Join us for a powerful day filled with useful information! The goal of this day-long workshop is to help you understand current research, develop new perspectives, and give you concrete tools for healing from hair pulling and skin picking.

Challenging our beliefs about living with compulsive hair pulling or skin picking is an important step in recovery. Often, people feel that “it’s too hard,” or “I can’t change,” or “there’s no answer, so why bother?” Or the big one, “I’ve tried everything, nothing works.” Confronting these states of mind helps us move beyond them and prepares us for the next stage. Learn what it feels like to discover that you DO have choices, and how to build a decision-making process that can free you from a behavioral prison. The truth is, we do have effective treatment today, there ARE things that work, and, with practice, we discover that many, many tiny changes, over time, add up to transformation.

This workshop is appropriate for ages 14 and older.

facilitated by
Christina Pearson
Founding Director, Trichotillomania Learning Center
Santa Cruz, CA

and

Joan Kaylor, MSEd, NCC, LPC
Private Practice
Pittsburgh, PA

TLC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 
This program is a fundraiser: all proceeds support TLC’s ongoing effort to decrease the isolation and increase the knowledge of these disorders.

Limited partial scholarships and payment plans are available. For information, contact the TLC office.

Schedule
10:00am – 11:45am: ELIMINATING ROADBLOCKS:
Do you feel like you’ve tried everything, and nothing seems to work? Look again!
Christina Pearson
After basic introductions, we will work to identify patterns of thought and behavior that become roadblocks to sustainable recovery. Resistance to change, even when we WANT to change, is pretty normal for humans, so how do we deal with this? The goal of this session will be to “put on a new pair of glasses” and allow a dynamic shift in how we perceive trichotillomania and related disorders and their treatment. A critical part of real recovery is understanding WHY we don’t want to practice the strategies, or only do them briefly, and then say they don’t work. Sound familiar? This will help us better identify the role that these behaviors play in our lives, or the lives of those we love.


11:45am – 1:00pm: Deli-style buffet lunch will be provided


1:00pm – 2:00pm: SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES AND CURRENT OVERVIEW :
Developing Treatment Models for Trichotillomania and Other Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors
Christina Pearson
This session will provide an overview of the field, including what we currently know about epidemiology, causes, functional impact, and current treatment approaches. New and exciting developments in the fields of genetics and animal modeling will be presented. We will briefly examine three behavioral treatment models: the Comprehensive Behavioral Approach (ComB), Habit Reversal Training (HRT), and Stimulus Control (SC), followed by discussing some of the concepts utilized in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and how they are used in treating these problems. We will also examine alternative approaches. Understanding the current trends in treatment will help as we move into looking at some of the internal emotional aspects of living with, and healing from, these behavioral disorders.


2:00pm – 2:30pm: Break


2:30pm – 4:00pm  ARE YOU READY?
Are you ready to make a commitment to yourself?  Are you ready to learn why you pull or pick?
Joan Kaylor, MSEd, NCC, LPC
You may be saying “Yes, of course I am. I want my hair and eyelashes back,” or “I want to stop creating scars on my legs.”  There are many reasons why you are pulling or picking, and why you have failed to stop in the past.  The good news is - there are ways to succeed!   This session will present a brief overview of the addiction model of trichotillomania, how “Trich” is serving you, and how you can begin your journey of success.  The truth is, it is not just about stopping pulling or picking. It is learning how to love yourself and learning how to get your emotional, physical, spiritual and sensory needs met.  What IS the role these problems fill in your life?  We will discuss the whole you and how you can succeed.


4:00pm – 5:00pm: MAKING IT WORK: Living Recovery
Christina Pearson & Joan Kaylor, MSEd, NCC, LPC
Now that we have a good sense of effective treatment strategies, how do we implement these concepts in our daily lives and promote real recovery? How do we stay motivated through the inevitable relapses? In this session, Christina and Joan will clarify the steps and tools they use to support their own recovery, and how they maintain recovery today.  Much of living with pulling, picking, or other related behaviors is about avoiding certain feelings through a filter provided by the behavior and its effects. When you begin to put the filter aside and experience your emotional universe more directly, a sense of integration, balance and wholeness occurs. We will close with reviewing the exercises and techniques learned today so that you can practice on your own.