Self-harm is often misunderstood and the focus is on stopping it. At Time and Space we take a harm reduction approach. We do not focus on stopping self harm, instead we support members to find ways to manage their self harm and provide and open space to discuss these experiences.
People who self-harm are suicidal
People who self-harm are attention seeking
People who self-harm must like the pain
Only young people self-harm
People can stop self-harming if they want to
Only women self-harm
Self-harm is all about cutting
If we can stop the person self-harming they will be fixed
Self-harm is a coping mechanism and is not about suicide
Self-harm is usually a private event and people only usually involve others when they need to
Self-harming isn’t always about pain, sometimes the person doesn’t even feel it
Self-harm can affect people of any age
Men also self-harm
Self-harm can take many forms
There are other issues that may need to be addressed before the person can stop self-harming