Skin Picking

Skin Picking or Dermatillomania, to give it its medical term, is where a person has regular urge or need to pick at their own skin, often causing tissue damage. This condition affects quite a number of people and is more common than what people would envisage. Often the person affected will pick at an area of skin, that can be easily covered up by clothing, so that others don’t easily notice it.  Picking at your own skin can become a source of embarrassment, which in turns affects self-confidence and self-esteem.

I have seen a number of people in my practice that have had this issue. In the most extreme circumstances, the person will pick at their skin until they bleed. In my experience skin picking is something that’s more common with women rather than men.

The Source Of The Problem

Normally, the actual act of picking at the skin, is actually a distraction from whatever that actual cause of the problem is. So what I mean by that, is that when someone actually skin picks, it is accompanied by a slight sensation, discomfort or pain, as the surface of the skin is picked at. In that moment, the person is distracting themselves from or briefly escaping from their issue. So for example, it could be that the person gets very stressed, or very anxious, and by picking at their skin, it just distracts them from their stress, or allows them to escape their anxiety for a short moment. Similarly, it could be that someone has some emotional issues that have happened in the past. When those thoughts come back to their mind, or they feel anxious, or feel upset, they will skin pick, because in that moment, it distracts them from the issue cause, kind of ‘blanking it out for a moment’.

Uncovering And Dealing With The Root Cause

Bu using Hypnotherapy, then firstly it will be used to disrupt the habit at a subconscious level and in turn allow the person to feel better about themselves. Often Skin Picking is something that someone will do without consciously thinking about it. So again, the Hypnotherapy will aim to stop that, or at least be in a position where the person can pause before going to pick at their skin and actually think in that moment; Do I Really Want To Do This? No, whereas before, they would have just gone ahead and done it.

Secondly, what we’re going to do, is look to uncover the actual root causes of why the person is compelled to pick at their skin and then lastly clear and release the stored emotions around whatever the issue was that started underlies this behaviour.

Number Of Sessions Required

Everyone is different, but you are normally looking at two or three sessions in total. The sessions will be tailored personally to you. In addition a recording of the Hypnotherapy part of some of these sessions will be sent to you after the session has ended, so that you can listen to the recording at home, in-between sessions, making the Hypnotherapy even more effective.

Contact Me

So if you are ready to get rid of this embarrassing habit then enquire today.