Attachment-Based Family Therapy for Adolescent Self-Injury

Abstract

There is growing awareness in the popular media and in clinical reports of the increasing prevalence of self-injury, especially among adolescents. Self-injury affects the entire family and is, in turn, affected by the family system. Thus, family therapy is an important component when working with adolescents who are still dependent on their families. However, available treatments, for the most part, do not address the relational-systemic aspects of self-harm, and treat only the individual. This article situates self-harm within the relational framework of adolescent attachment theory and presents a case study demonstrating the treatment of adolescent self-injury with attachment-based family therapy.