Cognitive-behavioral therapy for deliberate self-harm

Patients who engage in deliberate self-harm (DSH) form a heterogeneous population. There is a need for psychotherapeutic interventions that give therapists the flexibility to tailor the treatment plan to the needs of an individual patient. To detect essential ingredients for treatment, three different cognitive-behavioral theories of DSH will be reviewed: (1) the cognitive-behavioral theory of Linehan (1993a), (2) the cognitive theory of Berk, Henriques, Warman, Brown, and Beck (2004), and (3) the cognitive-behavioral theory of Rudd, Joiner, and Rajab (2001). A review of these theories makes it possible to compare the different approaches to the essential aspects in the treatment of DSH: a trusting patient-therapist relationship, building emotion regulation skills, cognitive restructuring, and behavioral pattern breaking. An overview will be given of therapeutic techniques that can be used to address the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal problems associated with DSH.