Natasha Helfer Parker interviews Ruth Halstead, an LDS therapist and member of the Mormon Mental Health Association, whose work helping people who self-injure was featured in an article in the Chicago Tribune last March, ‘Cutters’ and self-abusers now have support in NWI. Natasha and Ruth cover helpful information that can be used as a resource for those who deal with this issue, as well as their family, friends and ecclesiastical & auxiliary leaders who want to offer support. They also address ways that aspects of Mormon culture/practice can both be assets and problematic in regards to this theme. This podcast is helpful in providing resources for anyone wanting to use March 1st, Self-Injury Awareness Day, as a way of bringing attention and education to this relevant topic.
Note: this podcast was recorded fall of 2016 prior to President Nelson’s statements that the policy affecting LGBT members was “revelation.”
Cornell University Self Injury and Recovery Research and Resources (SIRRR)
Many thanks to The Lower Lights for the beautiful bumper music.
Donations to Mormon Mental Health are tax deductible and go directly to support the costs of producing the podcast.
Natasha Helfer Parker, LCMFT, CST runs an online practice, Symmetry Solutions, which focuses on helping families and individuals with faith concerns, sexuality and mental health. She writes at The Mormon Therapist for Patheos: Hosting the Conversation of Faith, runs Mormon Sex Info and is the current president for the Mormon Mental Health Association.
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