Alessandra Muscat graduated with an M.Ed in Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties from the University of Birmingham, UK. Her thesis was entitled ‘Written in scars – Professionals’ experiences along the journey of female adolescents who self-harm: Implications for practice in a secondary school setting’.
The research focused on therapists’ understanding of self-harm and how this affected their well-being, their understanding of clients’ pain, and the way they tackled cases of self-harm. It also explored the implications of interventions and self-harm prevention programmes in schools.
The findings suggested that further training and supervision are effective ways for professionals to deal with negative feelings, as prevention programmes in schools were scarce and inconsistent. It also makes recommendations on the adoption of a school policy on the issue, curriculum changes and multi-disciplinary teams.
Muscat also won a prize for submitting the best advanced course dissertation on emotional and behavioural difficulties, and another prize for the best dissertation on a disability inclusion and special needs master’s programme.
Her master’s degree was partially funded by the Malta Government Scholarship Scheme.