Session Four: Coping with self-harm

If you feel that self-harm is the only way you can manage distressing thoughts and feelings it can be difficult to stop doing it. This session will introduce you to some different coping strategies that you can use and add to your emotional first aid kit.

Mindfulness and Relaxation exercises

Self-soothing exercises

Mindful glitter jar

• Shake it up and watching the glitter fall whilst breathing deeply to help feel calmer.
• Easily made using an old jar, water and glitter. Can be used alongside breathing techniques, to slow breathing and shift focus outside of their thoughts.

Calm kit/relax box

• Filled with your favorite things, especially things that can help focus the senses.
• Great way to get creative, and to practice self-care and grounding.
• Can be used whenever you are feeling worried, stressed, sad, angry, or have urges to harm yourself.
• You could use an old shoe box, or pick up a nice box from B&M, The Range or TK Maxx.
• The box could include a nice smelling body spray or candle, something soft to feel or squish, some photos of their favorite memories or people, and some uplifting quotes.

Visualization exercise

Relaxing 'safe place' imagery

Take a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing, close your eyes, become aware of any tension in your body, and let that tension go with each out-breath.

• Imagine a place where you can feel calm, peaceful and safe. It may be a place you've been to before, somewhere you've dreamed about going to, somewhere you've seen a picture of, or just a peaceful place you can create in your mind's eye.
• Look around you in that place, notice the colors and shapes. What else do you notice?
• Now notice the sounds that are around you, or perhaps the silence. Sounds far away and those nearer to you. Those that are more noticeable, and those that are more subtle.
• Think about any smells you notice there.
• Then focus on any skin sensation - the earth beneath you or whatever is supporting you in that place, the temperature, any movement of air, anything else you can touch.
• Notice the pleasant physical sensation in your body whilst you enjoy this safe place.
• Now whilst you're in your peaceful and safe place, you might choose to give it a name, whether one word or a phrase that you can use to bring that image back, anytime you need to.
• You can choose to linger there a while. just enjoying the peacefulness and serenity. You can leave whenever you want to, just by opening your eyes and being aware of where you are now, and bringing yourself back to alertness in the 'here and now'.

Exercise ten: Capturing my safe place

Draw or add a photograph of safe place:

Exercise eleven: Adding to your emotional first aid kit

From the different techniques discussed today, draw or write what you would add into your emotional first aid kit.