Harvard Medical School Psychologist: Hypnosis Effective in Treating Skin Picking, Hair Pulling

BOSTON, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Ted Grossbart, Harvard Medical School psychologist and author of Skin Deep: A Mind-Body Program for Healthy Skin, will discuss hypnosis and its role in treating trichotillomania (hair pulling) and skin picking at the 17th Annual National Conference on Trichotillomania & Skin Picking on April 24, 2010 in Dallas, Texas.

"Hypnosis is very effective at reducing the stress that often triggers these problems. Also, about two thirds of people go into a spontaneous, spacey trance state when the pick or pull," noted Grossbart. "Learning to convert this 'inadvertent negative hypnosis' into an effective positive tool is vital."

Added Grossbart: "Hypnosis can be combined with most of the more commonly used treatment approaches including medications, CBT, and mindfulness to make them even more effective. Many people can use hypnosis to help reprogram their picking and pulling hand to automatically do some other soothing but non-destructive behavior instead. Once people are in the driver's seat of their hypnotic ability, they often reap additional benefits in other areas of their lives as well."

Skin Deep: A Mind-Body Program for Healthy Skin has become an indispensable resource for readers dealing with persistent skin problems who are looking to better understand their causes and become active agents in their own treatment and recovery. The book includes chapters on how to "listen" to your own skin, how your symptoms are tied to your stress levels, and how to use relaxation, meditation, and psychotherapy in addition to hypnosis to address skin conditions.

To download a copy of the e-book, visit www.grossbart.com. The Health Press paperback and Amazon Kindle editions are also available via the website.

About Dr. Ted Grossbart

Ted A. Grossbart, Ph.D. is an author and licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Boston. He is a senior clinical supervisor at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Michigan, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University.

Dr. Grossbart practices short-term and long-term psychotherapy. He also treats major skin, allergic, and other stress-triggered disorders. He continues to pioneer the use of a wide range of mind/body treatments including relaxation, imaging, meditation, hypnosis and self-hypnosis, and psychotherapy in these areas.

SOURCE Ted A. Grossbart, Ph.D.