Before I got a group started in San Francisco, CA I asked myself, "Am I ready to lead a group for others?" At first I felt I was too early on in my understanding of trichotillomania to start a group. I also felt that I needed to, at least, formulate a plan for my own path to recovery. This didn't mean that I needed to stop pulling or grow all my hair back in order to help others. A large part of leading a support group involves learning as well as leading. I just had to check that I wanted to start the group for ME too.


The first thing I did was to attend Christina's group in Santa Cruz, CA every week for a couple months. I participated and observed what worked in Christina's group taking mental notes about how to structure and run my group. I understand that there may not be another group within driving range to where you live. But perhaps you can attend another group when you are on a business trip, visiting relatives, or on vacation if possible. This is just a suggestion.


Secondly, I attended a TLC retreat and a conference. By gathering Information from the professionals and by connecting with a wide range of other hair pullers I felt that I had the experiences I needed to begin my own group. It may not be possible to attend a TLC event, but please remember that TLC is sometimes able to offer scholarships to people who want to attend a retreat or conference. It's always a good idea to ask.


Lastly, I signed up to be a member of TLC. With my membership they sent me a 130+ page Information package with research articles, personal stories, charts that I could use to monitor my pulling, and much more. I found this Information extremely useful. In my group we reviewed articles and behavior strategies I had read about.


I would recommend the same kind of self-discovery, thought, and research to anyone starting a peer support group for trichotillomania. At the same time, no person is an expert on trichotillomania and the most important thing about starting a group is that it provides you and others with the opportunity to connect, share ideas, and support each other!