Trichotillomania Support in Vermont

Find a therapist in Vermont who understands trichotillomania. Whether you pull your own hair or you’re supporting a child or someone you love, search by city or town, from Burlington to Brattleboro, for someone near you, or choose Online to see who works with people anywhere in Vermont.

Find a therapist for trichotillomania in Vermont

Burlington is the smallest “largest city” of any US state, and most people who understand hair pulling work around it. In the Northeast Kingdom or the southern hill towns, the nearest one can be over an hour’s drive. That gap is the reason this directory exists.

The directory includes therapists, counselors, psychologists, psychotherapists, CBT therapists, occupational therapists, hypnotherapists, EFT and NLP practitioners, and BFRB coaches. Every listing explains how that person works, whether they see people in person, online or both, and what they charge. Each one has a private contact form. From the Champlain Valley to the Connecticut River, many people listed also work online.

Open the full directory →

Frequently Asked Questions about Trichotillomania in Vermont

Find a Therapist

How do I find a trichotillomania therapist near me in Vermont?›

Search the directory by your city or town, or choose Online to see people who work with clients anywhere in Vermont. Every listing shows how the person works, whether they see people in person or online, what they charge, and has a private contact form.

Can I have sessions online from anywhere in Vermont?›

Yes. Anyone licensed in Vermont can see you online wherever you live in the state. Vermont has also joined agreements that let psychologists and counselors from many other states work with you online. Hypnotherapists, EFT practitioners and coaches aren’t bound by these rules.

How much does trichotillomania therapy cost in Vermont?›

Private sessions usually cost $100–$200, with around $120–$160 typical. Prices tend to run higher around Burlington. Every listing shows its own prices, and many people offer a free first call.

What kinds of help are there for hair pulling in Vermont?›

Therapists, counselors, psychologists, CBT therapists, occupational therapists, hypnotherapists, EFT and NLP practitioners, and BFRB coaches all help people who pull. Different people find different things helpful. What they share here is that they understand hair pulling.

Do I need a doctor’s note or a diagnosis to get help in Vermont?›

No. You can contact anyone listed in the directory directly, without a doctor’s note and without a diagnosis. Just say you pull your hair and want someone who understands trichotillomania.

My child pulls their hair. What do I do first?›

Stay steady and don’t tell them off; pressure and punishment reliably make pulling worse. Read The Parent’s Guide to Trichotillomania to understand what your child is going through. Then look for someone whose listing says they work with children and teens.

Are there trichotillomania support groups in Vermont?›

We haven’t found an in-person group just for hair pulling in Vermont yet. The IOCDF lists a free online BFRB group, and NAMI Vermont runs free peer and family groups for any mental health condition. If you run a group, tell us and we’ll list it for free.

How common is hair pulling in Vermont?›

Trichotillomania affects about 1 in 50 people, which means thousands of people in Vermont. It usually starts around ages 10–13 but can begin at any age. Most people who pull have never knowingly met another person who does. Read our complete guide to trichotillomania.

How to get in touch with a therapist

You can message anyone listed here today. You don’t need a doctor’s note or a diagnosis. Use the private contact form on their listing and say what it is: “I pull my hair. I’m looking for someone who understands trichotillomania.”

In Vermont, most people who understand hair pulling practice in Chittenden County, around Burlington and South Burlington. Others work in Montpelier, Rutland, Middlebury and Brattleboro. Across the Northeast Kingdom and the smaller hill towns, offices are few and far between, and winter roads add to every drive. Online sessions let you work with someone who gets it from home.

Vermont joined an agreement in 2024 that lets psychologists licensed in many other states work with you online. It has also signed up to a similar agreement for counselors. Hypnotherapists, EFT practitioners and coaches aren’t bound by those licensing rules.

Your insurance plan or one of Vermont’s community mental health agencies can also connect you with someone. That route exists, but it often takes longer, and you usually can’t choose a person who understands hair pulling.

How to choose who to work with

People who pull find help from many directions: therapists, counselors, psychologists, hypnotherapists, EFT and NLP practitioners, occupational therapists and coaches. Different people find different things helpful. What matters is that the person understands hair pulling and that you feel at ease with them.

If you’d like to check someone, Vermont’s Office of Professional Regulation has a free public lookup, Find a Professional. It covers licensed psychologists, clinical mental health counselors (LCMHC), clinical social workers (LICSW) and marriage and family therapists (LMFT). Vermont is also unusual in keeping a roster of psychotherapists who aren’t licensed. Anyone practicing psychotherapy in Vermont without a license must be on it, and it’s searchable in the same lookup. Hypnotherapy, EFT, NLP and coaching aren’t licensed by the state. Those fields have their own 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?

Charities and groups in Vermont

Vermont has no charity just for hair pulling, and no state branch of the main national organization for it right now. These organizations can help today.

International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)

The main US home for BFRB support. BFRB stands for body-focused repetitive behavior, the group that includes hair pulling and skin picking. It runs online events and keeps a list of support groups, including groups for people who pull.

NAMI Vermont

The state branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, based in Williston. It runs free peer-led groups for adults living with a mental health condition, and separate groups for family and friends. Some meet in person and some on Zoom.

