About a year and a half ago I had the pleasure of attending the BRFB conference that was held in San Francisco, California and it was absolutely one of the most amazing experiences that I have ever had as someone battling with Trichotillomania.
For years I always struggled alone thinking that I was weird and no one would understand me and when I found out there was a conference where other people who had this hair-pulling disorder were meeting, I had to go.
I found out about the conference from Aneela Kumar at HabitAware, she’s the inventor of Keen, a habit detecting bracelet that has helped me reduce my hair pulling dramatically.
Meet Other Parents Who Have Kids With Trichotillomania
One of the best things about this type of conference is that they have support groups and sessions for not only those of us with trichotillomania but also for the PARENTS.
If you’re a parent of a child, teen or young adult with trich, finding support is SO important. This kind of support empowers you and encourages you to help your child in ways that you didn’t even know existed.
Never in my life have I felt like I belonged anywhere until I attended this conference. These were MY PEOPLE and if you’re a parent looking for support, these are YOUR PEOPLE too!
There are sessions held just for parents, these sessions are educational as well as uplifting.
The BFRB conference only happens once a year in the Springtime and I highly encourage people who are looking for trichotillomania support to attend if they can. The conference does move around each year across the United States, the 2020 BRFB con is taking place in Chicago the first week of April.
The TLC Foundation who puts on the BRFB con does have other events that they sponsor and they can be found on their website in the Events section.
Finding a Trichotillomania Support Group for Parents
In addition to the conference and other events listed on the TLC Foundation website, they also have a section for finding a support group in your state if that is something you desire. Not every area has a group but it’s worth taking a look, especially if you’re near larger cities.
If you’re looking for something online, there’s a large support group on Facebook called Trichy, Picky Parenting that has almost 2,700+ members to where you can ask questions and get encouragement from others in the same situation.
I know as someone who has been dealing with this hair-pulling disorder, having support groups online has been very helpful. Not all of us can get to a local support group or attend the conferences and other events but we can log in into a computer and ask questions and get help still.
I’m a bit introverted myself so the first place I ever went was to support groups online. It was nice to be able to find products, people and ask questions to others in the same boat as me, I imagine it’s the same for parents too.
It’s not easy knowing what to do for your child with trichotillomania but being around others in the same situation will definitely give you some insight into what you can do to help your child with trichotillomania.
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