Questions to Answer After A Slip
slips are chances to learn. you figure out what stresses are still too hard for you and you can work on how you'll deal with them next time you run into them. so instead of beating yourself up, take action.
- have you taken care of your physical wounds? if not, go do that now. we'll wait.
yes - what had happened just before?
Fight with my best friend - she moving out of the house we share. I can't deal with change. - what were you thinking and feeling?
Like my feelings don't matter and if I share them I lose people in my life. - why did you end up hurting yourself then instead of some other time? was there an event that was the final straw? what was it?
I have no control of the things changing this is the only thing I have control of. - how did the situation get to the final straw stage? trace it back through the events that led up to the last event. look for some point at which you could have made a different decision and not arrived at the final straw.
Every thing is changing, no control over anything and I'm losing my best friend. - were there outside factors like drugs, alsohol, being off your meds, lack of sleep, etc? can you address those in the
future? how?
Some drinking - quit smoking - stress at work - what other ways of coping did you try besides self-harm? how well did they work?
Drinking - not the best alternative - but . . . - in retrospect, are there coping methods that you now realize might have helped? what were they?
Some sort of distraction - name at least two things you will do to help yourself remember those coping methods if you end up in this situation again.
I need to learn how to accept change and things I can't control. - how do you feel about the situation that led to self-harm now? is it resolved? if not, what are some steps you might take toward resolution?
I don't feel anything about it. I should though right? - are you likely to be in that emotional place again? how will you recognize it when you're in that situation?
Yes but I don't know what else I could do - what will you try before you resort to self-harm if you're in that situation again? list three specific things you will commit to trying.
Idk
About Opportunities to SI
Opportunity to Self-Harm seems to be a common theme. Think about why opportunities are important to slips and learn why opportunity is important to you.
- What made that opportunity more appealing than any other?
Control of something - Did you make an opportunity or was it there for the taking?
It was there - What would you have done if there was no opportunity, how would you have handled your urge?
If it wasn't around I would have no choice. - If there had been no opportunity would your urge to self-harm have increased or decreased?
Increased - What consitutes opportunity for you? Being alone? having new tools? waiting for the right feeling?
Having tools, being stressed. - If your opportunties were taken away, how would you feel?
Panicked