Vermont Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health

A Williston nonprofit for families of children and young people up to age 22 with emotional or behavioral challenges. Its staff offer parent-to-parent support by phone at 800-639-6071.

Pathways Vermont Support Line

A free, confidential “warm line” for adults in Vermont, staffed by people who have been through hard times themselves. Call or text 833-888-2557 at any hour when you need to talk.

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Call or text 988 at any time if distress turns into a crisis.

Support groups in Vermont

We haven’t found an in-person group just for hair pulling in Vermont yet. Most groups for people who pull meet online right now. Here’s what we’ve been able to confirm:

IOCDF online BFRB group: a free Zoom group for children, teens and adults with hair pulling or skin picking, plus family and friends. It meets twice a month and is listed on the IOCDF’s support group directory.
NAMI Vermont Connection groups: free, peer-led groups for adults living with any mental health condition, in person and online. They aren’t specific to hair pulling.
NAMI Vermont Family Support Groups: free groups for parents, partners and friends supporting someone they love.

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

Where the name trichotillomania comes from

Hair pulling has been written about for centuries, but it got its modern name in 1889. A French dermatologist, François Henri Hallopeau, described a young man who pulled out hair all over his body. He built the name from Greek: thrix for hair, tillein for pull, and mania.

For nearly a hundred years, the word stayed mostly in medical journals. Many people who pulled had no name for what they did. Most believed they were the only one.

Trichotillomania first appeared in the US diagnostic manual in 1987. Today it’s listed in the DSM-5 and in the World Health Organization’s ICD-10, under code F63.3. More recently, a wider term has come into use: body-focused repetitive behavior, or BFRB. It groups hair pulling with skin picking, nail biting and cheek biting.

The labels have changed over time, but the message behind them hasn’t. This is a recognized condition. It isn’t a bad habit, it isn’t self-harm and it isn’t a lack of willpower.

For many people, learning that the pulling has a name and a long history changes how it feels. What seemed like a private failing turns out to be something doctors described more than a century ago. Knowing that often makes the first conversation with someone easier to start.

About this page

Sources: International OCD Foundation (including its BFRB support group listing and affiliate directory); NAMI Vermont (peer and family support groups); Vermont Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health; Pathways Vermont Support Line and NAMI National Warmline Directory; 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline; Vermont Department of Mental Health; Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (Find a Professional, Board of Psychological Examiners, Allied Mental Health and the Roster of Psychotherapists Who Are Nonlicensed and Noncertified); Vermont Acts 34 and 37 of 2023, PSYPACT Commission and Counseling Compact Commission records (2026); published Vermont therapy cost data (SimplePractice, Care Cost Index, 2026); US Census Bureau 2020 Census; published histories of the term trichotillomania, DSM and ICD classifications.

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 Vermont therapist or practitioner who works with trichotillomania?

Be found by people looking for help with hair pulling across Vermont, in person or online.

Get listed

About Vermont

Vermont is the second-least populous US state, home to about 643,000 people in 2020. The Green Mountains run its full length, and Mount Mansfield, near Stowe, is the highest point at 4,393 feet. Vermont makes more maple syrup than any other state.

Burlington sits on Lake Champlain and is home to the University of Vermont and the Church Street Marketplace, a pedestrian street downtown. Montpelier is the smallest state capital in the country by population. Barre, next door, grew on granite quarrying. In the south, Brattleboro sits on the Connecticut River and Bennington lies near the New York line. The Northeast Kingdom covers the state’s rural far northeast corner.

Attractions in Vermont

Vermont’s landmarks run from Lake Champlain to the Massachusetts line. These five cover the state from north to south.

Shelburne Museum, Shelburne

Electra Havemeyer Webb founded the museum in 1947. Its collections fill 39 buildings on 45 acres near Lake Champlain. Twenty-five of them are historic buildings moved from across New England and New York. They include a covered bridge, a lighthouse and the 220-foot steamboat Ticonderoga. Paintings by Monet, Manet and Degas hang in the memorial building.

Vermont State House, Montpelier

Completed in 1859, this is the third state house on the site. Thomas Silloway designed it, using granite from nearby Barre. Its dome was first covered in gold leaf in 1906. A statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, stands on top; the current carving went up in 2018.

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, Woodstock

Vermont’s only national park was established in 1992 to tell the story of American conservation. George Perkins Marsh grew up here, and Frederick Billings later ran a dairy farm and a managed forest on the land. Laurance and Mary Rockefeller gave the mansion and about 550 acres of forest on Mount Tom to the nation.

Hildene, Manchester

Robert Todd Lincoln, the only child of Abraham Lincoln to reach adulthood, built this Georgian Revival summer home in 1905. It stayed in the family until 1975. A 1908 Aeolian pipe organ with about 1,000 pipes fills the entrance hall. The house also holds one of only three known stovepipe hats that belonged to Abraham Lincoln.

Bennington Battle Monument, Bennington

This 306-foot stone obelisk marks the supply depot the British set out to capture in the Battle of Bennington, on August 16, 1777. It was dedicated in 1891, the centennial of Vermont’s statehood, and is the tallest building in the state. Its observation level, about 200 feet up, looks out over three states.