Trichotillomania Support in South Australia
Find a therapist in South Australia who understands trichotillomania. Whether you pull your own hair or you’re supporting a child or someone you love, search by town or city, from Coober Pedy to Mount Gambier, for someone near you, or choose Online to see who works with people anywhere in South Australia.
Find a therapist for trichotillomania in South Australia
When Australia’s first trichotillomania support groups were set up, Adelaide was one of four cities to get one. Today we can’t find a face-to-face group meeting anywhere in the state. Few South Australian therapists learned about hair pulling in training either. Connecting you with people who already understand it is the reason this directory exists.
Everyone listed has told us they understand hair pulling and already help people who pull. Each listing shows how the person works, whether they see people in person, online or both, and what they charge. Each one has a private contact form.
The directory includes psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors, CBT therapists, occupational therapists, hypnotherapists, EFT and NLP practitioners, and BFRB coaches. BFRB stands for body-focused repetitive behaviour, the group that includes hair pulling and skin picking. If you live on Eyre Peninsula, in the Riverland or further north, you can see who works online across South Australia.
We’re building the South Australia directory.
Keep updated as we’re a new directory actively seeking new trich-aware therapists to join.
See practitioners who work online →Tell me when a practitioner lists in South Australia
Frequently Asked Questions about Trichotillomania in South Australia
Find a TherapistHow do I find a trichotillomania therapist near me in South Australia?›
Search the directory by city or town, such as Adelaide, Mount Gambier, Whyalla or Port Lincoln. Every listing shows how the person works, what they charge and whether they see people in person, online or both. You can message anyone directly.
Can I have sessions online from anywhere in South Australia?›
Yes. Many people listed work online with clients across South Australia, from Ceduna to the Riverland. Ahpra registration is national, and counsellors, hypnotherapists, EFT practitioners and coaches aren’t tied to a state.
How much does trichotillomania therapy cost in South Australia?›
Private sessions in South Australia usually cost $120 to $310. Counsellors often charge under $200, and psychologists in Adelaide typically charge $210 to $260, with clinical psychologists up to about $310. Every listing shows its own prices, and many offer a free first call. Some private health insurance extras policies pay part of the cost for some practitioner types.
What kinds of help are there for hair pulling in South Australia?›
People who pull work with psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors, CBT therapists, hypnotherapists, EFT and NLP practitioners, occupational therapists and coaches. Different people find different things helpful. Everyone in our directory has told us they understand hair pulling and already help people who pull.
Do I need a GP referral or a diagnosis to get help in South Australia?›
No. You can contact anyone listed in our directory directly, without a GP referral or a diagnosis. Just tell them you pull your hair and you’re looking for someone who understands trichotillomania.
My child pulls their hair. What do I do first?›
Stay steady and don’t tell them off, because pressure and punishment reliably make pulling worse. Start with The Parent’s Guide to Trichotillomania, then look for someone in the directory whose listing says they work with children and teens.
Are there trichotillomania support groups in South Australia?›
We can’t find an in-person group in South Australia right now. ARCVic runs free Zoom groups for people who pull or pick, open to anyone living in Australia, and the IOCDF lists more online groups. If you run a group in South Australia, tell us and we’ll list it for free.
How common is hair pulling in South Australia?›
About 1 in 50 people have trichotillomania, so roughly 38,000 South Australians. It usually starts between ages 10 and 13, and most people who pull have never knowingly met someone else who does. Learn more in our complete guide to trichotillomania.
How to get in touch with a therapist
You can message anyone in the South Australia directory today. You don’t need a GP referral or a diagnosis.
When you write, say what it is: “I pull my hair. I’m looking for someone who understands trichotillomania.” Their reply tells you a lot about whether they’re the right fit.
About four in five South Australians live in Greater Adelaide, and most practitioners work there too. Mount Gambier is around 450 km from the city, and Coober Pedy is about 850 km north. Online sessions close that gap.
Psychologists, occupational therapists and other Ahpra-registered practitioners hold one national registration, so someone in Melbourne or Brisbane can work with you in Port Lincoln. Counsellors, hypnotherapists, EFT practitioners and coaches aren’t tied to a state at all. One thing to check: Adelaide runs half an hour behind Sydney and Melbourne, so confirm the session time in your own time zone.
You can also ask your GP for a mental health plan. Medicare then pays part of the cost of up to 10 sessions a year with psychologists and some other practitioners. That route exists, and it often takes longer, usually without a choice of someone who understands hair pulling.
How to choose who to work with
People who pull find help from many directions: psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors, hypnotherapists, EFT and NLP practitioners, occupational therapists and coaches. Different people find different things helpful.
If you’d like to check someone’s registration, Australia has free public lookups:
- Psychologists, psychiatrists and occupational therapists: “psychologist” is a protected title in Australia. You can look anyone up on the Ahpra Register of practitioners.
- Counsellors and psychotherapists: counselling isn’t regulated by government. Many join the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) or the Australian Counselling Association, and both keep public lists.
Hypnotherapists, EFT and NLP practitioners and coaches belong to their own professional associations.
Everyone on this site has one thing in common: they’ve told us they understand hair pulling. On a first call, you can ask:
- Have you helped people who pull their hair before?
- How do you work? What happens in the first few sessions?
- What if I feel it isn’t right for me?
There’s more in our guide to how to talk to someone who can help.
Charities and groups in South Australia
South Australia has no charity just for hair pulling, and neither does the rest of Australia. These organisations serve people across the state.
Anxiety Recovery Centre Victoria (ARCVic)
A Melbourne not-for-profit that set up Australia’s first trich support groups, including the original Adelaide group. It now runs peer groups on Zoom for people who pull or pick, and an OCD & Anxiety HelpLine on 1300 269 438.
