Contemporary Practices in the Treatment of Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors

Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) are repetitive self-grooming behaviors, such as trichotillomania (hair-pulling), excoriation disorder (skin-picking), and nail-biting, that fall within the scope of obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders. Although BFRBs affect as many as 1 in 20 individuals, access to accurate information and evidence-based treatment is limited. This webinar provides an overview of BFRBs and discusses the recent trend toward more integrative behavioral therapy for BFRBs, promoting enhanced insight, self-acceptance, and motivation, identifying the patterns unique to each individual’s BFRB, and implementing strategies aimed at developing psychological flexibility and the freedom to live full, meaningful lives.

• Define and discuss the phenomenology of BFRBs.
• Describe the cognitive behavioral conceptualization of BFRBs.
• Describe the self-reinforcing nature of BFRBs.
• Discuss an integrative behavioral therapy for BFRBs and explore case examples.

Marla Deibler, PsyD, ABP, and Renae Reinardy, PsyD