Season 1 Episode 3
Tamela
Age: Early 20’s?
Location: Arizona
Addicted to: Self-injury – Cutting
Addiction Trigger: Childhood sexual abuse and a religious family that ignored it and just prayed.
What is most memorable about this episode: The incredibly graphic episodes of cutting.
Official synopsis: Tamela, a 24-year-old artist, cuts herself with razor blades. As a child, she was molested and has a hard time getting over what happened. Her family hopes she will go into treatment.
Original Air Date: March 2005
Interventionist: Candy
From 2007
http://www.svherald.com/content/dana-cole/2009/09/20/57992
I rarely rewatch this episode because it’s so difficult to stomach. But I must say Tamela’s mom really redeemed herself in the end. It was cathartic for ME to hear her apologize and say that “praying and leaving it up to God” was wrong. You could literally see the relief wash over Tamela. She just needed someone to really love her.
How is She today… 8/2015
I followed her facebook page which really didn’t seem to be updated since 2011.
However sometime over the past couple of weeks the page has been deleted or something has happened to it
https://www.facebook.com/tamela.turtle
from what I know Tamela got married and has two children. She is happy and healthy living in a small town in Arizona.
I’m super happy to see that she’s doing so much better now! Seeing her in so much pain during this episode and her family just leaving it to God was really hard to watch. And yes, Tamela got married and has two kids now! A son and a daughter, born in 2012 and 2014,
where can I find this episode?
try http://www.thedaretube.com/tv/intervention/season/1/episode/3
I would really like to know how Tamela is doing now. She was a beautiful woman and I hope that she sees herself what she is now – gorgeous woman with all energy that you need to live a full life 🙂 <3
I deal with self injury still to this day. My heart went out to Tamela! I am happy to read she has gotten married and had kids! I still battle my demons. Started cutting at age 12 and I am 45 years old now and self injury is still a painful addiction! I pray for those who have this addiction and any other addiction!
Looks like she’s doing well. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ttMGIV-dkOA
I was trying so hard to find Tamela from season 2005 cutting.. I just saw this episode and I felt compelled to see how she’s doing and tell her that she’s worth more than she knows and she is so beautiful you would never know that that was going on and if I could be here just to help you in anyway I’m here I couldn’t find you on Facebook.. You deserve the world If you ever need anybody her talk to I’m always here thank you!
One of the most extremely difficult episode to watch. I had to close my eyes and peak through my fingers whenever she cut herself,
Yah I can handle most forms of violence but there’s something about self-mutilation that is too much for me (this includes injection drugs into ones body).
I’ve always loved this episode because it’s one of the only times I’ve seen self harm represented in a way that really resonated with me. I started cutting myself at 12 and have been self harming on/off for 17 years. When I saw this episode as a teenager around 2006/7 I remember it helping me feel less alone.
What makes this episode different to me is the way self harm is shown with so much clarity and intensity. A lot of the time when we talk about self harm, it’s in an abstract way and the focus is on the emotions around the behavior. Which is fine, because that helps people understand and reduces the stigma around it. But we don’t see a ton of realistic depictions of what a self harm session actually looks like, how the person self harming acts before/during/after, and the types of problems that are associated with it (beyond the obvious stuff like scarring). Self harm can get very intense. This episode captures a lot of that well and I really appreciate it.
Does anyone have an active link to watch the episode? I can’t seem to find the episode anywhere.
Hi Molly! Not sure if I can post links here, but many of the older episodes are on DailyMotion posted by someone named Sherry. If you google “daily motion tamela” it should be the first result. 🙂
I know this is a long time since your post but I’m watching it right now on Samsung TV like the free channels of Samsung TV. they have a whole station dedicated just to intervention and they just started season 1 again so it’ll go on for at least a month or two they’ll keep replaying the same ones so you’re likely to find it there if you are to read this before it ends
https://vimeo.com/401678861
Tamela Music Video
do you know where i can find this episode? all the old links are invalid :/
I know this is a long time since your post but I’m watching it right now on Samsung TV like the free channels of Samsung TV. they have a whole station dedicated just to intervention and they just started season 1 again so it’ll go on for at least a month or two they’ll keep replaying the same ones so you’re likely to find it there if you are to read this before it ends
i literally cannot find this episode anywhere. does anyone have a link or anything?
I just watched it on Amazon prime today
Hello, this episode was the turning point for me with my own addiction to Self Harm. I was curious if anyone had a way to watch this episode? I hope she is doing well, I heard she got married and had kids later but it’s so hard to find any information. Much thanks.
It is available to purchase on Prime. I also am in recovery from SH