WELCOME
Stopping Self-Harm through Creativity
If you're struggling with self-injury, you've probably tried many different ways to stop, and often felt discouraged or overwhelmed. But by using creativity to access your inner healing power, you can find a way to re-direct the "voice on the skin." The wound holds the answer--you just need to learn how to listen to what it's trying to say.
I'm Maggie Parr, and I encourage people who struggle with self-injury to use creativity to aid in healing.
I struggled with self-harming for decades. While therapeutic modalities were being developed in the fields of psychology and psychiatry, I mapped my own journey to discover what worked best. As a result, I learned everything I could about the subject. And I found out that creativity is an effective way to replace the self-injury--it gives a new form of expression to the "voice on the skin." This book is a distillation of everything I've learned in my journey to recovery. It's my hope that the lessons will help others who struggle.
I am not a therapist, but an artist and author. I hold a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA), I maintain a painting practice, and I teach classical oil painting techniques to students from all backgrounds. I've designed theme park attractions, painted murals and portraits, and written and illustrated books and comics. I also mentor creatives to help them break through blocks and find their authentic style and purpose. Visit www.maggieparr.com to see more of my work.
Learn More
Online Course to Supplement "A Creator's Guide to Stopping Self-Harm"
If want to dive deeper, this 7-part online course takes you through the essential steps covered in the book with additional course materials and resources. This is not a treatment by a licensed therapist; but rather a suggested journey based on the author's personal experiences with recovering from self-harm.
Recorded Visualizations (by chapter)
Exercises
Sample exercises from the book. More detailed exercises are available in the online course.
Ch 4: The Child and the Spirit Guide
Ch 5: Faith in the Darkness
Rage Art
Ch 6: Hope is the Glue
Coloring Mandala
Ch 7: Love the Work
Mandala Template
Ch8: Allowing Grace
The Tree of Me
Artwork from the book
Another Diana Flores Cartoon
My friend Diana Flores, whose cartoon is in the book, has many of these pages depicting moments from her childhood. She doesn't consider herself an artist, but her work says otherwise! I just love her cartoons.
Figure 5: "Mr Blue"
I did this ink drawing when I was nineteen. It was inspired by the song "Mr. Blue" by Yaz, which reminded me of what felt like a separate presence inside me. It became a sort of Muse to me, and later when I met "Faith" inside, I saw a lot of him in Mr. Blue.
Figure 7: "The Father"
One of several pieces in a series titled "Dangerous Angels," done during my cutting relapse in my 40s. It was my attempt to see the "darkness" as my best teacher, even though I couldn't yet see the light at the end of the tunnel. Each started with an oil painting, which I scanned into Photoshop to add photos and other imagery, then I'd keep painting and adding those layers into the digital file. I'd print and mount the final piece and paint on that one more time until it felt done. This particular image depicted me as a kid in my father's arms--not the scary dad, but the safe dad we both wanted him to be.
Figure 9: "The Confrontation"
An early painting from 1993, after I sent my father a confrontation letter. In this piece, I slashed into the gesso and dripped red paint into the grooves to simulate cutting, as a way to re-direct that behavior into art.
Figure 10: "St. Francis Prayer Mandala"
A more recent painting from 2022, probably my most hopeful painting to date. It's my interpretation of the 11th step prayer, otherwise known as the St. Francis prayer, and it honors the patron saint of animals. It was also an expression of the new harmony among my interior parts.
Figure 11: "Don't Go!"
A tiny oil painting of a hummingbird baby, based on my experience of trying unsuccessfully to nurse a baby bird back to health. When he didn't survive, I was so heart-broken that I did a whole series of hummingbird paintings. I find that sometimes, when a loss happens, it can pull the thread of old pain in shocking and unexpected ways...but art helps to process the feelings.
Figure 14: "The Grand and Damaging Parade"
The largest painting I've ever created at 5' x 8'. It took up my whole studio for nearly three years. It was part of my attempt to make sense of the disparate parts of me, my spirituality, and my father's homelessness. And having way too many cats!
Figure 15: "Sea of Light"
Someone once asked me, "Maggie, where are they all going in your paintings?" It often seems like my figures are shooting off the top of the canvas. Perhaps they're just reaching for something just out of sight. I painted this one just as I was starting to heal permanently from the self-injury, so even though there's still a lot of push-pull, it holds a lot of hope.
FAQS
Is Maggie a therapist?
Maggie Parr is not a therapist, nor is she offering therapy. She is an artist and writer who has overcome decades of self-harming with the guidance of a licensed therapist. She used creativity to help guide her into the source of her pain, and from there, express what she was experiencing through art, writing, and other creative exercises. In addition to years of therapy, she attended workshops, took classes, read many books, and otherwise made healing and self-development the focus of her life. Now she is sharing her experiences with others so that they might find inspiration and healing in their own journeys.
What can I expect from doing this work?
Recovery is not an overnight process. The exercises in this book and on this website come from someone who found her way to healing, but it took years of work with a qualified therapist. By pursuing an intentional path of recovery, working with a therapist, and being patient with yourself, you can find relief. Not only that, by listening to what your wounds are trying to say, you'll meet and befriend your deepest self. Your self-injury is a voice on the skin. Once you give that voice new expression, the need for those old behaviors may lessen. The pace at which your healing occurs depends upon you and your comfort level, and should be discussed with your therapist.
When will the course go live?
In January 2025. If you sign up for Maggie's mailing list, you'll be notified about this and any other additions to the website. This project is a work in progress, with the goal of guiding people who struggle with self-harm in the easiest, most helpful way. We appreciate your patience as we build this new forum!