Trichotillomania Support in Taranaki

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 a registered professional, New Zealand has free public registers. Only people registered with the New Zealand Psychologists Board can call themselves a psychologist. Look them up on the Psychologists Board register ↗. “Psychotherapist” is protected too, and the Psychotherapists Board of Aotearoa New Zealand ↗ keeps its own register. Counsellors, hypnotherapists, EFT and NLP practitioners and coaches belong to their own associations instead.

There’s more in our guide to how to talk to someone who can help.

New Zealand has no charity just for body-focused repetitive behaviours, in Taranaki or anywhere else. These organisations can still help.

We haven’t found an in-person group just for hair pulling in Taranaki that’s meeting right now. Most groups for people who pull meet online, and for something this private, many people find that easier.

• IOCDF online BFRB groups: free groups on Zoom for anyone who pulls or picks, listed on the IOCDF support group directory ↗.
• 1737 peer support: call 1737 and choose peer support to talk with someone who has their own experience of mental distress.

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 Taranaki group? Tell us and we’ll list it for free.

For many people with trichotillomania, hiding it becomes a second job.

It starts small. A fringe cut to cover a thin patch. A cap worn indoors. Eyebrow pencil every morning, or a lash strip before anyone sees you. Over time the routines grow. People avoid swimming, windy days, hairdressers, bright bathrooms and anyone who stands too close.

Each of these choices makes sense on its own. Together they take up a lot of time and a lot of attention. Many people say the hiding wears them out more than the pulling does.

Concealment also keeps people alone. If no one knows, no one can help. Most people who pull have never knowingly met another person who does, so the silence feels normal. A partner, a best friend or a parent may have no idea.

That silence isn’t a character flaw. It comes from shame, and shame is part of how the condition works. Trichotillomania is a recognised condition. It is not a bad habit, not attention-seeking, not self-harm and not a lack of willpower. Saying it out loud to one person, even a stranger in a contact form, is often the first time the weight shifts.