International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)
The main international home for BFRB support since the TLC Foundation for BFRBs wound down. Its directory lists online support groups for hair pulling and skin picking.
Beyond Blue
A national mental health organisation with a free support line on 1300 22 4636 and online peer forums. It isn’t focused on hair pulling, but it welcomes anyone.
Lived Experience Telephone Support Service (LETSS)
A free Adelaide phone and web chat line run by peer workers who have their own experience of mental health challenges. Call 1800 013 755 between 5pm and 11.30pm, any day of the year.
Kids Helpline
Free, private support for young people aged 5 to 25, by phone on 1800 55 1800 or online, day or night.
Lifeline
Call 13 11 14 at any time if things ever feel too much to handle on your own. In a mental health emergency anywhere in South Australia, you can also call SA Health’s Mental Health Triage Service on 13 14 65.
Support groups in South Australia
Adelaide once had its own monthly trich group, but we can’t find one meeting in person in South Australia right now. Online groups are the main option, and anyone in the state can join.
- ARCVic trich and skin-picking groups: free peer groups on Zoom, open to anyone living in Australia. Details are on the ARCVic support groups page.
- IOCDF online BFRB groups: more groups for people who pull or pick, listed on the IOCDF support group directory. Most run on US time, so check each one against Adelaide time.
- Beyond Blue forums: free, moderated online forums. Not about hair pulling, but open at any hour.
For parents: watching your child pull is hard. The Parent’s Guide to Trichotillomania helps you understand what your child is going through.
Do you run a South Australia group? Tell us and we’ll list it for free.
The pull-and-relief cycle
Many people who pull describe the same loop, even if they’ve never put it into words.
It starts with a build-up. A hair feels wrong, or a restless tension settles in while you read, study or wait. The urge grows until pulling feels like the only way to settle it.
Then comes the pull, and often a brief moment of relief or satisfaction. For a few seconds, the tension drops.
Afterwards, many people feel the opposite. Regret, frustration or shame arrive, especially when they see a new thin patch. Those feelings bring their own tension, and the loop can start again.
This cycle helps explain why pulling can go on for an hour when you meant to stop after one hair. It also explains why “just stop” is such unhelpful advice. The relief is real, even when it’s short.
Trichotillomania is a body-focused repetitive behaviour, recognised in the DSM-5 and the ICD-10 (F63.3). It isn’t a bad habit, attention-seeking, self-harm or a lack of willpower. Noticing where the loop starts for you, and how it feels at each step, gives a first conversation with a practitioner somewhere concrete to begin.
About this page
Sources: Australian Rotary Health (history of Australia’s first trichotillomania support groups); Australian Bureau of Statistics via Buildstreet (population); SA Department for Child Protection (Coober Pedy); Ahpra; Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia; Australian Counselling Association; TherapyRoute, Adelaide Dynamic Psychology, Adelaide Psychology and Talked (session cost and Medicare data); Anxiety Recovery Centre Victoria; International OCD Foundation; Beyond Blue; Skylight and Adelaide PHN (LETSS); Kids Helpline; SA Health (Mental Health Triage Service); Lifeline.
Things change. We check this page often, but always check prices and qualifications with the person you contact. This page is information, not medical advice.
Are you a South Australia therapist or practitioner who works with trichotillomania?
Be found by people looking for help with hair pulling across South Australia, in person or online.
About South Australia
South Australia is home to about 1.9 million people, and nearly four in five live in Greater Adelaide. The colony was founded in 1836, and Colonel William Light’s 1837 plan ringed the capital with parklands that still surround the city centre. North Terrace lines up the state’s main gallery, museum and library. Glenelg, on Holdfast Bay, is where the colony was proclaimed.
In the Adelaide Hills, Hahndorf was settled by German Lutherans who arrived in 1838. Their families founded Bethany, the first Barossa Valley village, in 1842. Mount Gambier is the largest regional city, on the Limestone Coast in the south-east. Whyalla and Port Augusta sit at the top of Spencer Gulf, and the Flinders Ranges rise beyond them. Far to the north, more than half of Coober Pedy’s residents live underground in dugouts carved into the hillsides.
Attractions in South Australia
South Australia’s sights run from a colonial art gallery to outback ranges, island granite, fossil caves and a volcanic lake.
Art Gallery of South Australia (Adelaide)
The gallery opened on North Terrace on 18 June 1881, in two rooms of what is now the State Library. It moved into its own building, now the Elder Wing, in 1900. Today it holds the second-largest state art collection in Australia, with a focus on Australian and Aboriginal art. General entry is free.
Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park (Flinders Ranges)
Wilpena Pound, a natural ring of mountains around 430 km north of Adelaide, lies at the heart of this 95,000-hectare park. Ikara is its Adnyamathanha name, meaning “meeting place”. The park took that name in 2016 and has been co-managed with the Adnyamathanha people since 2011.
Remarkable Rocks (Kangaroo Island)
A cluster of huge granite boulders sits on a dome above the Southern Ocean in Flinders Chase National Park, at the island’s western end. Wind, rain and sea spray have carved them into hollows and overhangs over about 500 million years. Orange lichen covers much of the stone.
Naracoorte Caves National Park (Limestone Coast)
In 1969, cave explorers broke into a hidden chamber in Victoria Fossil Cave. Inside lay Australia’s largest known deposit of Ice Age animal bones, including the marsupial lion. The fossils span around 500,000 years. In 1994 the caves joined Riversleigh in Queensland on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Blue Lake / Warwar (Mount Gambier)
This lake fills a crater in the Mount Gambier volcano, on the southern edge of the city, and is about 70 metres deep. Each November it turns a vivid cobalt blue, then fades back to grey after summer. It supplies the city’s drinking water, and a 3.6 km track runs around the rim.