This is the only self injury support group in Ohio!
S.A.F.E. Focus® is a voluntary support group which utilizes guidelines developed by the S.A.F.E. ALTERNATIVES® Program. This support group focuses on identifying, verbalizing, and tolerating feelings, rather than on underlying issues. As participants begin to engage in this work, they may recognize similar, if not identical, behaviors in fellow group members. Such recognition may be uncomfortable, yet it is highly beneficial because awareness is the first step towards recovery. Additional emphasis is placed on group interaction by using verbal communication and developing interpersonal skills. Participants will learn to take in and give constructive feedback. The importance of healthy risk-taking will be stressed in order to provide the participant with an opportunity to develop new coping skills in place of self-injury.
S.A.F.E. Focus® strongly recommends that each group member be simultaneously engaged in individual therapy for the duration of the group sessions. S.A.F.E. Focus® is not a replacement for "one on one" psychotherapy, it is a support group.
The purpose of S.A.F.E. ALTERNATIVES® S.A.F.E. Focus® is to provide a structured group for those who self injure and desire to change that behavior. Exercises and assignments, focusing on basic principles of the S.A.F.E. ALTERNATIVES® philosophy, will help participants identify and express their feelings appropriately and to decrease or eliminate the impulses to self injure
