QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:
Health & Spirituality

Please remember, this column is designed to help the consumer seeking behavioral-health information, and not intended to be any form of psychotherapy or a replacement for professional, individualized services. Opinions expressed in the column are those of the columnist and do not represent the position of other SelfhelpMagazine.com staff.

Question

I have very poor self-esteem. One of the ways it shows up is from bad scars I have from cutting on myself. I am wondering if psychotherapy would help. I have never been sexually abused and so I am not sure.

Answer

Psychotherapy can be of great value for a wide variety of problems and is not limited to sexual abuse. I would certainly encourage you to look into it as an option for healing. There are several very helpful articles about psychotherapy in this magazine.

As far as your history of self-abuse is concerned, take some hope from the fact that this pattern of behavior is coming under more study. We now know, for example, that for many persons it is not an act of suicide but rather a misguided attempt to release blocked emotions. It can even take on an addictive quality. Many people who injure themselves are typically intelligent, high-achieving persons who have developed some perfectionist personality patterns.

Psychotherapy could help you learn how to express your emotions more productively and could also help you heal from any childhood hurts which have fueled any perfectionism.

09/21/98

Richard B. Patterson is a clinical psychologist in private practice in El Paso, TX. He is the author of three books on psychology and spirituality.