Testimonials

Personal Testimonials
Expert Testimonials        

After reading the below testimonials, you may also want to take the time to view the Parent Webinar conducted by our co-founder, Dr. Wendy Lader.  It is free and about 30 minutes long.  It has a lot of wonderful information, very helpful to parents and loved ones alike.

Personal Testimonials:

"As a family we want to express our deep appreciation for the care and support you gave Kristen during her time in the SAFE program.  As a family in crisis there are very few places that actually feel safe.  Everyone that worked with Kristen provided us with hope and healing.  One of the things that meant a lot to Kristen was the freedom to share her story without judgment or criticism.  We recognize we are still on a journey but we are filled with hope and know Kristen will make it with the tools and encouragement you have given her.  We will continue to pray for you, as a team, as you continue to provide hope and healing to others.  With much appreciation"   (Kristen's parents)

"Thanks to all the staff in the S.A.F.E. unit for all their support for Darbi.  When she came to the unit, she was pretty much at the bottom.  With your support, counseling, and guidance I have seen her depressed mood and self control greatly improve.  There are not enough words to express our gratitude.  You and the S.A.F.E. unit have given her life back.  You have taught her better coping skills and how to take control of her life.  We will be forever grateful.  I wish we had found you sooner.  Thank you!"  Family of Darbi.

 "Spread the word of the SAFE program. I wish we had known that she was self injuring still so maybe we could have gotten her help sooner. She was at the very bottom when she got there. She has found it very hard and many things overwhelming coming home but so far has done her logs, alternatives, and communicated well with me. And has managed to get thru them. I hope and pray the impulses will fade away in time. It is so hard. I only want to see my happy, bubbly child again whom I haven't seen in several years. We love her so much. She is a wonderful daughter and person. You guys helped give her another chance at life.  Thank you!

 "I'm a recovering self injurer, four months self harm free, and I just read your book "Bodily Harm, The Breakthrough Healing Program for Self-injurers" and I did have to e-mail and say, I have never read something so powerful, that reached out to specifically me so much. I'd give anything to live closer to one of your outpatient programs and work with that, because this sounds like a truly amazing philosophy. I've been hospitalized before, where they didn't even address my self harm aside from making sure I had my arms covered as not to disturb any of the other patients. Which none of them could relate to me either. It was truly horrific experience that caused me never to speak out about needing help again. And to this day I'm self harm free without the help of a therapist, who I only speak to once a month or so. 

"I'm sure you get a million e-mails/calls and what-not about how awesome your program is, but I figure I'll just make it a million and one. Most books I've read on self-harm sound extremely uneducated about the matter, or simply try to talk above us to the point that I'm lost and can't understand. And don't feel like their speaking to me at all.

"I just wanted to say, I'm going to start the writing exercises and hope they help me keep from relapsing. And I'm so happy and fortunate to have found help whether in person or through a book, through something or someone that I feel like really understands where I'm coming from. I kept reading and I'd stop and be amazed at how that is me. That you described me in that book. And I felt like it was simply written for me, no one else. And it really got through to me."

"So I guess all of this is just saying thank you. And that I think you should spread out your facilities so that other people can too get help. Because it sounds like this is an amazing program that has really done it's studying. Thank you."   Maria 

"...I've been in hospitals before but nothing has helped me as much as my time at S.A.F.E. has... I realize that the program was instrumental in helping me achieve my goal to stop self injuring, and so I thank you for creating such a monumental program! The work that I did at S.A.F.E. has changed my life. For the first time in a very long time I am living instead of just breathing and it is beautiful and wondrous and sparkly and a million and one other things..."  Sabrina

"...I just wanted to tell you how appreciative I am of you for being one of the people who established S.A.F.E. That program had such and incredible impact on my life and I just want to thank you so much for helping me through my problems and allowing me to find my strengths. The staff at S.A.F.E. was absolutely incredible and I hope they receive the credit they deserve..."  Tiffany

"Since being in the 30 day program.....the biggest difference is the change inside of me. I can't put it into words but I will certainly try. I am lighter, I am not seething with anger all the time, I am more calm. My heart is not as heavy. I am still working in therapy, but a lot is different. I didn't just work ON stuff at S.A.F.E., I worked THROUGH a lot of stuff at S.A.F.E.... The change inside is immense..."  Sam

"I just wanted to drop you all a line and let you know that I have been injury free since my check in date at S.A.F.E. and I remain injury free today. S.A.F.E., as well as my own determination, has changed my life forever. I have never felt so in control of my life as I do now. It feels great to walk with my head up high. It's been years since I was able to do that!...."  Lisa 

"....I am injury free, and happy. I am dealing with things that I haven't dealt with my entire life. Thank you for your program, every time I have an impulse I know how to deal with it. It doesn't control me anymore."  Lora

"...Thank you...really thank you. I feel like I can finally have answers to some of the questions in my head that I wouldn't even dare to ask myself. And I finally feel like I have self-worth, that people really do like me, and that I really can like me. I'm getting to know myself better and I no longer hate myself like I once did."  Aleisha

