[musicformyears]

Hey all,

I'm currently on counselling and my counsellor set some goals for me to accomplish by the end of last month. And one of the goals was that I have to self harm on covered areas, for example, thighs and upper arms ( I wear clothes with sleeves all the time) and not areas which are more exposed, such as forearms and wrists. I already have scars on my forearms and they are all fading because I'm not allowed to cut my forearms. But, I feel terribly lost without them. I feel compelled to cut my forearms and seeing the scars fading on my forearms really drives me insane too. I don't know why.

I'm seeing my counsellor probably on the 16th of June. And the last time I saw her was on the 22nd last month. I don't know if I can go without cutting my forearms until I see on the 16th this month. The last time when I saw her, I told her I was still cutting my forearms and I feel compelled to do so, because the scars are fading. She seemed mad and I really don't want to upset her the next time when I see her, by telling her that I'm still self harming on exposed areas. But I find it hard not to and there are times where I feel like if I keep seeing those scars on my forearms fading, I will literally cut my forearms in a million pieces...I hope I don't sound insane to all of you reading this thread. :/

Any advice on this? Thanks for any help given.

Xoxo,
Grace

[catastrophic]

Can you maybe try the rubber band approach...

If you have to cut try do that in the 'covered areas' and on your wrist/ forearm u a rubber band around your wrist and flick it - that way you still see at least your arm red from the mark of the rubber band but not damaged?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[musicformyears]

Thanks. I will try.

[herethennow]

My question would be: did the counselor work out with you on why you have the urge to cut yourself? If yes, then the counselor would not be that restrictive on the cutting.. in my opinion.

Sometimes I guess you have to remember.. the counseling is about you. Whether you make the counselor angry or frustrated, it is not your problem. It's their job to take it in stride and move on.

With that said, I hope you can see the counselor's advice as a step towards a lifestyle without self harm behaviour. Agree with the other posters - why not try other methods like rubber band?

Jiayou
(translation: keep fighting.. or something like that.)

[musicformyears]

Thank you so much. I will try that.

[Frankbtl]

Hi Grace, no you don't sound insane your counselor sounds insane!! . I hope I'm wrong though!! [wrong about your counselor that is ]
To me it's kind of along the lines of them asking you to try switching from one drug that's addictive, to another drug that has the potential to be just as addictive and maybe gradually give you/take from you just what the first drug did.
And herethennow has made the excellant point of: is she actually focusing on working with you as to why you feel the urges, and working on helping you reduce/block those urges?
And as for her seeming mad, try not to see that as a reflection on you. I'd say that she should be understanding as to how hard it might be for you, and fighting off urges isn't always as easy as...............so don't worry about upsetting her, if she isn't going to be there for you to listen to you, understand, help and support you in this............time for you to have words with her, and ask for more from her.
Alison

P.S. absolutely give the rubber band a try too!!

[musicformyears]

I don't think my counselor and I talked about what makes me cut myself yet. Or I might not remember... Seriously very sorry about my poor memory...I have been suffering from several bouts of memory loss...I don't know why. It's sort of affecting me in my daily life too.
But, thank you so much. All your replies made me felt better. )))) I will try the rubber band method...Thank you soooooooooooo muuuuuucccchhhhhhh. )))))