ABSTRACT
Self-injury behavior is the nonsuicidal, deliberate infliction of a wound to oneself in an attempt to seek expression. Self-injury is more prevalent in the adolescent population, and often emergency and advanced practice nurses are the health professionals who encounter this phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to explore self-injury by cutting as experienced by adolescent females. The researcher utilized phenomenology to discover the participants' descriptions of their experiences with cutting. Research was guided by the theoretical framework of the Humanistic Nursing Theory. The Giorgi method of data analysis was utilized to discover the themes that emerged from the participants' stories. The themes which emerged from the raw data were living with childhood trauma, feeling abandoned, being an outsider, loathing self, silently screaming, releasing the pressure, feeling alive, being ashamed, and being hopeful for self and others.