The recommended treatment for Skin Picking Disorder is with a trained psychotherapist who specializes in treating this misunderstood and often misdiagnosed condition. Effective treatment focuses on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), with an emphasis on Habit-Reversal Training (HRT) and Mindfulness Based CBT.
In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for the treatment of Dermatillomania, the first behavioral goal is to stop picking any “C’s” – in other words, to stop creating new skin problems where none previously existed. Usually, a skin picker can learn to do this relatively easily by becoming more aware of their picking patterns. Building awareness is generally done by keeping a skin picking log, and with the assistance of a habit-blocker such as wearing gloves.
Skin Picking / Dermatillomania / Trichotillomania - 12 Roadblocks to RecoveryGloves provide a barrier to unconscious picking, and help in two ways. First, the skin picker cannot easily pick at existing scabs, blemishes, etc. Second, the gloves prevent identification of new places to pick that would otherwise be felt by random, unconscious, mindless “investigation” (touching) of the skin. If you are a skin picker, the previous sentence may resonate with you, and you may say, “I do that!” That would make sense as the two main triggers for skin pickers are touching and looking at their skin.