CentreForMedicalHumanities.org

Our Encounters with Self-Harm – New Edited Collection by PCCS Books

posted on

Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions remain our own.

By CentreForMedicalHumanities.org Research Team | Last verified: September 2026

Medical Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before starting any supplement, medication, or treatment program. Individual results may vary.

Research Summary: Our Encounters with Self-Harm

Category: Edited collection; Mental health narrative anthology
Editors: Charley Baker, Clare Shaw, Fran Biley
Publisher: PCCS Books
Content Focus: First-person accounts from people with lived experience of self-harm, alongside perspectives from family, friends, and care staff
Key Contribution: Challenges medicalized framings (mental illness/disorder) in favor of narratives emphasizing strength, survival, and recovery
Intended Audience: Mental health professionals across service sectors; individuals and families affected by self-harm; those engaged in narrative inquiry
Related Series: Part of “Our Encounters with…” series, including editions on madness and suicide
Evidence Base: Qualitative; unmediated, unsanitized narratives offering direct experiential knowledge
Clinical Significance: Positioned to improve professional attitudes, care practices, and systemic understanding of self-harm

Our Encounters with Self Harm
Edited by Charley Baker, Clare Shaw and Fran Biley
PCCS books

This collection brings together a range of voices on the theme of self-harm – from those who have experienced self-harm directly, alongside the friends, family and staff who live and work with self-harm. Too often, our understanding of the unique and complex experiences of people who self-harm is limited to concepts of mental illness, disorder and disease. Yet these stories demonstrate the strength, survival and recovery of people with rich and diverse lives.

Inspiring, hopeful and at times challenging to read, the contributors who have so generously shared their experiences in this book will promote understanding and compassion, improve attitudes and care, and offer hope to those who are personally encountering self-harm. In this respect, this book is of immense value to all those working with self-harm across a spectrum of services and roles, and to those living with self-harm.

REVIEWS:

A courageous and moving collection that challenges every stereotype about self-harm and offers the first real opportunity to understand a complicated and often distressing action as people experience it themselves. If this book were required reading for professionals, it would transform the mental health system. -Gail A. Hornstein, Professor of Psychology and author of Agnes’s Jacket: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness (PCCS Books, 2012)

A beacon of light. -Louise Pembroke, founder of the National Self Harm Network and editor of Self-harm: Perspectives from Personal Experience (Chipmunka, 2009)

The ‘Our Encounters with…’ series collect together unmediated, unsanitised narratives by service-users, past service-users and carers. These stories of direct experience will be of great benefit to those interested in narrative enquiry, and to those studying and practising in the field of mental health. The series includes “Our Encounters with Madness” ed. Grant, Biley, Walker, and “Our Encounters with Suicide” ed. Grant, Haire, Stone and Biley.

Related Articles

FDA Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.