Lets Talk about 

Self-harm  

Mid and North East Essex Mind (MNEE Mind) has been offering free training and guidance to professionals supporting young people aged under 18 who are affected by self-harm in Essex since Autumn 2023.

We updated the “Let’s Talk about Self-harm” Management Toolkit for Southend, Essex and Thurrock and run training workshops across Essex to support the use of the Toolkit.  The newest version for 2024 is now available.

It has been well received with over 250 people from a range of settings attending the workshops in the past year.

We have been commissioned by the Integrated Commissioning Board (ICG) for Southend, Essex and Thurrock to lead the initiative to support the use of the revised Toolkit.

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The “Let’s Talk about Self-harm” Management Toolkit provides guidance and support for individuals working with school-age children and young people under 18 in educational settings.

It is designed to help those working with young people feel confident in identifying self-harming behaviour and how to respond and support those young people who are self-harming.

The Toolkit includes:

  • How to identify the signs of self-harm
  • How to identify who is self-harming and who is at risk
  • Responding to an incident/suspected incident of self-harm
  • Pathway of recommended actions
  • Assessing risk
  • Confidentiality
  • Talking to children or young people who are self-harming, including conversation prompts and do’s and don’ts
  • Practical distraction and coping strategies for children and young people that are self-harming such as mindfulness, or way of releasing anger or aggression
  • Where to get help from self-harm including signposting to services who can support with self-harm, useful apps and websites
  • The importance of self-care for staff who are supporting young people who self-harm and resources that they may be able to use
Download the 2024 Toolkit

Feedback on the Toolkit

Toolkit Overview: 15-Minute Video & Free Workshops

We have a fifteen-minute animated video that can be viewed in conjunction with the Toolkit.  This will provide you with a brief overview of the key elements of the Toolkit.  For more in-depth details on the Toolkit, we also provide free training workshops on the Toolkit.

Watch the video

Workshops

We deliver free half-day workshops across Essex to professionals supporting the use of “Let’s Talk about Self-harm” Management Toolkit.

The workshops enables a safe environment with other professionals to explore identifying self-harming behaviour and how to respond to and support children and young people who self-harm.  It also provides helpful resources and signposting to take away.

Lets Talk about Self Harm - MIND

Feedback from previous attendees

Helpful resources

The Toolkit also provides accompanying resources to support you and your organisation. 

Including leaflets to give to parents and young people, template letter that can be used to send to parents, incident recording form and Risk Management Plan for moving forward.  A Helpful Resources sheet with useful links and workbooks can also be accessed here.

Leaflet for parents

.PDF (307KB)

Leaflet for young people

.PDF (309KB)

Template School Letter

.PDF (153KB)

Risk Form for Schools

.PDF (227KB)

Incident Recording Form for Schools

.PDF (171KB)

Helpful Resources

.PDF (171KB)

According to NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) ‘Prevalence statistics are unreliable because it is sometime hidden, a recent national study reported that 7.3% of girls and 3.6% of boys aged 11-16yrs had self-harmed or attempted suicide, this rises for 17-19yrs olds to 21.5% for girls and 9.7% for boys.

The rates of probable mental health disorders amongst children have been increasing in the UK over the last decade and although self-harm is not a mental health disorder it can often be the symptom of one.

Dr Paul Chrisp, Director of the Centre for Guidelines at NICE said ‘Self-harm is a growing problem and should be everyone’s business to tackle- not just those working in the mental health services’.

It is recognised that children and young people spend a high proportion of their time in schools and colleges and therefore the staff there may often be the first adult who becomes aware of a child or young person’s self-harming, whether that is directly from the child or young person, or a friend asking for help on their behalf.

Parents will also often seek support and advice for their children and young people who are self-harming by going to schools in the first instance, desperate for help and reassurance. 

Being able to support appropriately and confidently and help both the child or young person and the system around them, is key to reaching a positive outcome.

NICE has drafted a comprehensive document for school staff. It recommends working collaboratively with children or young people to provide support.

Immediate physical health needs should be addressed, involving medical services if needed. Staff should also know how to access and direct others to additional support.

NICE also recommended schools should ensure there are policies and procedures in place so that staff are able to:

• Identify self-harm behaviours
• Assess the needs of a student
• Know what to do if a student is self-harming
• How to support a student’s close friends and peer group