Self-injurious behavior: Assessment and psychotherapy

Self-injurious behavior without suicidal intent, like wrist-cutting or scratching, is quite common among male and female adolescents. It indicates severe psychological strain and can be interpreted as a call for help and support. This paper introduces several currently available assessment tools as well as therapeutic strategies. Self-report questionnaires can be implemented to identify self-injurious behavior and in order to discriminate it from other types of psychopathology, for example suicidal behavior. Furthermore, they can be used to prepare, adapt and evaluate therapeutic interventions. Promising therapeutic strategies - Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) - are introduced in more detail. Further research in this area involving control led-randomized studies is needed.