Articles written by Claudia Miles
Letting Go of Perfectionism
"As a psychotherapist who specializes in working with adults and teens with trichotillomania, and who has seen many clients get discouraged and hopeless, as well as blame themselves for what they consider “failure,” I’ve surmised that the trait that causes the most difficulty for those with trich is unrealistic expections which arise from perfectionism..."
Viewing TTM as a Behaviorial Addiction
"It is generally recognized that there two different types of addiction-behavioral addictions (i.e., shopping, gambling, internet use addiction) and substance addictions (i.e., alcoholism, drug addiction, food addiction). Behavioral addictions are, simply put, addictions to behaviors that are ultimately self-destructive, but temporarily pleasurable...."
Trichotillomania as Addiction: A Holistic Perspective
"All my clients are in "recovery," in that they have all taken that all-important first step: They have summoned the courage to admit to another person that they pull out their hair and cannot stop; ..."
Seven Stages of Healing for Compulsive Hair Pullers
I. Acceptance
II. Self Forgiveness
III. Investigation
IV. Understanding Pulling as Self-Soothing
V. Waking Up
VI. Hope
VII. Addressing the Habit