Back in April, I began a new psychotherapy group which oriented group members to the body-focused, repetitive behaviors (e.g. hair pulling, skin picking, nail biting) they possess. We reviewed the demographic backdrop to these behaviors, treatment options, and factors such as motivation that affect treatment outcomes. We began exploring our own pulling/picking profiles and uncovering the emotional and sensory factors that feed into them. I started this group to foster understanding, and even more so, to foster relationships with people and not just our bodies. In the safe and controlled space of a psychotherapy group dedicated to BFRB sufferers, we can begin to heal shame and rely on one another. This group that began this last year proved incredibly rich and fulfilling, and lasted approximately 6 months. Since then, I have come to feel even more convinced of the importance of having this additional space for encountering sameness, difference, sharing, and receiving with like peers.

Beginning in 2016, I'd like to start a second chapter with new members and a revitalized curriculum. The curriculum would include familiar and unfamiliar components, but with a more dedicated focus and more collaborative approach. In addition to overt behavioral management of the BFRBs, we would tackle discomfort, relationships, self-compassion, and self-assertion experientially and through guided conversations.

I am aiming to begin this group January 2016, but will adjust according to members' availability and when we attain a critical mass. Meeting time would be Mondays from 5:55 - 7:10 pm, and meeting place would be my usual office at Post and Divisadero in San Francisco. Session fee would be $75/session, which if you submit for reimbursement can be claimed on your insurance superbill as well.

If you have any interest in the group, please let me know by email: dr.nmayeda@gmail.com, or by phone: 415-735-0029 in the next couple of weeks. Again, please reach out to me if you have any interest at all. Your inquiry will by no means by a commitment, just a chance to get more information so we can mutually determine fit.