“What Do You Think Needs to be Done to Address Self-Harm?”: Centering the Perspectives of Youth Who Engage in Self-Harm Through Found Poetry

Abstract

In recent years, suicide and nonsuicidal self-injury researchers and practitioners have identified the need to amplify the lived experiences of individuals who experience and engage in self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in research and clinical practice (hereinafter referred to as “self-harm” to honor the words used by the youth who participated in this study). In the present study, we sought the wisdom and perspectives of youth who engage in self-harm in response to the following questions: What do you think needs to be done to address self-harm? What would you say to parents of youth who engage in self-harm? What would you say to other youth who are engaging in self-harm? Utilizing data from in-depth interviews ( N = 59), we constructed a series of three found research poems to center their words and perspectives in answer to each of the research questions.