If you struggle with skin picking, you're not alone. Skin picking disorder, clinically known as excoriation disorder, affects approximately 3.45% of the population. Yet despite its prevalence, many suffer in silence, trapped in a cycle of shame that only perpetuates the very behaviour they're desperately trying to stop.

What is Skin Picking Disorder?
Skin picking disorder is a body-focused repetitive behaviour (BFRB) characterised by recurrent picking at one's own skin, leading to tissue damage. People may pick at healthy skin, minor irregularities, scabs, or perceived imperfections. The behaviour can occur in brief episodes throughout the day or in longer, more intense sessions.
Research shows that skin picking predominantly affects women about 1.45 times more than men and often begins in adolescence, though it can emerge at any stage of life.
The condition rarely exists in isolation. Studies reveal strong connections with other mental health experiences:

• 63.4% of those with skin picking also experience generalized anxiety disorder
• 53.1% experience depression
• 27.7% experience panic disorder

Common triggers include stress, anxiety, boredom, tactile sensations (rough or irregular skin texture), emotional dysregulation, and perfectionism the urge to "fix" what we perceive as imperfect.
Understanding the Dopamine Connection
Understanding what's happening in your brain can be genuinely transformative. Skin picking is closely linked to the brain's dopamine reward system. When you pick, your brain releases dopamine, creating a temporary sense of relief, satisfaction, or even pleasure. This neurochemical reward reinforces the behaviour, creating a self-perpetuating cycle that becomes increasingly difficult to break through willpower alone.
Interestingly, research shows that many people enter a trance-like or dissociated state while picking, with their attention narrowly focused and time seeming to disappear. You may not even be fully aware you're doing it until afterwards.
This isn't about lack of self-control or willpower. It's a dopamine-driven behaviour pattern that has become automatic at a subconscious level and that's precisely why it requires a different kind of approach.

Why Shame Keeps You Stuck
One of the biggest barriers to recovery is shame. Many people criticise themselves harshly, thinking "I should be able to stop this" or "What's wrong with me?" But here's what the research tells us: this shame-based approach actually increases stress and emotional dysregulation, which makes the picking behaviour worse.
It's a painful irony the more we judge ourselves, the more we reinforce the very cycle we're trying to break.
Effective treatment begins with self-compassion. Research consistently shows that treating ourselves with the same kindness we'd offer a good friend is far more effective than self-criticism in promoting lasting behaviour change. Acceptance of where you are right now, without judgment, creates the psychological safety needed for genuine healing.

A Holistic Path ForwardIn my practice, I work with clients using an integrated approach that honours the complexity of what you're experiencing. Rather than just focusing on stopping the behaviour, we explore the whole person your emotional landscape, life experiences, stress responses, relationships, and sense of self.
Holistic Counselling: Understanding the Deeper Patterns
Through holistic counselling, we gently explore:
The emotional needs the behaviour meets. Often, picking provides a sense of comfort, control, or release. Understanding what needs are being met helps us find healthier ways to satisfy them.
Underlying trauma or unprocessed emotions. Sometimes skin picking is connected to experiences or feelings that haven't been fully processed. Creating space to address these can be profoundly healing.
Life circumstances and stressors. What's happening in your life when the picking intensifies? Understanding these patterns gives you valuable information.
Your relationship with your body and self. Skin picking often reflects deeper patterns of perfectionism, self-criticism, or disconnection from the body. Healing this relationship is central to recovery.
Building a compassionate inner dialogue. Learning to speak to yourself with kindness rather than harshness changes everything.

The Power of Mindfulness and Presence
A key element of holistic treatment is cultivating mindfulness the practice of being fully present in the moment without judgment. Many people pick while in an automatic, dissociated state. Learning to be present transforms this pattern in several ways:
Awareness breaks automaticity. When you notice the urge to pick without immediately acting on it, you create space for choice. That moment of awareness is where healing begins.
Observing urges mindfully. You learn that urges are temporary sensations that rise and fall like waves. They're not commands that must be obeyed. With practice, you can notice them, breathe with them, and let them pass.
Grounding in the present moment. Using your breath, body sensations, or environmental awareness helps you stay connected rather than dissociating into automatic picking.
Self-compassion in the moment. Meeting urges with kindness rather than resistance paradoxically reduces their intensity. When we stop fighting ourselves, we often find the behaviour has less hold over us.

