Self-Injury

Many people are unfamiliar with self-injury and the term “cutting” or “cutter.” It has become more popular in recent years, particularly amongst adolescents. Those who cut themselves are not necessarily suicidal. In fact, people who cut tend to self-mutilate in places that are not likely to be seen by others (i.e. inner thighs, stomach, upper arms, inner forearms). Like alcoholism or drug abuse, cutting is addictive. There is a release of chemicals in the brain when one cuts that creates a high, a rush. Some cut to experience feelings, as they have become emotionally numb. Others cut to display the emotional pain and suffering they are experiencing internally.

Danielle Jagoda, Marriage and Family Therapist, uses psychotherapy to explore the emotions and inner pain a cutter is experiencing or the reasons behind the numbing that has taken place. She provides her clients with ways to replace the cutting behavior and tools to get through moments when they want to cut. As a Marriage and Family Therapist, she is careful not to shame her clients who cut. She is knowledgeable on the subject and uses her psychotherapeutic skills to help clients talk rather than cut.