BFRB Treatment in North Jersey: Skin Picking & Hair Pulling
Clinicians who treat body-focused repetitive behaviors with a dedicated protocol are thin on the ground across North Jersey. People routinely drive into Manhattan or wait months for a specialist, when the actual barrier is knowing that a specific treatment exists.
Dr. Josephine Kim provides that treatment from Englewood, NJ, and by secure telehealth to clients anywhere in the state, which for most North Jersey residents removes the drive entirely.
Telehealth works well for BFRBs specifically
Some presenting problems are better in person. BFRB treatment is not one of them. The core work is awareness building, competing-response practice, and environmental change, and much of that environment is your bathroom, your desk, and your car. Working by video means the therapist can help you redesign the actual settings where picking or pulling happens, rather than describing them from memory in an office.
Between-session tracking is also central to the protocol, and video sessions make weekly consistency far easier to maintain across a busy schedule or a long commute.
What the protocol targets
- The sensory pull: the specific textures, sensations, and visual cues that initiate the behavior
- The motor habit: the automatic hand-to-face or hand-to-scalp sequence that runs without conscious decision
- The setting: mirrors, lighting, screens, car rides, and the times of day when it reliably happens
- The emotional function: what the behavior regulates, whether that is anxiety, boredom, perfectionism, or overwhelm
- The aftermath: shame and concealment, which drive avoidance and make relapse harder to interrupt
For parents in North Jersey
If you have noticed thinning hair, missing eyelashes or eyebrows, or persistent sores on your child's arms or face, confronting it directly usually backfires. Children and teens with BFRBs are typically already ashamed, and pressure increases the behavior. A first appointment can be a parent consultation alone, to work out how to raise it and what to say, before the child ever comes in.
Getting Here
From North Jersey to the Englewood office
In-person sessions are at 155 N Dean St, Suite 3B, Englewood, reachable from most of Bergen, Passaic, Essex, and Hudson counties via Route 4, Route 80, the Palisades Parkway, or Route 9W. Secure telehealth is available to anyone physically located in New Jersey.
155 N Dean St, Suite 3B
Englewood, NJ 07631
Telehealth available
Secure video sessions anywhere in New Jersey
Common Questions
North Jersey questions
- Can hair pulling be treated over telehealth?
- Yes. Habit Reversal Training and the ComB model translate well to video, and in some respects work better remotely, because the therapist can help you modify the actual rooms and routines where pulling occurs. Research on behavioral treatment delivered by video shows outcomes comparable to in-person care.
- Where can I find a trichotillomania therapist in North Jersey?
- Specialists are limited. Dr. Josephine Kim treats trichotillomania and excoriation disorder from Englewood, NJ, in person for Bergen County and surrounding areas, and by telehealth for anyone located in New Jersey.
- My child pulls their hair. What should I do first?
- Avoid confronting or policing the behavior, which usually increases it. Consider booking a parent consultation on your own first, to plan how to raise the subject and to rule out other contributing factors before treatment begins.
Serving North Jersey from Englewood
Dr. Kim is accepting new clients. A first consultation covers what you are experiencing, what you have already tried, and which approach is likely to fit.