Articles: 'Cutters' Learn How to Heal Their Scars
By Bob Pool
Counselor Gets New Insights
"Before, the first thing I'd think when I saw a girl cut herself was that it was a suicide gesture or it was poor impulse control or attention-seeking," Levander said. "The girls would tell me, 'You have it wrong: I'm not trying to kill myself. It's what I do to stay alive.' They'd say it angrily. I felt completely ineffective."
Vista del Mar administrators launched their treatment program by dispatching Levander to Chicago to study a self-injury treatment regimen devised by experts at a psychiatric hospital. Back in West Los Angeles, he organized a program designed to teach alternatives to cutting for the teenage girls.
The 45-hour curriculum treats self-injurers with respect as they are encouraged to replace their impulse to harm themselves with better ways of feeling they are in control. Levander has a list of 58 alternatives, ranging from listening to music to planting flowers.
At the same time, the teens are taught to recognize the roots of their obsession. Typically, previous sexual or physical abuse or continuing parental or school problems have led to a loss of self-esteem that is to blame. Experts believe the habit is reinforced by the euphoric effects of endorphins released in the brain as a reaction to the injury.
Twenty-seven girls have participated so far in the program, which is voluntary for Vista del Mar residents. Mandatory treatment would not work, Levander and other experts said.
Danielle, an Agoura Hills resident who has lived at Vista del Mar for six months, is one of five girls now taking part. With permission from her mother, she freely discussed how she was introduced to cutting.
"I was 11 and in the hospital for depression when I saw my roommate do it," she said. "My parents had divorced, we had moved away from my dad and I was failing at school. My roommate in the hospital cut herself. I thought I'd see if it worked with me.
"In the beginning, I wanted mom or dad's attention. I wanted to talk about why I was doing cutting. But nobody caught me doing it until weeks afterward. After a while, I was doing it as an everyday thing. I'd have sharp things in my backpack in school and go to the restroom and do it."