Hello everyone!

My name is Max (he/him) and I am the creator of Self Harm Anonymous. When I found out that there were no in-person Self Harm meetings in Oregon, my jaw hit the floor. I thought to myself "how is it that there isn't a group like this already?" During that research I found a lot of the resources called similar groups "Self Mutilators" and I despised that word; it feels extremely negative. When creating this group, my goal was to work together with the community to destigmatize self harm while bringing support to those who are still struggling. Through my experience in attending multiple Anonymous groups, I realized it didn't feel like I could talk about my self harm, like really talk about it. It felt like a topic I could only graze over and not go deeper with it. I needed a space where I could go deeper, where I could really talk about it. Thus, this group was created. I wanted it to be different from other Anonymous groups, so that's what I did. On September 1st, 2024, the very first SHA meeting was held.

After almost 3 months of starting, I met my now boyfriend. I shared about my meeting, and it turns out he was as passionate about this idea as I was. With his help we've got actual recovery chips, business cards, informational pamphlets, stickers, and this very website. This website wouldn't exist without him, he built it from the ground up. He poured his heart and soul into making this, and I think it definitely paid off.