A sample of 84 women incest survivors from community and clinical populations, were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of self-mutilation. Demographic, incest and family of origin variables distinguished the groups. The variables included ethnicity; educational experience; duration, frequency and perpetrator characteristics regarding the incest; multiple abuses; and instability, birth order and loss of mother in the family of origin. Psychological and physical health concerns also distinguished the groups. Many variables were related to embodiment, i.e., how the self is experienced in and through the body. Those related to the presence of self-mutilation include: (1) the increased likelihood of physical and physiological abuses in the family of origin history of anorexia and/or bulimia; (2) body image distortions; (3) somatization and increased medical concerns; and (4) dissociation/depersonalization. All these variables indicate that a key differentiation of survivors who self-mutilate may be their special relationship, or even a preoccupation, with their bodies. Tables, references, appendix