Need some advice.

I agree with this. What separates psychologists from psychiatrists is largely the ability (and perhaps the desire) to write prescriptions. As for the whole "state will take him away!" thing, I doubt that will happen. Tons of teenagers hurt themselves, but very few get taken from their parents. It's not like you're the person hurting him, after all.

I imagine the child has emotional problems. You guys have been through a lot, after all. It would probably do him good to be able to talk about everything with an impartial third party, someone who won't laugh at him or repeat it to anyone else or yell at him.

maybe support groups for people dealing with simalar loss.

personally, i think associating groups of people with similar conflicts only seems to make situations worse. sort of like snowballing it. pushing all that negativity into one spot, i dont think is a good idea; at the very least have the people in the group recover a bit before actually attempting something like a support group.

While I understand your fear of medication, it may eventually be required to help him deal with the problem. Unfortunately, there can be many causes for self-mutilation or self-harm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-harm

Note the part about classification in the DSM-IV-TR. Ultimately what that means is that there have been several recognized causes which result in self-harm behavior; many are purely psychological while others can be physiological (malnutrition, minor birth defect, prolonged depression altering biochemistry). Medication might be required. As his legal guardian, you have a right to be consulted about any recommended treatments, and will have the ability to choose not to take the medicated route. However, if you get a second and third opinion and they all recommend a specific class of drugs, it might be in his best interest to at least try.

Above all else, it is important that you get professional third party advice on this topic. One of the main reasons why doctors are not allowed to treat their own family members and/or write them prescriptions is because personal emotion impairs judgment.

Its good that you realize you need help from outside. However, the Fakku forums is probably not the best place for guidance. I realize the irony of this statement in my response, and it isn't intended as a slight against Fakku members, but it would be the same advice I would give even my closest friends in med school.

I'm confused of your age here.
If two years ago your parents died, and you ended up with your brother as your garudian who is only 15 and have been with him for a year and a half, at most he's 18 (and that's really stretching). How old are you?

could have taken 6 months or so for all the legal paperwork to go through. he did mention that he was in foster homes, too