Treatment of Self-Injury Disorder

Psychotherapy
This form of therapy can successfully be used to help a person stop engaging in self-injury.

Post-traumatic stress therapies
These therapies may be helpful for self-injurers who have a history of abuse or incest.

Group therapy
Talking about the condition in a group of people who have similar problems may be helpful in decreasing the shame associated with self-harm, and in supporting healthy expression of emotions.

Family therapy
This type of therapy addresses any history of family stress related to the behavior and can help family members learn to communicate more directly and non-judgmentally with each other.

Hypnosis and other self-relaxation techniques
These approaches are helpful in reducing the stress and tension that often precede incidents of self-injury. Antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication may be used to reduce the initial impulsive response to stress.

DBT
DBT or Dialectical behavioral therapy can be very successful for those with a personality disorder, and could potentially be used for those with other mental illnesses who exhibit self-harm behavior.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
This form of therapy is generally used to assist those with diagnoses such as depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Diagnosis and treatment of the causes is thought by many to be the best approach to self-harm. In some cases however, especially with a personality disorder patients, this is not very effective, which is why more clinicians are starting to take a DBT approach in order to reduce the behavior itself. CBT may be used to help an individual learn to recognize and address triggering feelings in healthier ways.

Coping skills
A person who is self-injuring may be advised to use coping skills, such as journaling or taking a walk, when they have the urge to harm themselves. They may also be told to avoid having the objects they use to harm themselves within easy reach.

Difficulties with treatment

There are some difficulties in achieving appropriate and effective treatment. Self-injury brings out many uncomfortable feelings in people who are not affected by this disorder: revulsion, anger, fear, and distaste. If the medical professional is unable to cope with her own feelings about self-harm, then they have an obligation to her client to find a practitioner willing to do this work.

How to cope with self-injuring kids?

Kids are especially difficult to treat and research has proven that teachers are often the first people to recognize this disorder when a child displays it, even before parents. The best thing a teacher can do is let the child know that they are there to listen to whatever it is that they want to tell the teacher.  Students should also be encouraged to talk to their parents about their problems, although most of them will not be willing to, thinking that their parents will become angry with them. 
 
Every good teacher should keep in mind that he or she should:

• Have predictable and familiar routines so it doesn't set the child off
• Have organized and structured transitions
• Have flexibility in the classroom so the student can be taken out of class if a situation comes up that makes them angry or depressed

Prognosis

The prognosis is difficult because it depends upon a person's emotional or psychological state. It is important to determine the factors or any pre-existing personality disorder that causes the self-injuring needs to be treated.