The recent case of "Nguyen v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, et al.," considered the question of whether a college or university has the affirmative obligation to protect its students from all harm at all times, including suicide. Han Nguyen was a 25-year old graduate student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) when he…

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) refers to deliberately harming one's body without the intention of dying. Common methods include skin cutting, scratching, burning, and self-battery. NSSI is currently not listed as a diagnostic category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), but it is considered a condition for further…

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a prevalent psychiatric illness that often first presents at college. If left untreated, BPD can lead to severe disability or fatality. While multiple evidence-based treatments for BPD exist, most are resource intensive and, therefore, difficult to implement at the typical college mental health center.…

The relationship between self-injury (SI) and suicide is largely unclear. However, researchers have suggested that clients who self-injure are at a heightened risk of suicide (Chapman & Dixon-Gordon, 2007; Toprak, Cetin, Guven, Can, & Demircan, 2011]). Thus, it is important that college counselors be knowledgeable about both SI and…

Pogo recognized long ago that we often are our own worst enemies. Sure, he was a cartoon character, but he had a point--especially in higher education, where self-sabotage seems to be a standard characteristic of academic careers. In the author's 30 years as a professor, five years as a dean, and three years as a provost, he has observed many…

Trends in college mental health literature suggest many college and university counseling centers are facing increased demands for services. Moreover, survey data suggest that counseling center directors and staff perceive increases in serious psychopathology, suicidality, and nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior, along with other typical student…

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a significant issue among college students but few resources are available to college mental health professionals. This article consolidates extant knowledge on NSSI from the empirical and clinical literature, including common NSSI characteristics (rates, methods, demographics, and concomitants), intrapersonal and…

Concern about the prevalence of nonsuicidal self-injury is widespread. Members of an electronic listserv for college counseling center directors nationwide were invited to participate in a Web survey to investigate provider experience with nonsuicidal self-injury; 290 surveys were analyzed. Most respondents perceived recent increases in…

This report summarizes data contributed to Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) during the 2012-2013 academic year, closing on June 30, 2013. Data was contributed by 132 college and university counseling centers describing more than 95,00 unique college students seeking mental health treatment, 3,000 clinicians, and over 500,000…

Intersectionality takes into account how inequalities of race, gender, class, and sexuality "intersect," or work in combined ways, in the lives of Black women and other women of color. As a holistic teaching approach, it also has relevance for all people, male and female, straight and gay, rich and poor, and along the various continuums…

When good people do violently bad things, one seeks answers, drawing from one's repertoire of theories and concepts that have served him/her well. Underlying one's attempts to understand violent behavior is the belief that one can impose sense on seemingly insensible actions. Sometimes, in the face of inexplicable events, one is left to try to…

In this article, the author recalls and shares the first half of her college journey. Her memories do not play back to her in bursts of sounds or colors; friends or lovers; feelings, touches, tastes, or ideas. They play, rather, as silent images of herself that flicker disjointedly across her mind, the lens of her memory having recorded her…

In this book, group work and college counseling leaders offer step-by-step instruction in the effective use and processing of structured group activities on topics such as test anxiety; stress and anxiety management; ADHD; career development; substance abuse; eating disorders; and the unique concerns faced by GLBT students, first-generation…

In this article, the author discusses self-injury, which is a strategy to manage painful emotions. Generally, it is not about attempting suicide. In addition, it operates in complex ways. One one level, it is a method of communicating feelings when the self-injurer lacks other skills with which to express them. On another level, it helps people…