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

Dr. Nicholas Westers

nicholas.westers@childrens.com

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Booking Overview

A clinically grounded podcast that explains why people self-injure and how to respond—bridging neurobiology, psychology, and real-world guidance. It’s a strong fit for PR outreach to clinicians and researchers in self-harm prevention, plus lived-experience advocates who can speak safely and responsibly.

Metrics

Episodes: 74

Frequency: Irregular

Rating: 4.9/5.0

Estimated listeners: 1k-10k

Gender skew: Neutral

Location: USA

Instagram: 2.3k followers

Contact Information

nicholas.westers@childrens.com

For verified host and producer emails, sign up to view.

Host

Dr. Nicholas Westers - Clinical psychologist at Children’s Health and Associate Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Collaborates with the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury (...

Booking Intelligence

Booking Requirements

medium
Typical Credentials:  
Clinical psychologists/psychiatrists and academic researchers working on self-injury/self-harm (including neurobiology, risk factors, scars/behavioral mechanisms, and related conditions like eating disorders), and potentially lived-experience experts and family members (per show description).
Required Achievements:  
Published peer-reviewed research on nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicidality, or related constructs, Academic appointments or leading roles in research labs, Authorship of clinician-facing workbooks/resources (for some guests)

Recent Guest Discussions

Dr. Michael Kaess - Neurobiology Of Self-injury; Biological Risk Factors (e.g., Vagus Nerve, Cortisol, HPA Axis)

Dr. Burke - Psychological Effects Of Self-injury Scarring; Scar Concealment; Associations With Suicidal Thoughts/behaviors

Dr. Katie Gordon - Relationship Between Eating Disorders And Self-harm; Shared Risk Factors; Prevalence Overlap

Recent Topics

Self Injury, Self Harm, Mental Health, Clinical Psychology, Trauma

Episodes

Here's the recent few episodes on
The Psychology of Self-Injury: Exploring Self-Harm & Mental Health
:

The Neurobiology of Self-Injury (in Layman's Terms) [Re-Release]

June 26, 2026

What goes on at the neurobiological level that makes someone more vulnerable to self-injure or self-harm? What biological risk factors are at play? What roles do the vagus nerve, cortisol levels, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis have? We hope to discuss the psychology of self-injury pain in a future episode, but in this episode, Dr. Michael Kaess from the University of Bern in Switzerland explains the neurobiology of self-injury in simple terms, or what we hope can be considered ...

The Psychology of Self-Injury Scarring (Re-Release)

May 29, 2026

How are scars from nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) different than physical scars that are unintentional or result from non-self-inflicted wounds ? What psychological effects can result from daily reminders of one's own decision to self-harm? Is there an association between NSSI scars and suicidal thoughts and behaviors? In this episode, Dr. Burke discusses the mixed relationship that many people who self-injure have with the scars they bear from NSSI and how some may feel the need to hide thei...

Eating Disorders & Self-Harm (Re-Release)

April 28, 2026

The term "self-harm" is an umbrella term, encompassing a broad range of behaviors, under which is included substance abuse and misuse, suicide, nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), and even eating disorders. In this episode, Dr. Katie Gordon, a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in Fargo, North Dakota, discusses the prevalence of self-injury among individuals with eating disorders and the prevalence of eating disorders among those who self-injure. She explains the relationship between the two behavior...

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