Promising Practice Programs
Working with young women who self harm
| Agency | Zig Zag Young Women's
Resource Centre Inc.
575 Old Cleveland Road Camp Hill 4152 QLD |
| Website | www.zigzag.org.au |
| Contact | Erica Fernandez; Sexual Assault Worker Ph: (07) 3843 1823 Fax: (07) 3398 5400 |
| Start date | 2003 |
| End date | On-going |
| Program type | Resource Booklet |
| Geographical area | Queeensland |
| Target group | Counsellors and other sexual assault workers supporting young women who self-harm |
| Description | This book was devleoped to serve as a resource for counsellors and other sexual assault workers. The
authors discuss concepts for workers supporting young women who self-harm and offer guidelines for the
group setting. The book explores the use of the Buddhist notion of mindfulness in supporting young
women who self-harm. It outlines young women's understanding of self-harm and how it is used in
recovery from sexual assault. The second part of the book describes the group work process from the preparation stage to the evaluation stage. The therapy model that has been incorporated into the groupwork is "dialectical behaviour therapy", based on the work of Marsha Lineham, information on which is included in the book. This therapy is based on Buddhist meditation and practices, and understandings of the mind. The objective of this resource is to guide counsellors and others in working in a nonharmful, non-judgemental and understanding manner with young women. The book provides guidelines as to what are helpful or unhelpful responses to selfharm, and provides guidance on the self-care and self-knowledge of the counsellor herself. The authors recognise the link between violence, abuse, oppression and marginalisation with self-harm, and articulate this link throughout the book. The authors also recognise that many conventional/medical responses to young women who self harm are not helpful, in that they often attempt to spontaneously halt the self-harm from occurring without assisting the young women to find other ways to cope. The second part of the book describes the group work process from the preparation stage to the evaluation stage, thus enabling its replication by other counsellors or group workers/leaders. Rather than rely on textbooks that are written purely from the 'professionals' point of view, the authors of this book reflect back what young women, and their own practices and experiences, have told them works and is useful or not useful in a counselling context. This knowledge is used to underpin the groupwork process outlined. Throughout the guide the authors emphasise the need for self-reflective practice, as well as the need to respect young women's own choices regarding their healing process. It highlights the need to work in a way that acknowledges and addresses diversity, and to work with individuals rather than "symptoms". It makes a distinction between self-harm and suicidal behaviours, and emphasises the importance of this distinction. |
| Promising practice examples |
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| Based on existing program | N/A |
| Philosophical framework | The book explores the use of the Buddhist notion of mindfulness in supporting young
women who self-harm. It outlines young women's understanding of self-harm and how it is used in
recovery from sexual assault. The therapy model that has been incorporated into the groupwork is "Dialectical Behaviour Therapy", based on the work of Marsha Lineham. This therapy is based on Buddhist meditation and practices, and understandings of the mind. The philosophies of social justice and feminism underpin this resource, which are also the philosophies by which Zig Zag operates. These philosophies are articulated strongly throughout the resource, both in the explanations of the process of group work, and also during the critiques of the traditional and more recent medical practices used in work with young women who self harm. |
| Research informing program | Dialectical Behaviour Therapy has been evaluated in the United States and has been found to be useful for work with people diagnosed with "borderline personality disorder". Dialectical Behaviour Therapy is now used in psychiatric institutions in Australia and the United Kingdom. |
| Publications | Zig Zag (2003), 'Working with Young Women who Self-harm: A resource for workers', Camp Hill, Queensland. Cost $10 per copy: http://www.zigzag.org.au/html/Resource.htm |
| Evaluation | The group-work therapy based on the resource book is evaluated following attendance through written questionnaires. |
| Funding |
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