1 This is a video of Eva’s memory.
As we walk with you through Eva’s room, you will find “home” videos of Eva’s memories. Here, we have an actress playing Eva, reading out the words of excerpts of 4.48 Psychosis (a favourite text of ours).
As we walk with you through Eva’s room, you will find “home” videos of Eva’s memories. Here, we have an actress playing Eva, reading out the words of excerpts of 4.48 Psychosis (a favourite text of ours).
2 Click on the label for guided mental health commentary from accredited psychologists
3 The orange keywords are linked to a compendium for more in-depth reading.
3 The orange keywords are linked to a compendium for more in-depth reading.
This time, we explore a familiar topic: self-harm.
Self-harm is a complex issue – there are a variety of reasons why anyone would choose to do so, and a variety of ways different adults and mental health professionals may choose to respond to it. Tack on societal stigma against self-harm, and you have a thorny issue mired in an unhelpful fog of prejudice and misinformation.
Nonetheless, some responses to self-harm are, perhaps, kinder than others.
We see here a clear tension between Eva and her therapist, a covert power-play over why she did what she did. It is true, however, that for some people the act of self-harm is meant to relieve emotional tension– or negative emotions held within the body and the mind.
Clearly, that is not true for Eva.
For some of us, her therapist’s response is also a familiar line of questioning – most adults would take this slightly condescending tone with young people caught self-harming. While certainly good-intentioned, the chastisement is clearly making her feel very uncomfortable.
At this junction, one might observe that this is not a very healthy therapeutic alliance.
At the same time, Eva is also portraying slightly manipulative tendencies with her response to the therapist’s line of questioning – her attempts at trying to seize back control of the situation reaches a peak with her acknowledging what she wants: her therapist’s attention with ASK ME WHY.
Something has shifted here, in this setting. Let’s see where this brings us.