Neurodiversity Podcast

Taming the Pull: Trichotillomania and Other BFRBs

Dec 7, 2023

Barbara Lally, a BFRB advocate, shares her journey with trichotillomania, highlighting the stigma and misconceptions surrounding these behaviors. She offers valuable advice for individuals struggling with BFRBs and their loved ones. The podcast explores the power of self-acceptance, alternative coping strategies, and the importance of supporting neurodiverse individuals.

35:38

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Barbara Lally

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Quick takeaways

BFRBs like trichotillomania are often misunderstood, leading to stigma and challenges in diagnosis and management.

Personal experiences of individuals with BFRBs, like Barbara Lally, highlight the struggles for understanding and acceptance in society and within themselves.

Deep dives

Understanding Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors: The Intricate World of BFRBs

Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) like trichotillomania are often misunderstood and shrouded in stigma. BFRBs are self-soothing behaviors that can result in physical harm, with examples like trichotillomania and dermatillomania. Diagnosis of a BFRB requires unsuccessful attempts to stop the behavior. These behaviors are often used to regulate emotions, akin to sensory stimming in autism, but can lead to comorbidities and challenges in diagnosis and management.

Introduction

4min

Navigating Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors

11min

Navigating Misconceptions and Stigma of BFRBs

15min

Exploring Curiosity and Crafting as Alternatives for BFRB Behaviors

2min

Emotional Reflections on Self-Blame and Acceptance in Trichotillomania Experience

2min

Supporting Neurodiversity and Reducing Stigma

3min

Emily Kircher-Morris is joined by Barbara Lally, a certified professional coach and author who focuses on Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs). Barbara shares her personal story of living with trichotillomania, a chronic hair-pulling disorder, and discusses the stigma and misunderstandings surrounding BFRBs. She also offers advice for those struggling with BFRBs and their loved ones. There’s a lot to learn in episode 202.

If you're a teacher and not yet a member of the Neurodiversity University Educator Hub, we’ll be opening up registration in January. It will only be open for a limited time, so make sure you’re notified when it happens. Sign up here.

Barbara Lally is a teacher-turned certified professional coach, author, and body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB) advocate. When she was 10 years old she developed trichotillomania, the chronic hair-pulling disorder which led to intense feelings of guilt, shame, and self-loathing. Nineteen years after her diagnosis, Barbara released her memoir, The Trichster Diaries, detailing her life with the disorder and her journey to self-love and self-acceptance.

By sharing her story, Barbara’s life changed. She released a guided journal, My Trichster Diaries, and hosts a podcast where she interviews others with BFRBs called Trich Talks. Barbara realized she was meant to spread awareness of BFRBs and help others toward self-love and self-acceptance, so she left her teaching job after seven years and decided to go back to school to become a certified professional coach.

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