Understanding Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Practical Interventions from a Brain-Based Perspective

Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

Neurologic by Lakeside

First Presenter’s Email Address

katd@lakesidetraining.org

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Kathryn deVries MA, PhD Kathryn is an Educational Psychologist and Licensed Professional Counselor who is passionate about helping schools to create sustainable, supportive, and emotionally safe environments. She has spent many years in private practice working with clients who have experienced trauma. In 2010 she received a scholarship from the United Way to become certified in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeuetics (NMT) with the Child Trauma Academy under the leadership of neurodevelopmental expert Dr. Bruce Perry. Kathryn became a trainer of NMT for Lakeside staff in 2017. In 2018 she pursued a doctorate in educational psychology at Temple University and worked on research to better understand how trauma affects school outcomes in math. She currently works as part of the Neurologic® by Lakeside leadership team as the Coordinator of Research and Development.

Strand #1

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Health: Mental & Physical Health

Relevance

This applies to Heart, Hands, and Health- This presentation will empower youth advocates with a brain-based understanding of why students might be engaging in non-suicidal self-injury such as cutting and how classroom, home and therapeutic environments can be optimized to eliminate these practices.

Brief Program Description

Students who engage in non-suicidal self-injury are treated in the clinical mental health realm. School, classroom and home environments can provide predictable, patterned, and repetitive experiences which will help shift these students away from self-injurious behavior. This presentation focuses on who these students are, why they are injuring themselves and what school, classroom and home practices will help them move toward health. A primary focus of the presentation is specific and practical application ideas.

Summary

Understanding non-suicidal self-injury and practical interventions from a brain-based perspective

Students who engage in non-suicidal self-injury are often referred for clinical help. Along with this, classroom, school and home environments can be instrumental in helping students learn healthier ways of dealing with their emotions and stress. This presentation will provide a brief overview of a brain-based understanding of why students self-injure. This foundation is the basis for practical ideas and examples of environmental experiences in the classroom and at home that will help students move towards health.

More details on what will be included are listed below:

1. Definition of non-suicidal self-injury

  • What it is…What it isn’t
  • How often is it occurring?
  • Who is engaging in this?
  • Why are students engaging in this practice?

2. Brain Science of non-suicidal self-injury

  • Stress response system
  • Dissociation
  • Endogenous opiates

3. What these students need

  • Distress tolerance
  • Emotional regulation strategies
  • Sensory awareness

4. Building environments which provide targeted growth for these students

  • Physical classroom equipment
  • Practices which change classroom culture
  • Using current lesson plans in a targeted way

Evidence

Johnson, B. N., McKernan, L. C., & Bruehl, S. (2022). A Theoretical Endogenous Opioid Neurobiological Framework for Co-occurring Pain, Trauma, and Non-suicidal Self-injury. In Current Pain and Headache Reports (Vol. 26, Issue 6, pp. 405–414). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-022-01043-9

Lanius, R. A., Boyd, J. E., McKinnon, M. C., Nicholson, A. A., Frewen, P., Vermetten, E., Jetly, R., & Spiegel, D. (2018). A Review of the Neurobiological Basis of Trauma-Related Dissociation and Its Relation to Cannabinoid- and Opioid-Mediated Stress Response: a Transdiagnostic, Translational Approach. In Current Psychiatry Reports (Vol. 20, Issue 12). Current Medicine Group LLC 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-018-0983-y

Nock, M. K. (2009). Why Do People Hurt Themselves? New Insights Into the Nature and Functions of Self-Injury.

Perry, B. D. and Winfrey, O. (2021). What happened to you?: conversations on trauma, resilience, and healing. New York : Flatiron Books.

Perry, B.D. and Szalavitz, M. (2017). The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Van de Kolk, B.A. (2014) The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Van Horn, Kathy. (2018) NeuroLogic® Curriculum. North Wales, PA: Lakeside

Learning Objective 1

1. Be able to define non-suicidal self-injury and the dissociative stress response.

Learning Objective 2

2. Have a basic understanding of the brain science which propels this kind of behavior.

Learning Objective 3

3. Be able to describe practical and specific classroom, school and home environmental practices which will give students opportunities to build distress tolerance, emotional regulation and sensory awareness.

Keyword Descriptors

self-injury, emotional tolerance, emotional regulation, sensory awareness

Presentation Year

2024

Start Date

3-6-2024 11:15 AM

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Mar 6th, 11:15 AM

Understanding Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Practical Interventions from a Brain-Based Perspective

Students who engage in non-suicidal self-injury are treated in the clinical mental health realm. School, classroom and home environments can provide predictable, patterned, and repetitive experiences which will help shift these students away from self-injurious behavior. This presentation focuses on who these students are, why they are injuring themselves and what school, classroom and home practices will help them move toward health. A primary focus of the presentation is specific and practical application ideas.