This approach creates lasting change by addressing root causes rather than just managing symptoms.
Hypnotherapy: Rewiring Subconscious Patterns
Hypnotherapy offers a powerful complement to holistic counselling by working directly with the subconscious mind where automatic behaviours are stored. Research shows promising results, with 70% of participants experiencing reduced anxiety levels through hypnotherapy for skin picking.
During hypnotherapy sessions, we can:

• Interrupt automatic trigger-response patterns at a subconscious level, before they become conscious behaviours
• Create new neural pathways that support healthier responses to triggers
• Access and reframe emotional experiences that may be underlying the behaviour
• Install positive suggestions that reinforce self-compassion and alternative behaviours
• Work with the dopamine reward system to redirect it toward healthier, more satisfying behaviours

As Harvard Medical School psychologist Dr. Ted Grossbart explains: "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 they pick or pull. Learning to convert this 'inadvertent negative hypnosis' into an effective positive tool is vital."

Hypnotherapy is particularly effective for BFRBs because these behaviours often occur in a trance-like state. By working within a similar state of focused awareness, we can create lasting change at the level where the behaviour originates—the subconscious mind.
The Power of Integration: Bringing It All Together
The most effective approach combines both holistic counselling and hypnotherapy, working together to address different aspects of the healing process:
Conscious understanding through holistic counselling helps you explore the deeper emotional and psychological roots of the behaviour, develop mindfulness and present-moment awareness, and build genuine self-compassion.
Subconscious reprogramming through hypnotherapy creates automatic new responses and heals emotional wounds at the level where the behaviour operates often outside of conscious awareness.
Practical strategies give you tools for managing urges in daily life and preventing relapse.
Self-compassion practices reduce shame and support sustainable, lasting change.
This integrated approach addresses both the conscious and subconscious aspects simultaneously, leading to comprehensive and lasting results that honour the complexity of your experience.

Your Journey Forward
If you're struggling with skin picking disorder, please know that recovery is genuinely possible. This is not about "trying harder" or having more willpower. It's about understanding the neurological and psychological mechanisms at play and working with them compassionately.
Despite affecting 3.45% of the population, skin picking disorder remains undertreated. In fact, 85% of patients believe professionals are not adequately trained to address it. This underscores the critical need for specialised, compassionate approaches like holistic counselling and hypnotherapy that treat the whole person, not just the symptom.

Recovery looks different for everyone, and progress isn't always linear. There may be setbacks along the way, and that's completely normal. What matters is that you approach yourself with kindness throughout the journey.
With the right support and evidence-based interventions that address both conscious and subconscious patterns, you can break free from the cycle of skin picking and reclaim your sense of agency and wellbeing.

Ready to Begin?
If you're ready to explore a compassionate, holistic approach to healing from skin picking disorder, I'm here to support you. Through a combination of holistic counselling and hypnotherapy, we can work together to understand your unique patterns, address underlying causes, and create lasting change.
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I have been reflecting on the July and September Mind-Gut workshops, and I am genuinely very happy with how they unfolded. There was real curiosity in the room, and participants were genuinely engaged with the material.
What Made These Workshops So Powerful One of the things I loved most was watching the transformation in how hypnotherapists approached their practice. These were professionals who already understood the power of the mind, but they came with genuine curiosity about the mind-gut connection eager to expand their toolkit and better serve their clients.
What struck me most was the caliber of practitioners in the room. Every single hypnotherapist brought real questions, real cases, and a willingness to dive deeper into how they could help their clients with gut-related issues. There were no surface-level conversations here just authentic exploration of how thoughts, emotions, stress patterns, and digestive health are intrinsically linked, and how hypnotherapy can be a powerful tool in addressing these issues.
The lightbulb moments as well as reconnection was great to witness. Practitioners left understanding new approaches, new language, and new techniques they could take directly into their client sessions. The conversations and feedback that continued after each workshop showed me how energised they felt about bringing this knowledge back to their practice. 
The Learning Never Stops After 30 years of working with people across Europe, Asia, South America, and now here in Australia, I am reminded daily that healing and learning happens when we create safe spaces for curiosity. My aim was to provide that space. Every question asked, every "aha!" moment, every practitioner who left feeling more confident in their work it all reminds me why this work matters so deeply and how much I enjoy giving workshops!
What was lovely about these sessions was that for some hypnotherapists, the workshops were a powerful reminder of what they already knew a reconnection to principles and approaches they'd perhaps not used for a while For others, it was brand new territory. But for everyone, there was a consistent outcome: they left feeling genuinely confident to work with clients presenting with mind-gut issues. That confidence is everything. When practitioners feel assured, their clients feel it too.
And here's what I've learned: fellow hypnotherapists are keen to learn, to discover and practice with each other forming practice follow up groups as well as making friends! They are ready to expand beyond traditional approaches and offer their clients a more holistic path to wellbeing. They are ready to confidently navigate complex issues whether it's the mind-gut connection, breaking seemingly hard habits, or exploring the transformative potential of working with colour therapy. When these modalities come together, real change happens.
What's Coming Next Based on the enthusiasm from these workshops and the feedback I have received, I am thrilled to share what's unfolding:
Breaking Bad Habits Workshop — on January 31st. If you've been wanting to understand the patterns that keep you and your clients stuck and learn practical strategies for real, lasting change, this is for you. Drawing on three decades of therapeutic work, this workshop explores how our habits are formed and, more importantly, how we can rewire them and help clients find that relief and positive reset.
Mind-Gut Workshop Round 3 — March is calling, and so is round 3. For those who couldn't make the first two rounds or want to go deeper, this is your invitation.  I can't wait to bring this fun integrative experience to a new group of curious, committed participants.
The Future is Bright — I am also in the planning stages for something completely new. Imagine combining the power of Hypnotherapy with Colour Therapy two modalities that work with your subconscious and nervous system in fascinating ways. Colour has been used for healing across cultures and centuries, and when combined with hypnotherapy, it opens up profound avenues for transformation. This is early days, but the vision is clear, and I'm in the research and planning phase now. If this resonates with you, stay tuned. You'll be the first to know.
An Invitation to You Whether you've experienced one of my workshops or you're curious about what's next, I want you to let you: the work we are doing together is about discovering genuine balance in body, your mind, and your life. It's about understanding ourselves more deeply through a lens of compassion and curiosity.

