Cut it Out! (Scarred Soul, The - Tracy Alderman)

Member Name: lily7star

Product:	Scarred Soul, The - Tracy Alderman
Date:	02/09/00 (105 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent self-help book

Disadvantages: Can be very difficult to do the exercises

Excuse the pun, but some people really think that ending self-destructive behaviour should be that simple. The truth is very far from that.

Dr Tracy Alderman is a clinical psychologist working in California, whose interests include the often misunderstood topic of self inflicted violence (shortened to SIV for the rest of the opinion!). She has written "The Scarred Soul" with the aim of helping self-injurers learn to understand and so control and hopefully ultimately stop this behaviour.

Although Alderman's book is designed particularly for anyone who is struggling with hurting themselves, it will also be of interest and value to anyone working with or living alongside them. Cutting and other self-inflicted harm is often misunderstood and self-injurers misjudged and labelled as atention seekers. Any book which redresses this balance is to be welcomed.

"The Scarred Soul" is certainly the best self help book I've read on the subject and has a lot of very practical exercises designed to help the self-injurer look at the role self-injury fills for them, and what they can do to introduce healthier and more positive coping mechanisms into their lives.

Starting with the chapters "What is SIV?" and "Why do People engage in SIV?" Alderman explains this taboo behaviour, which according to recent research, is believed to be at least as common as eating disorders in this country.

Chapter 2 then goes on to explore the psychological reasons behind it and challenges the self-injurer to do this for themselves. There are as many reasons as there are self-injurers, but some common themes such as relief from intolerable feelings; stopping, preventing or inducing dissociation; physically expressing internal pain, self-punishment or self-nurturing; re-enacting abuse or taking control.

The exercises are not easy, and would probably best be done within a therapy setting, but some could b
e worked through alone. I have not known anyone manage to work through the whole book without professional support, maybe just because it's such a difficult issue to tackle that having support helps with the motivation to actually change.

There are some particularly useful exercises, eg around learning and using feeling words.....self-injurers often find expressing feelings an overwhelming challenge because they've never had the experience of being taught how to do this through childhood.

Subsequent chapters look at subjects ranging from the nature and cycle of SIV, including feelings about scars and hiding wounds, to how it feels to talk to others about this often very shameful area of behaviour. The latter includes encouragement to connect with others rather than isolating, and a very useful section on what to look for in a therapist.

After sections on stopping self-injuring behaviours and what happens *after* you have stopped, come chapters aimed at family and friends, and one for therapists. These address feelings often raised in those living and working with a self-injuring family member, friend or client.

Self injury is a behaviour most often associated with teenagers (although it often happens outside of this age group) and rather than using difficult to understand terms and language, this book is accessible to teens without being patronising.

I would wholeheartedly recommend "The Scarred Soul" to anyone for whom self injury is an issue, and in addition anyone who would like to understand this behaviour in a friend or client would benefit from at least reading the relevant sections.

To anyone reading this for whom self injury is something only too familiar, I can do no better than to leave you with these words from the book:

" Living with self-inflicted violence is not easy - nor is living without it. I hope that someday soon you will feel secure and safe enough and that you
have enough resources that you won't need to hurt yourself any more. Until that time keep struggling, keep coping, keep surviving, and keep growing, knowing that you already possess what it takes to succeed - strength and courage."

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