maggie
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
british journal of psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1752-0118
pISSN - 0265-9883
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-0118.1999.tb00455.x
Subject(s) - harm , countertransference , psychology , deliberate self harm , perspective (graphical) , psychotherapist , projective identification , identification (biology) , psychoanalysis , psychoanalytic theory , social psychology , suicide prevention , poison control , medicine , botany , environmental health , artificial intelligence , computer science , biology
This paper offers a perspective on self‐harm as encountered by psychotherapists and counsellors practising in non‐institutional settings. The author notes that the background of epidemiological information, which might inform clinical practice with these clients, is far from satisfactory. Difficulties in establishing an accurate epidemiology of self‐harm are considered. Some common responses to incidents of selfharm are then explored, with particular reference to countertransference issues and the lack of containment (Bion 1962) available to practitioners in some professions. A brief overview of theoretical perspectives on self‐harm is followed by a more detailed account of the contributions of Welldon (1988), Bion (1962, 1967) and Winnicott (1949, 1962, 1967). The author describes and discusses her work with clients who harm themselves, drawing primarily upon the concepts of‘projective identification’ (Klein 1946),‘containment’ (Bion 1962) and‘psychosomatic indwelling’ (Winnicott 1967).