If you've been on the fence about taking part, now is the time. Whether it's breaking habits that no longer serve, exploring the mind-gut connection, or venturing into the world of hypnotherapy and colour therapy there's something here for you and your work with clients.

​What's your next step? I'd love to see you in the room.


Ready to explore? Check out our workshops page for details on the Breaking Bad Habits workshop and to join our mailing list for updates on the Mind-Gut March session and our upcoming Hypnotherapy and Colour Therapy workshop.

We've all been there. You tell yourself, "Today is the day I stop biting my nails," or "I'm not going to pick at my skin anymore," or "I'll finally break this stress-eating pattern." You mean it. You really do. But by evening, you find yourself doing the very thing you promised you wouldn't often without even realising it until it's done.
If this sounds familiar, you're not lacking willpower. You're experiencing something far more fundamental: your brain is simply doing what brains do.

The Science Behind "I Can't Help It" When we struggle with repetitive behaviours nail-biting, hair-pulling, skin-picking, overeating, endless scrolling we often blame ourselves. But neuroscience research reveals something fascinating: about 40% of our daily behaviours are habits, not conscious choices.
Your brain creates these automatic patterns through a process called the habit loop:
Cue → Craving → Response → Reward
 
Research by Wolfram Schultz on dopamine and reward prediction shows that your brain releases dopamine the "motivation chemical" during the craving phase, before you even engage in the behaviour. You're not responding to the reward itself; you're responding to the anticipation of it.
This is why habits feel so compelling. Your brain has learned: "This cue means reward is coming." The wanting becomes stronger than the liking.

When Habits Take Up Residence in Your Body
Just as grief can live in your gut, repetitive behaviours often signal deeper nervous system patterns. Body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs) hair-pulling, skin-picking, nail-biting affect 2-5% of the population and serve multiple functions:

• Self-soothing: Calming an overwhelmed nervous system
• Sensory stimulation: Meeting a need for tactile input
• Emotional regulation: Managing anxiety, boredom, or perfectionism
• Automatic response: Operating below conscious awareness

I see this constantly in my practice: clients who have tried everything barrier methods, reminders, rewards systems yet the behaviour persists. The missing piece is often understanding what the habit is actually solving.
Your brain isn't sabotaging you. It's trying to help you, using an outdated strategy.

The Dopamine Baseline Problem
Dr. Anna Lembke's research on dopamine reveals something crucial about our modern struggle with habits. Different activities spike dopamine differently:

• Chocolate: ~50% above baseline
• Social media: Variable but addictive
• Nicotine: ~150% above baseline
• Amphetamines: ~1,000% above baseline

But here's the problem: chronic overstimulation from high-dopamine activities actually lowers your baseline. This means you need increasingly intense stimulation just to feel "normal." It's like your brain's happiness thermostat has been reset.
This explains why simple "willpower" approaches fail. When your baseline is low, your brain desperately seeks anything that will bring it back up—even behaviours you consciously want to stop.

Why Shame Makes Everything Worse
When we shame ourselves for habits "What's wrong with me?" "Why am I so weak?" we actually intensify the problem. Shame lowers dopamine baseline further, increasing the need for compensatory behaviours.
I've witnessed this pattern repeatedly: clients who come in carrying years of self-criticism alongside their habit. The shame has become part of the cycle:
Trigger → Behaviour → Shame → Lower baseline → Stronger trigger → Behaviour
Breaking this cycle requires compassion, not criticism.

