Staff training needs

"It's very hard to have a conversation about self-harm without any training, because you do worry about saying the wrong thing"
Source: (Teacher, SORTS focus group)

School staff are well-placed to spot students who are self-harming and can intervene, but research has shown that staff often lack the knowledge and confidence to address self-harm. Staff are sometimes concerned that talking about self-harm will cause the young person further distress or even ‘encourage’ the behaviour. 

The lack of training and confidence can result in negative and unhelpful responses such as:

  • telling the student off
  • showing repulsion or disgust
  • trivialising the problem
  • accusing a young person of seeking attention

All these negative reactions may cause a young person to become more secretive about their self-harm and not seek help.

A SORTS training module is currently being developed to help school staff improve their knowledge and confidence about responding to students who self-harm. Contact us to receive updates on the release of SORTS training for staff. 

Did you know?
Many schools do not have a self-harm policy.
We have developed some guidelines for schools which you can find in the resources section
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