What can the SISH self help support group offer me?

• The groups provide a friendly, safe, non judgemental space to meet others who understand the issues faced by a person who uses self injury / self harm, currently or in the past. We don’t ask any questions about what you do or why, you only share as much as you feel comfortable with. Read about what we mean by self injury.

• They are self referral and open, which means you chose to attend and you can attend as little or as often as you want, for as long as you want. We know it can be really hard to reach out for support. We know it takes a lot of courage to come along to a group especially for the first time. You are not alone. SISH will always give you a warm welcome without any pressure to say or do anything you don’t feel comfortable with.

• At the beginning of each group we have a ‘check in’ time when everyone can have the space to talk about how they feel as much or as little as they need. We may talk about a particular topic that is around for the group. Occasionally we might use art materials or self-help workbooks to explore topics further – we have also enjoyed film and popcorn evenings!

• They are facilitated by experienced volunteers who are familiar with self injury and issues surrounding self injury. We have male and female facilitators and the groups will usually have two facilitators each time.

• SISH accepts self injury as a valid coping strategy, so there will be no pressure for you to stop hurting yourself or change your behaviour unless this is something you want to explore.

• The groups run as a facilitated self help support group not a therapy group, giving lots of opportunities to share advice, guidance and support between members of the group, gaining a collective sense of empowerment.

Important Information for Friends & Family If you are a friend, family member, support worker or carer for someone who self injures and would like to find out more about any of the support groups offered by SISH, please feel free to email us for further information – a volunteer will get back to you as soon as possible. As the groups are confidential they are only open to people with direct experience of self injury or self harm. This means that whilst support getting to a group can be invaluable, you won’t be able to sit in when the group is running.

We hope this information about the self help support groups has been useful for you. If you have any other questions or would just like a chat before attending a group please see our Contact Us page for information about how to get in touch.