TPC-Journal-V6-Issue1

The Professional Counselor /Volume 6, Issue 1 72 immediate behavioral concerns and provide alternative coping mechanisms for clients as they process the meaning of their behaviors, treatment for the underlying issue is suggested in order to ensure long-term success. Therefore, for any clinical treatment to be optimally helpful and globally applicable, having useful, relevant research data is a must. Limitations, Implications and Future Research The limitations of this study are noted throughout, including a lack of clear consensus among practitioners on how to diagnose and treat self-injury. There is a lack of understanding of how self- injurious behaviors are connected to suicidal intent. Clinicians will diagnose suicidal intent out of fear that the injury could result in unintentional death, which ignores the intention of the act (McAllister, 2003; Trepal & Wester, 2007). By further examining self-injury and the measures that exist, the differences can be more clearly defined so practitioners clearly assess for self-injury. The reporting rates on self-injury are difficult to clearly identify and define due to confusions, including little information regarding culture, ethnicity and gender differences. Measures like the YRBS are beneficial, yet lump together the behaviors and are conducted often. This study attempted to further examine the YRBS responses in hopes to show the importance of differentiation between self-injury and suicide intent among various ethnicities, cultures and genders. Previous research has shown that when underlying issues related to trauma, depression or other related stressors are not addressed, self-injurious behaviors are likely to reoccur later in life even after they have ceased for a number of years (Alderman, 1997; Conaghan & Davidson, 2002; Walsh, 2006). If other presenting behaviors, such as self-injurious aggression, are not recognized as a similar coping mechanism or way of emotionally regulating distressing feelings, appropriate diagnosis and treatment might be elusive, time-consuming and expensive. Therapeutic interventions need to match the client’s presenting concerns and the underlying purpose driving the behavior. The possible cultural and social context involved in the client’s internal perspectives on behavioral choices and subsequent actions might be useful to evaluate. This would allow for space to create a greater sense of self-awareness and thus provide an increased likelihood that the client will be able to regulate or cope with their distressing emotions in a useful and self-empowering way. Feminist, Adlerian, and narrative interventions could be used to help facilitate this process, as they are each grounded in creating awareness of societal influences with regard to one’s personal process, purpose, and self-perceptions (McAllister, 2001; Sweeney, 2009; Worell & Remer, 2003). Mental health counselors may want to evaluate how their current theoretical orientation can help them conceptualize self-injury in productive and useful ways to empower the client toward gaining a greater sense of self-awareness and openness to treatment. Interventions from a variety of counseling perspectives offer clinicians more treatment choices, and more treatment choices translate into greater success in addressing a client’s problem. Research that includes the whole picture of self- injurious behavior provides the most benefit for successful clinical practice. Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure The authors reported no conflict of interest or funding contributions for the development of this manuscript.