Accredited With https://thecpd.group Accreditation Number #1013126
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Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) such as trichotillomania and excoriation (skin-picking) disorder are notoriously difficult to treat. In the prevailing approach, cognitive behavioral therapy, therapists are taught to focus on treating symptoms without addressing the roots of the disorders. An integrative psychodynamic approach places the focus directly on these neglected roots, which lead us to attachment disruptions and comorbid conditions. A study of the critical role of the skin in the development of emotional regulation skills clarifies the importance of an attachment-based approach to treatment. Frustration is the main trigger for picking and pulling behaviors, along with isolation, boredom, and a sense of being trapped. In turn, the behaviors themselves lead to shame, isolation, and deep despair. Therapists working with this population need to be equipped to help clients express some of the aggressive energy that has been released, bit by bit, through picking and pulling behaviors. This training aims to help therapists encourage client anger toward themselves, facing countertransference resistance as it arises. A psychodynamic approach includes a safety phase, centers the therapeutic relationship and integrates mind, body and skin. Case studies illuminate how this modality is specifically helpful in treating body-focused disorders. Participants will learn how the therapist can restart stymied development through co-regulation. Key therapist tools in this framework include translating body language into words and the therapists’ somatic awareness. Adaptive emotional regulation skills such as emotional expression, assertiveness skills and sublimation of aggressive energy are enhanced within the therapeutic container.
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