Back in April 2015, I began a psychotherapy group for individuals with body-focused, repetitive behaviors (e.g. hair pulling, skin picking, nail biting). We reviewed the demographic backdrop to these behaviors, behavioral management strategies, and factors such as motivation that affect treatment outcomes. Members began exploring their own pulling/picking/biting profiles and uncovering the emotional and sensory factors that feed into them. I started this group so BFRB sufferers could gain understanding and, even more so, grow relationships with like individuals. Group members have worked to tackle discomfort, interdependence, self-compassion, and self-assertion experientially and through guided conversations. In the safe and controlled space of a psychotherapy group, they began to heal shame, open up, and rely on one another. The experience proved so rich and fulfilling that I launched a second BFRB group chapter in February 2016 and a third in March 2017. My conviction about the importance of this unique space for sameness, difference, sharing, and receiving with peers only continues to grow.
This brings me to now. I would like to respond to building interest by launching a third chapter with all new group members. I am aiming to begin this group in September 2017, but will adjust according to members' availability and reaching of a critical mass. The meeting time would be Thursdays from 6:00 - 7:15 pm, and meeting place would be my office at Post and Divisadero in San Francisco. The fee would be $75/session, which I can include on your monthly superbill for your insurance company.
If you have any interest in this new 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 is not a commitment, just a chance to obtain more information so we can mutually determine fit.