Helping children and youth with self-harm behaviours

This fact sheet provides information for parents and carers about helping children and young people with self-harm behaviours and what you need to know.

It covers:

• ‘What is self-harm?’
• ‘How common are self-harm behaviours?’
• ‘Why do people self-harm?’
• ‘How do self-harm behaviours develop?’
• ‘How is self-harm treated?’
• ‘Should we get professional help?’
• ‘Helping a child or teen who self-harms (short term)’
• ‘What doesn’t help?’
• ‘Supporting a child or teen over the long-term’
• ‘Extreme parenting styles and self-harm’
• ‘How do I handle it if my teen threatens self-harm?’