"I'm sneaking up on six months of taking great care of myself, and that includes no self injury!! Taking good care of myself hasn't been easy or pain-free, but it has been accompanied by amazing, rich, deep, lush growth! Thanks for seeing my potential for growth."  (Anonymous)

"I want to thank all of you. I am a different person today and although I know I've done most of the work, I believe that I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't gone to S.A.F.E.. Each one of the staff members who were there while I was in the program touched my life in a special way and I can't thank you all enough for your support and guidance in leading me in my path of recovery."  Christy

"Honestly, I know that S.A.F.E. was the best hospitalization I've had, and I think one of the best things I've ever done for me. Life outside hasn't changed, but I have, and I am better able to sit with my feelings now. Thank you so much for S.A.F.E.."  Elizabeth

"Tomorrow is my first day back to school, and I know it will be a very hard thing to face. My family has been back to normal since I have left the program, but with the skills I have learned I have not returned to the same behaviors. I just wanted to tell you how well I think the program has worked for me...."  Rene

"I just wanted to thank you and everyone at the program so much for helping me when no one else could and for never letting me give up. You guys are doing such a great thing for so many people, words can't even begin to express how grateful I am to you and for everything you've done for me."  Ellen

"I learned that I am worth while and my feelings need to be number one on my list. I never imagined that the program would have this much affect on me."  Megan

"I just wanted to check in and let you know that I'm still safe. I just had my 5 month anniversary. I am a new person altogether. I have never had so much self confidence in my life. I like who I have become and I owe it to S.A.F.E.!!!!!!"  (Anonymous)

"Thank you with all my heart for your program, your amazing staff and all of your time. I am a new person from when I came to S.A.F.E.. I know that I will always have good days and bad days, but I thank you for showing me that I have a choice as to what to do with those bad days, or rather that I don't have to do anything. You are changing lives daily."  Nancy

"I owe so much to S.A.F.E....but I have finally realized that I owe most of it to myself. S.A.F.E. just helped me realize that I had to put self injury behind me. I will never forget S.A.F.E. for putting me in the right direction!"  Lisa

"I wanted to thank you all for your support and wisdom during my time in the program. I am proud to say that I have been injury free for 4 months and I am still going strong! I am eternally grateful."  Ashlee

"I want to thank you for everything. I have now gone over six months without self injuring, and I will NEVER go back. The thirty days I spent there was the best thing I have ever done for myself. If it was not for all of you and the S.A.F.E. program, I would not be where I am today."  Megan

"I am injury-free. It has been two years since I spent January at S.A.F.E. and I am doing really well. ..Thank you to S.A.F.E. for being there when I needed it most. You have taught me so many coping skills, I use them everyday. You have changed and saved my life."  Gail

"I can't thank you and your terrific staff enough for giving me my life back. The past 8 months have been great! I can finally smile and mean it, rather than smile and use it as a mask! Keep up the good work! Your program really works! I am evidence!" (Anonymous)

"Thank you for showing me how to take back my life and helping me to realize that it was a life worth fighting for. For the first time in my life I am experiencing feelings. There was a time when I would have told you that I was injuring to feel more alive, but I never would have imagined how wonderfully real I could feel simply by allowing myself to experience emotions and connect with a life I had so long been trying to escape."  Nancy

"I can't thank you enough for listening, for not judging, for not giving up on me, for helping me try to help myself!"  (Anonymous)

"Thanks to the help of S.A.F.E., S.A.F.E. Choice™, and the school which I currently attend I have accomplished around a year and a half without self-injuring, and my last hospitalization was over nine months ago. I do use tools and skills that I first discovered in S.A.F.E. every single day."  Nicole

"My daughter is a recovering self injurer and only recovering because of S.A.F.E. She just recently finished the 30 day program and thanks to this program I still have my daughter."  Lisa

"It has been 363 days and I am still injury free. Just wanted to take a moment and say thank you again, my life has truly been changed. I still think about self injury on occasion, but it is nothing like it used to be. It is so nice to feel control without having to inflict pain. Lots has happened in my life in the past year. I got a dog who is quite a handful! I graduated with my Master in Public Administration degree. I have a new job."  Cheri

"I graduated from the program and I am writing to say thank you for teaching me how to live. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be at S.A.F.E., that I chose to stick with it, and that I had all of you to teach me that self-injury is a choice that I don't have to make."  Leah

"I have accomplished many things this past year (since I was at S.A.F.E.). I moved out on my own and I am comfortable with being alone. In August, I set a goal for myself that I would lose 20 pounds by my birthday...as of today, my birthday, I have lost 21.4 pounds. When I got out of S.A.F.E. and returned to work, I was only part-time. I am now full time plus I received a promotion and a raise. I received and award from my employers for outstanding work I have done throughout this past year. I have remained injury free for the year!"  (Anonymous)

"S.A.F.E. was my first success in a long time and gratefully it is not my most recent success. I'm lucky enough to attend a fantastic school. My grades have went up, my last semester GPA was an all time high of 3.7/4.0 compared to a semester that it was only 0.7. Next year I plan to go to college."  Nicole