ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the various contexts in which NSSI occurs and clinical perspectives related to the purpose of NSSI in children, adolescents, and adults. We review various ways to conceptualize NSSI in childhood, adolescence, and in young and older adulthood. This chapter includes Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5th Edition criteria for NSSI diagnostic considerations and associated behaviors in relation to factors to assessment and treatment. Issues related to culture and identity development will be integrated throughout the chapter as they relate to assessment, interpretation, and clinical decision-making. Formal and informal assessment techniques will be provided, with ways to adapt and integrate assessments per the population and needs of the client. We review some of the most widely used formal assessments along with ways to integrate them into client assessment strategies. We examine case scenarios presented in Part I throughout this chapter with expansion regarding the assessment of NSSI, influences of assessment on the conceptualization of the behavior, as well as determinations regarding information gathering to make effective clinical decisions for these client examples.
