Of course, the first step in the healing process is for us to deal with our stories (our lives). We need to look at the root issues, the factors that create hurt in us (divorse, abuse, neglect, death, loss, etc.) and begin moving through them. Often the best way for us to grow out of our sorrow is to talk with someone about our feelings. For some of us, we can talk to a parent, friend, teacher or pastor to work through what is going on in our lives. However, some of us should really sit down with a counsellor who can give us more professional care.

Once we have begun dealing with our stories, we need to learn how to deal with our feelings and emotions. We need to learn how to replace our negative actions with positive ones. For instance, if you are feeling sad about your parents being divorced , instead of drinking or cutting yourself, ask yourself what else you could do to relieve these negative feelings. To help you, what follows is a list of ideas shared by our readers in combination with ideas we've brought together from all over the Internet.

Please feel free to browse the list and begin to replace your negative actions with more posiitive ones. In other words, whenever you feel the need to self-injure, try one of these instead. Things will not change instantly, but as an old song says, "We fall down, we get up." When you struggle, make sure to look back later and see how you could try and deal with this situation differently next time.

Also, if you've found something that helps you that's not in this list, feel free to use this area to share your ideas with us. Thanks!

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