Student project led by Hadassah Buechner

2015/16 round

See also  MYSH – new project and Self-Heal App Launch Event  (blog posts)

For more information, please visit the Self-Heal App webpage or contact innovations@it.ox.ac.uk

ABSTRACT

This App can be used as a tool for people who self-harm to resist or manage their urges. It will provide suggestions of evidence-based DBT (dialectical behaviour therapy) tasks for the user to try. These ‘distractions’ will help users to express their emotions differently, offer better coping strategies to stress, or change their mood. The app will also contain a wealth of images, quotes and captions to motivate, cheer up or inspire users to alter their behaviour. These would be either linked to mindfulness techniques or phrases from people who have successfully overcome self-harm. Users will have the opportunity to favourite images and distractions which were effective, so that they can access them even more quickly. This same section will also have the option of inputting your own message or task, along with the favourited ones. The inclusion of Oxford specific contacts for services and charities, in addition to information about self-harm, anxiety and depression, means that users can easily find additional support when needed. This App is primarily intended to be used independently, which means that users will not feel reliant on health services to begin to change their behaviour.

The App would also be useful for carers, friends and anyone who comes into contact with a person who self-harms, since they will be interested in understanding the ways that a person who is self-harming could be supported to stop.