SlayneB is back again on 43 things.
Positive expression, not cutting.
I once knew a gifted lay therapist in 12 step work who told me that in dealing with a cutter, the best therapeutic intervention he found was to have them promise to call someone and talk about their feelings before they cut. Sometimes they had to rage out very powerful emotions. Because he felt that cutting was unexpressed feelings that were looking for an outlet. Once the person became used to making the phone call before picking up the knife or razor, it would then become a new good habit. I thought that made a lot of sense.
Reading your post made me remember this advice, and I’m glad you found your solution, which seems to be along the same theme of expressing your emotions in a positive way and not bottling them up so they explode by the self-harm of cutting. And there is such wisdom in noting that this is a process, is not overnight, and there will be bumps in the road. In 12-step parlance, we call it “progress not perfection”.
Anyway, good for you, and good that you shared about this, it could very well help someone else.
