Treating Trichotillomania

There is still scant clinical information on trichotillomania. This book fills the need for a full-length cognitive-behavioral treatment manual. The authors share their considerable expertise in treating body-focused repetitive behavior disorders (not only hair-pulling but skin-picking and nail-biting as well) in an accessible, clinically valid reference. This is the first comprehensive, clinical, and empirically-based volume to address these disorders.

Trichotillomania, one of the family of obsessive-compulsive disorders, may afflict as many as 6 to 8 million people in the United States. Now, a leading authority on obsessive-compulsive disorders, Dr. Fred Penzel, has written the most up-to-date, comprehensive, and authoritative guide to this syndrome available, filled with reassuring advice for patients and their families. Endorsed by the Trichotillomania Learning Center, the leading advocate group for this disorder, this superb handbook includes all the information a patient or relative would need to understand this illness and to cope with it. Penzel provides a detailed discussion of causes and he reviews all the treatment options, describing the most effective medications and their side effects as well as the recommended cognitive and behavioral treatments. He shows patients how to design a self-help program and gain control of their compulsive behavior, how to prevent relapse, describes trichotillomania and its treatment in children, and suggests coping strategies for families at home and in public situations. He also provides a guide to all the resources available, including internet sites, recommended books, and videos, and outlines ways to start a support group. The appendix will include questionnaires, clinical rating scales, and the official DSM diagnostic criteria for the disorder, so readers can decide if they need to seek behavioral and possibly medical treatment. Dr. Penzel has helped patients with OCD and trichotillomania for over twenty years and is one of America's leading authorities on these disorders. Drawing on decades of hands-on experience, he has produced the most complete and scientifically accurate handbook available on this disorder, a comforting guide packed with information to help people with trichotillomania get well and stay well.

The phenomenon of trichotillomania, or hair pulling, has been observed for centuries. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates noted hair pulling as one of the many symptoms that the physician was advised to assess as a routine matter. In our present time and culture, "pulling one's hair out" is more typically referred to in the context of depression, frustration, boredom, or other emotional turmoil. In truth, hair pulling is a highly prevalent behavior that may be associated with significant morbidity. Edited by experts in the field, Trichotillomania addresses the importance of the study of hair pulling from both a clinical and a research perspective. Documenting the clinical phenomenology, morbidity, and management of trichotillomania, it discusses the phenomenology of childhood trichotillomania, providing a comprehensive description of its symptoms and sequelae. Of particular value for the clinician are contributions on the assessment of trichotillomania and a detailed cognitive-behavioral treatment plan. The uses of medication, the place of a psychodynamic perspective, the value of behavioral interventions, and the role of hypnotherapy are also thoroughly discussed. This discerning text further documents the significance of research on trichotillomania for obtaining a broader understanding of complex brain-behavior relationships. While recent research has suggested that hair pulling lies on the spectrum of obsessive-compulsive disorder, a range of evidence is presented that indicates important differences between trichotillomania and OCD. As such, attention by clinicians to hair pulling may be of enormous value to patients, whose condition was previously unrecognized, while leading to a better understanding of the range of OCD-like disorders.

This definitive new self-help guide offers help to the millions of Americans who suffer from trichotillomania, an obsessive-compulsive disorder that leads them to pull out their hair.

Trichotillomania, Skin Picking, and Other Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors provides clinicians, researchers, family members, and individuals with the cutting-edge, comprehensive resource they need to understand and address the problem.

Trichotillomania (TTM) is a complex disorder that has long been considered difficult to treat as few effective therapeutic options exist. The empirically-supported treatment approach described in this innovative guide blends traditional behavior therapy elements of habit reversal training and stimulus control techniques with the more contemporary behavioral elements of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). With this breakthrough approach, clients learn to be aware of their pulling and warning signals, use self-management strategies for stopping and preventing pulling, stop fighting against their pulling-related urges and thoughts, and work toward increasing their quality of life.

Trichotillomania (TTM) is a complex disorder that is difficult to treat as few effective therapeutic options exist. Behavior therapy has the greatest empirical support, but the number of mental health providers familiar with TTM and its treatment is quite small. This manual was written as a tool for therapists to become familiar with an effective treatment for TTM. The treatment approach described in this guide blends traditional behavior therapy elements of habit reversal training and stimulus control techniques with the more contemporary behavioral elements of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Unlike traditional interventions that aim to change type or frequency of pulling-related cognitions in the hopes of reducing urges to pull hair, this innovative program uses strategies to change the function of these cognitions. Clients are taught to see urges for what they really are and to accept their pulling-related thoughts, feelings, and urges without fighting against them. This is accomplished through discussions about the function of language and defusion exercises that show the client how to respond to thoughts about pulling less literally. Over the course of 10 weeks, clients learn to be aware of their pulling and warning signals, use self-management strategies for stopping and preventing pulling, stop fighting against their pulling-related urges and thoughts, and work toward increasing their quality of life. Self-monitoring and homework assignments keep clients motivated and engaged throughout. TreatmentsThatWorkTM represents the gold standard of behavioral healthcare interventions! · All programs have been rigorously tested in clinical trials and are backed by years of research · A prestigious scientific advisory board, led by series Editor-In-Chief David H. Barlow, reviews and evaluates each intervention to ensure that it meets the highest standard of evidence so you can be confident that you are using the most effective treatment available to date · Our books are reliable and effective and make it easy for you to provide your clients with the best care available · Our corresponding workbooks contain psychoeducational information, forms and worksheets, and homework assignments to keep clients engaged and motivated · A companion website (www.oup.com/us/ttw) offers downloadable clinical tools and helpful resources · Continuing Education (CE) Credits are now available on select titles in collaboration with PsychoEducational Resources, Inc. (PER)

Tics, trichotillomania, and habits such as thumb-sucking and nail-biting tend to resist traditional forms of therapy. Their repetitiveness, however, makes these dissimilar disorders particularly receptive to behavioral treatment. Now in soft cover for the first time, this is the most comprehensive guide to behavioral treatment for these common yet understudied disorders. Tic Disorders is geared to researchers but accessible to to patients and their families as well.