CONTENTS

Preface to the Revised Edition

Preface

Acknowledgments

PART ONE: THE ILLNESS

Introduction

Chapter 1: What Is Self-Mutilation?

Chapter 2: The Phenomenon of a Self-Destructive Act

Chapter 3: Who Is the Self-Mutilator?

Chapter 4: The Reactions of Others

Chapter 5: How the Disorder Takes Shape

Chapter 6: How and Why the Disorder Deepens

Chapter 7: Attachment Patterns

Chapter 8: The Benefits of Self-Wounding

Chapter 9: The Value of Pain in Our Culture

Chapter 10: The Family System

Chapter 11: Incest and Other Childhood Abuse: Fusing Pain with Security

PART TWO: TOWARD RECOVERY

Chapter 12: A Perspective on Change

Chapter 13: Reaching Out to Reach In

Chapter 14: Who Can Be the Helpers?

Chapter 15: Bumps Along the Road

Chapter 16: Caught Between Symptom and Attachment

Chapter 17: Moving Backwards to Recovery

Chapter 18: Achieving Genuine Communication with Others

Chapter 19: Analyzing and Confronting the Past

Epilogue

Afterword, 2006

Recommended Readings on Self-Mutilation

Other Resources

Index