Hair pulling & Skin picking Therapy
If pulling or picking is interfering with your daily life, you're not alone—together, we can find strategies to help you pause and make a different choice in the moment. My goal is to help you understand your triggers and urges so that you can respond with intention rather than habit or avoidance. Through our work together, you’ll develop healthier coping strategies and shift your focus toward the things that matter most—reducing the role of pulling and picking in your life.
My approach is active and collaborative. I’ll encourage you to practice new strategies between sessions every week. As part of this process, we’ll examine how your core beliefs and inner dialogue shape your relationship to your urges, and how shifting these patterns can support lasting change. We’ll work on fostering a more self-compassionate and curious perspective, helping you respond to urges with understanding instead of self-judgment.
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Yes. By understanding the function of your picking or pulling, we can recognize your underlying needs and find healthier, more sustainable ways to address them. Together, we’ll build awareness of your patterns, identify your unique triggers, and develop alternative responses that feel soothing and aligned with your values. Because picking and pulling are often predictable, we can plan ahead with coping strategies that truly support you in moments of urge.
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It depends. Some people engage in therapy for about 16-20 weeks, which can be enough time to learn skills and develop a plan to apply them independently. Others benefit from longer-term work as we navigate the challenges of making lasting changes. Because these behaviors have been automatic for so long, shifting them takes time, practice, and a willingness to step outside of familiar patterns—but with consistency, it becomes easier and more natural over time.
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We’ll start by building awareness of the patterns surrounding your picking or pulling—what happens before, during, and after an urge. This might involve tracking, mindfulness practices, or journaling to better understand your experiences and the function these behaviors serve. From there, we’ll introduce behavioral and cognitive strategies to help you respond to urges in new ways. Throughout the process, we’ll also explore your relationship to your urges, thinking patterns, and core beliefs. Therapy requires active participation, including work between sessions—setting goals, completing worksheets, and reflecting on your experiences—to get the most out of the process.
Book a free consult
If you're considering therapy and have questions, I'd be happy to meet—virtually or in person—to discuss how we can work together and explore next steps.