I have lived experience with self injury, and I have found Allison’s interview to be one of the most eye opening interviews that I’ve heard. Hearing it described as compulsive self injury was incredibly eye opening. Very educational, and super interesting.

Wow thank you so much for agreeing to interview Allison, I have lived experience with NSSI, and I was always feeling like my experience was different than everyone else’s because I didn’t happen upon NSSI accidentally, but I deliberately chose to use NSSI—and it was always premeditated. Also, I wanted scars (I think I may have been the person you mentioned in the podcast in regarding a response you received to an episode on scarring in Season 2!) I so resonated with what Allison was saying in regards to feelings when scars fade—as I was sad when mine started fading and would experience urges to NSSI wanting more prominent scars again. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for this episode and it was validating to hear that I am not the only one with this experience regarding NSSI scarring.

As a nurse, mother of teens & mindful family/community member, my desire to educate myself on NSSI (or SH) for awareness & to be an advocate lead me to this podcast. It’s everything I was looking for & more. It explored the topics I wanted to learn about then answered questions I didn’t even know to ask. Each episode contains a thought leader in this field along with their social media accounts to follow, their websites that contain even more resources & current research their working on. After only a few episodes, I began to feel more confident on how to care better for my patients with SH history & on being resource for any young person in my life in crisis. If someone came to me today & needed help, I would know where to send them or find answers. The info is straightforward. As a parent, I can imagine some of the info or stats could be hard to hear if you’ve just discovered your child is engaging in SH. While it’s respectfully & mindfully discussed, it’s not sugarcoated. Be emotionally prepared for sensitive topics, take breaks if it gets too emotional, have a plan for self care as you process the info. Then come back & keep listening. Because information is power. And a well informed, supportive parent is protective against worse case scenarios in kiddos (I learned that from this podcast). There are plenty of hopeful statistics & encouraging tidbits as well. Like they say, the unknown is usually scarier than reality. I’ve only found a handful of audiobooks on the topic, but this podcast was better than any book I could have imagined. Thank you Dr. Westers! Keep it up!

This the best podcast I have heard on this subject!

This podcast has helped us tremendously in our journey with self injury in our teen daughter. It is a very lonely place to be in at times, and most people do not fully understand. This is exceptional info and all the guests have so much experience to offer. Well done!

I found this podcast last fall and wish it was something that would have been available to me as a teen. I started harming at a young age and still have waves and phases where I deal with self injury. The insight in this series is invaluable to those who struggle and can offer so much insight for friends and family on how to help or understand better. Thank you for all your hard work on a topic many still shy away from.

As a clinical therapist, I can’t recommend this podcast enough for its invaluable information about a difficult and often misunderstood topic. Great for parents and loved ones of people struggling, and for those struggling.

Thank you for talking about a heavy topic often clouded by shame.

I was so glad to find this podcast (and even happier to find it was a really well done podcast!) while searching for answers when I started self-harming. Self-harm is almost always neglected on other psychology podcasts, so having a normalizing, educational podcast exclusively about SH is really helpful, especially from a high quality medical center like UTSW. Thank you, Dr. Westers!

The LGBTQ episode was my favorite. I’m non binary and this was accurate on how much self harm is done by people who aren’t cis. :)

Dr. Westers is a great resource to the podcasting community. He brings care and compassion to this important topic. Thank you for doing this!

Great resource for anyone who may have suddenly found themselves needing to know more about how to help a loved one that is self harming. Grateful for Dr. Westers, his colleagues, and guests that have a wealth of knowledge, shared experiences, and compassion for the topic. Makes navigating a tough and emotional experience easier.

I’m so grateful that this podcast exists. Dr. Westers is warm and clearly has expert knowledge about self-injury. I love hearing from a variety of guests- some with lived experience, professionals in the field, and parents. I am a therapist and have learned so much listening to this podcast. I also recommend patients/families to listen.

I’m really grateful that there’s such a compassionate podcast on self-harm. It’s thoughtful, non-judgmental and insightful. Thank you.

This is such an important topic for families today and delivered with such insight. Thank you!

I have listened to all the podcast episodes and they have been fabulous! I even told my therapist about it and he said he’d give it a listen. I thought the episode with Dr. Hasting had a lot of really great statistics and the mother’s perspective was helpful to me. As someone who self-harms, it was really beneficial to get that outlook to try to understand how it affects my parents. I was also just really impressed with how malika told her story and how empathetic and understanding and non-judgmental Dr. Westers is as a host. Thank you for the work you are doing!

Thank you for creating this podcast! I am someone with lived experience who is constantly on the lookout for good resources for others dealing with NSSI, parents, and professionals. This podcast is wonderful for all of those. It is on point and discusses the topic from a scientific, yet compassionate perspective. I had a traumatic first therapy experience when I began self-injuring, and I am thankful there is so much more information available today and resources like this podcast. Thank you so much for making this available!

This is a fabulous resource for anyone interested in this area – as a professional, parent, someone with lived experience or someone simply interested in learning more about a common phenomenon. Dr. Westers is compassionate and insightful and teachers leading experts in this area. So glad to have this to share with so many people my life! Thank you!

If you are a parent, someone with lived experience, or you want to know how to be there to love and support someone you care for then you MUST listen to this podcast. The content is easy to listen to and very educational provided by leading experts in this field.