How Hypnotherapy Interrupts Automatic Patterns
Traditional approaches often target conscious willpower. But if 40% of behaviours are automatic, we need to work at the subconscious level where habits actually live.
Hypnotherapy accesses these automatic patterns by:
Working with Pattern Interruption: In hypnotic states, we can rapidly interrupt the cue-response link using techniques like the NLP Swish Pattern. By repeatedly "swishing" the trigger image with a desired identity image, we create new neural pathways that become automatic.
Addressing the Real Need: Through gentle exploration, we identify what the habit is actually providing relief, stimulation, control, comfort and find healthier ways to meet that need.
Reframing Identity: Rather than "I'm someone who bites nails trying to stop," we shift to "I'm becoming someone who takes care of themselves." This identity transformation is far more powerful than behavior modification alone.
Regulating the Nervous System: Many habits persist because they're solving a nervous system dysregulation problem. By teaching safe-place visualisation and vagal toning, we address the foundation underneath the behaviour.
Your habits, while frustrating, contain important information:

• Nail-biting during stress might signal your nervous system needs better calming tools
• Hair-pulling while studying might indicate perfectionism or overstimulation
• Skin-picking at night might suggest difficulty with transition or letting go
• Stress-eating in afternoons might reveal energy dips or emotional depletion

Rather than forcing these patterns to stop, we learn what they're trying to tell us.

Evidence-Based Approaches That Actually Work
Recovery from unwanted habits requires approaches that honour both neuroscience and compassion:
Dopamine Reframing: Understanding your brain's reward-seeking isn't the enemy it's the delivery system that needs upgrading. We create a "reward menu" of healthier dopamine sources: quick options (20 jumping jacks, cold water on face), medium (walk outside, creative activity), and long-term (exercise, hobby immersion).
Habit Stacking: Research on implementation intentions shows that "if-then" planning significantly improves success. Rather than building habits from scratch, we stack new behaviours onto existing routines: "After I feel the urge, I will [alternative behaviour]."
Pattern Interrupt Techniques: Using hypnosis and visualisation, we rehearse the new response until it becomes automatic. Your conscious mind might resist, but your subconscious learns quickly through repetition and sensory-rich imagery.
Nervous System Work: Teaching clients to recognise when they're in fight-flight or freeze helps them catch habits earlier in the chain. Poly vagal exercises restore a sense of safety that makes behaviour change possible.
Identity Transformation: The most powerful shifts happen when clients stop seeing themselves as "someone trying to stop X" and start becoming "someone who naturally chooses Y."
The Compassionate Path Forward
If you're struggling with a habit right now, please know: this is not a character flaw. Your brain is doing exactly what evolution designed it to do seek rewards and avoid pain, create efficiency through automation, and protect you from overwhelm.
The shame you might feel about "not being able to stop" is actually making the habit stronger. Your body is processing challenging experiences the best way it currently knows how.
Healing happens not by forcing yourself to "just stop," but by:

• Understanding what your habit is solving
• Finding better solutions for that real need
• Working at the subconscious level where automatic patterns live
• Building new neural pathways through repetition
• Treating yourself with the same compassion you'd offer a dear friend

Moving Toward Lasting Change In my practice, clients who make lasting shifts do several things differently:
They get curious instead of critical. "What is this habit giving me?" opens doors that "Why am I so weak?" slams shut.
They work on nervous system regulation first. You cannot change behaviour when your body feels unsafe. Calm first, then change.
They focus on becoming someone new, not just stopping something old. Identity-level change creates transformation that behaviour-level change cannot.
They find better alternatives, not deprivation. Your brain needs rewards. Sustainable change comes from upgrading the reward system, not eliminating it.
They practice self-compassion relentlessly. Every time you notice the habit without shame, you're breaking the cycle.

Your Capacity for Change
Research shows that habit formation takes anywhere from 18 to 254 days, with an average of 66 days. This isn't a weekend project. It's a process of rewiring neural pathways that may have been forming for years or decades.
But your brain's neuroplasticity its ability to create new patterns doesn't diminish with age. You can teach your brain new responses at any stage of life.
Through gentle, evidence-based approaches like hypnotherapy, you support your nervous system in releasing outdated patterns and creating new ones. You work with your brain's natural learning processes, not against them.
Your habit may have been with you for years, but it doesn't define who you're becoming. Trust the process, be patient with yourself, and seek support that honours both the neuroscience and the compassion you deserve.

If you're struggling with repetitive behaviours like nail-biting, hair-pulling, skin-picking, or stress-related habits, hypnotherapy can help. I specialise in evidence-based, compassionate approaches that work with your brain's natural healing capacity.