Socio-educational intervention with young people who self-harm
In child and youth mental health centers, we increasingly find young people who self-harm; a problem that often reflects a deep emotional discomfort and not a will in itself. In all cases, but especially when the self-harm is not suicidal (ANS), the task of the social educator is a complement to the therapeutic work, to accompany these children in the recovery process, help them practice healthier alternatives to manage their emotions and promote the reconstruction of their support network . All this, through the creation of an educational bond.
The educational bond is the basis of any socio-educational intervention, which is why it must be solid and secure. Creating the bond is not an easy task and requires a lot of observation on the part of the educator to know the interests and hobbies of the person and to understand their discomfort, their suffering or their feeling of loneliness, always respecting their time.
When the social educator works in the young person's natural environment, the bond that is created is stronger and allows them to observe and learn about the person's reality and put into practice the skills they have worked on.
This bond can begin with a first individual and family intervention from the service itself , in a controlled and more sanitary context, in which the professional introduces himself, makes an initial approach and shows interest in what is happening to the person. But when the social educator can work in the natural environment of the young person is when a stronger bond is built, since a more comprehensive and real view is obtained, which allows him to:
- Observe their family dynamics.
- Know the relationship he has with his friends or know if he doesn't have this circle.
- Find out what opportunities the neighborhood where you live or the community offers you.
- Put into practice the skills learned.
- Detect limitations.
Likewise, it is necessary to work from motivation and respect for the person , but often they no longer have any motivation and have lost interest in what they liked; therefore, at first, guidance, support and accompaniment in identifying interests and looking for meaningful activities that can give value to their life, is very important, to then be able to put it into practice in their natural environment.
Another essential aspect is coordination and teamwork . When working with young people who self-harm, it is necessary to take into account the interventions of different professionals (psychiatry, psychology, nursing, social work, occupational therapy, etc.) and support the application of the strategies and guidelines of the self-harm action plan, in the training of social skills and emotional regulation techniques in their day-to-day lives. This integrated work makes it easier for the young person to transfer the learning acquired to real situations, such as facing moments of leisure, without resorting to self-harm.
Some socio-educational strategies
- Create an educational bond: show empathy and listen without judging to generate trust in the person being served and become a figure they can count on, always respecting their time.
- Encourage meaningful occupations: explore interests and activities, both individual and group, that have value for the person and help them build a future project, as an alternative to self-harm. For example:
- Encourage creative activities as a form of expression.
- Apply practiced strategies if there is any uncomfortable situation in your environment.
- Accompany the person in carrying out a new or already known activity.
- Promote social skills and work in the natural environment: facilitate the person's participation in groups where they can train social skills and accompany them whenever necessary. Some actions in this regard are:
- Encourage them to participate as a volunteer in an organization, do a sporting activity or participate in a youth center, for example.
- Work on social skills in conflict resolution.
- Work on daily life activities: finding your way around public transport or carrying out various procedures, such as requesting a youth card.
- Request information about any training resource that interests you.
- Support work with the family.
- Create routines and habits:
- Establish your daily schedules.
- Set small, achievable goals and track them.
- Use some organizational technique (agenda, calendar, etc.).
- Work in a coordinated and team manner : collaboration between professionals to ensure a comprehensive intervention.
Joaquim Puntí Vidal
An example of intervention with a girl with ASD and social isolation
To help understand what socio-educational intervention consists of, let's give the example of a practical case. A sixteen-year-old girl, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) , who presents long-term school absenteeism, lack of social network and a high level of isolation . Despite the support of the family, her attitude is defiant and makes any attempt at intervention difficult. In addition, self-harm is present and manifests itself in moments of inactivity or as a response to frustrating situations. From psychiatry and psychology, a visit with social education is proposed to be able to work on motivation, meaningful occupations and accompaniment in the natural environment to put it into practice.
The first phase consists of a first visit with the family and the girl, in which the work is introduced from a social education perspective and an initial exploration of her discomfort and interests is carried out. Despite the initial challenging attitude, the girl agrees to attend a few more visits to get to know us and establish a bond, until in the end she agrees to continue the work in her natural environment. In this context, we begin to work on habits and routines , making small agreements that give her structure and stability.
Self-harm decreases as the girl finds meaningful activities and begins to build a future project.
In a second phase , when it has been possible to achieve regularity with an adequate sleep and wake schedule and minimal activities, one of her interests and concerns is taken into account, which is the need to meet people and have someone to share her motivations with, since she feels very lonely, but her lack of social skills makes this connection difficult for her. For this reason, we propose social skills training in a natural environment and propose that she participate in a social skills group adapted to her age and needs that is carried out at the youth center in the city where she lives. At the same time, and with the link to this group, she is accompanied in the search for a non-regulated training resource that fits her interests, that provides her with a motivating objective that serves as a maintenance of the established routines. With this whole process, in which parallel work is also carried out to support the family, the girl is increasingly confident and her defiant attitude decreases.
Self-harm persists at the beginning of the intervention as a response to her discomfort in relation to the feeling of loneliness and inactivity, but decreases as the girl finds meaningful activities and begins to build a future project. The bond with the group , as well as the continuous support of the social educator and the therapeutic team, allows her to face stressful situations differently and put into practice the strategies proposed.
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