Episode 001: Helping Students Who Self-Injure with Kim Johancen, LPCMH

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About this Episode

This week we speak with Kim Johancen, LPC about key warning signs that a student may be self-injuring, what a teacher should do if they discover that a student is self-injuring, key risk factors that increase a student’s likelihood of self-injuring and what school leaders can do to educate all students on mental health.

Kim is a counselor who has worked for a number of years with students who self-injure or who have experienced trauma. She is co-author of the newly released book, Traumatized Students: School-Based Interventions for Reaching Below the Surface, and will be presenting at Innovative Schools Summit Las Vegas July 6-10, 2020.

One recent study found that nearly 1 in every 6 American teenagers engage in self-injury. This equates to about 7 million students nationwide – which is more than the population of several states. And the numbers are on the rise. Another recent study found that the self-injury rate among 10 to 14-year-old girls has nearly tripled since 2008.

With these numbers in mind we thought it was important to speak with Kim about what edcucators should know about self-injury and how to help students struggling with this behavior.