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The following is an interview with a real client at the Center for Effective Therapy who utilized Behavioral Parent Training to support their child who was struggling with big emotions and how to control his feelings.

In our world filled with constant access to information, it is increasingly more challenging to decipher what is accurate and what you can trust. Oftentimes, especially as busy people and working caregivers, we tend to lean heavily on popular new stories and social media algorithms for our sources of information. While these sources often have helpful and interesting information, sometimes they get science wrong.

When a child or adolescent is displaying hair-pulling behaviors that indicate the possibility of trichotillomania, early identification of symptoms and pursuing effective treatment with family support will set them on the right path.

Trichotillomania is commonly known as the “hair pulling” disorder in which an individual consistently pulls out one’s own hair in connection to emotional dysregulation, which can lead to hair loss or functional impairment. When a child is struggling with trichotillomania, it can be distressing for the whole family to see them engage in these behaviors, and it can often be hard to understand why the child feels the need to pull at their hair.

Parenting can be stressful, regardless of your own relationship with mental health and anxiety. For caregivers that experience their own anxiety, managing anxious thoughts and behaviors can be an important factor to address considering that anxiety often has a genetic component. If a child’s caregiver experiences higher levels of anxiety, the child may be more likely to experience elevated levels of anxiety as well. Children also learn by modeling caregiver’s behaviors, so interactions between caregivers and their children are important in setting the groundwork for a healthy relationship with anxiety. If you are a caregiver that experiences your own anxiety, here are some tips for parenting through anxious moments.