Therapy for Trichotillomania
Do you repeatedly pull hair from one or more areas of your body (e.g., scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, beard)? Sometimes you are aware of the pulling but other times it may be automatic behavior and you do not even notice until someone tells you. You may find yourself spending an excessive amount of time engaged in this behavior, often taking away from time you could spend engaged in other activities such as household chores, hobbies, social interactions, etc. You may have pulled so much that you now have bald spots which can lead to you feeling a lot of guilt, shame, and embarrassment. You may have even tried to hide bald spots by wearing hats, wigs, artificial eyelashes, or coloring in bald areas with markers or makeup. You have likely tried to stop or reduce pulling out your hair, but you just can’t seem to gain control over it. I want to let you know there is a path towards more effectively managing this issue.
We will work as a team on two main goals in therapy. The first goal will involve helping you gain some control over hair pulling. We will work together to help you increase awareness of when you pull or when you are about to pull. Then, we will select strategies that you can use instead of pulling.
The second goal of therapy will involve addressing urges and other internal experiences that drive pulling behavior. Instead of trying to control or suppress urges and other internal experiences associated with pulling, I will help you learn to accept them (NOT to be confused with accepting the pulling itself).
Additionally, we will partner to identify what is important to you and to identify ways in which reducing pulling can increase your quality of life. Finally, we will wrap up therapy discussing strategies to prevent relapse or to respond to relapse. Though not a cure for pulling, our work together can help you significantly reduce it. I look forward to working with you soon.