The Psychology of Self-Injury: Exploring Self-Harm & Mental Health

Emotion Regulation Group Therapy (ERGT) for Self-Harm, with Drs. Kim Gratz & Matthew Tull

Episode Summary

Kim Gratz, PhD, and Matthew Tull, PhD, from Lyra Health and the University of Toledo walk us through Emotion Regulation Group Therapy (ERGT) intervention for nonsuicidal self-injury and self-harm.

Episode Notes

A lot of therapies address the context in which nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and self-harm may occur, but only a few treatments have been designed to address NSSI specifically. In this episode, we dive into one of these treatments: Emotion Regulation Group Therapy (ERGT). Drs. Kim Gratz and Matthew Tull from Lyra Health and the University of Toledo in Ohio walk us through in significant detail each of the 90-minute 14 sessions of ERGT.

You can purchase their book "Acceptance-based emotion regulation therapy: A clinician’s guide to treating emotion dysregulation and self-destructive behaviors using an evidence-based therapy drawn from ACT and DBT" on Amazon here or at New Harbinger Publications here. 

Connect with Dr. Gratz on LinkedIn here and Dr. Tull here. Below are links to their research on ERGT referenced in this episode:

  1. Gratz, K. L., & Gunderson, J. G. (2006). Preliminary data on an acceptance-based emotion regulation group intervention for deliberate self-harm among women with Borderline Personality Disorder. Behavior Therapy, 37(1), 25-35.
  2. Gratz, K. L., & Tull, M. T. (2011). Extending research on the utility of an adjunctive emotion regulation group therapy for deliberate self-harm among women with borderline personality pathology. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 2(4), 316–326.
  3. Gratz, K. L., Tull, M. T., & Levy, R. (2014). Randomized controlled trial and uncontrolled 9-month follow-up of an adjunctive emotion regulation group therapy for deliberate self-harm among women with borderline personality disorder. Psychological Medicine, 44, 2099–2112.
  4. Gratz, K. L., Bardeen, J. R., Levy, R., Dixon-Gordon, K., L., & Tull, M. T. (2015). Mechanisms of change in an emotion regulation group therapy for deliberate self-harm among women with borderline personality disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 65, 29-35.
  5. Sahlin, H., Bjureberg, J., Gratz, K. L., Tull, M. T., Hedman, E., Bjarehed, J., Jokinen, J., Lundh, L., Ljotsson, B., & Hellner, C. (2017). Emotion regulation group therapy for deliberate self-harm: A multi-site evaluation in routine care using an uncontrolled open trial design. BMJ Open, 7(10), e016220.

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The Psychology of Self-Injury podcast has been rated #5 by Feedspot in their "Best 20 Clinical Psychology Podcasts" and by Welp Magazine in their "20 Best Injury Podcasts."