Kitchener Waterloo Support Group!
We’ve got a new peer-support group in the works! Be sure to email BFRB.kitchener.waterloo@gmail.com if you are interested in joining or want some more information!
NEW BFRB Support Group in SASKATOON, Saskatchewan
Great news for our BFRB community out in Saskatchewan, we now have a BFRB Support Group up and running! All BFRBs and family members welcome, held every 2nd and 4th Sunday of every month. Visit our event section on the...
The Cost Of Living With a BFRB
Having any type of body-focused repetitive behaviour can force you to become somewhat of a “beauty-guru” whether you like it or not. Many of us spend more time than we’d like in our local drug-stores or beauty store trying to...
My BFRB tag team
“Where there’s one, there’s probably more” That’s an understatement. I live with a smattering of body focused repetitive behaviours, including hair pulling, nail biting and skin biting/picking (hands). I’ve been pulling out my hair since I was about 12...
3rd Annual BFRB Awareness Event – Breaking down BFRBs
Reserve your seat here! Please make sure to reserve your seat! Tickets will be available for reservation for as long as there are tickets available. Please note this is a free event, however we will be accepting donations on...
BFRB Representation at the World Health Innovation Summit in London, England!
Good news for our mental health friends across the pond! This year the lovely Liz Atkin will be representing the BFRB community at the World Health Innovation Summit in London, England as an Ambassador! I first met Liz this past April at...
Stop Thinking You’re The Only One
I hope this blog, the first after a long period of silence, doesn’t come across too awfully, but there’s something that bugs me about the community. It’s a bit of a rant, I guess you could say. “Am I...
A Letter to my 12 Year-Old Self
I can still feel the pain, embarrassment and helplessness of being my 12 year-old self, as if it was yesterday. 14 years have come and gone, but the emotions attached to the year I started pulling out my hair are still...
One Size Does Not Fit All: Dealing With Multiple Disorders
I’ve come to believe it’s important to separate our disorders from one another. No, I don’t mean the segregation of trich from derm, or dissolving the BFRB umbrella term. What I mean is separating our disorders so that we...
Creating a Self-Care Toolbox for BFRBs
Creating a self-care or coping toolbox for BFRBs can help us during particularly difficult times. Having a toolbox on hand will provide comfort and strategies to encourage positive thinking, and will prove to be an invaluable asset when you are having a rough day....
Guest Blog: Beth’s Story
She was about 12 years old the first time. She remembers looking in that mirror, trying to stop, but having no control. A process that has repeated almost every day since for the last 26 years. Open oozing wounds...
21 Gorgeous Women Whose Shaved Heads Will Give You Life – via BuzzFeed (June 6th, 2015)
Check out #12 in this piece on gorgeous ladies rocking the buzzed look! It’s our good friend Jillian Clark!!! —->> 21 Gorgeous Women Whose Shaved Heads Will Give You Life – via BuzzFeed << —-
The Different Facets of Recovery
When most of us think of recovery, we probably first think of it in terms of abstinence. Shows like Intervention and many different talk shows that feature people who are in recovery talk about an absence of substance use....
#BFRBcon 2015: the messages we heard
“BFRBs are not the enemy, they are the messenger.” -Dr. Renae Reinardy The above is just one of several quotations that had an impact on me at the Trichotillomania Learning Center’s annual conference. For the first time ever, CBSN...
20 years and counting…and why that doesn’t suck
Twenty years ago, I was going on five years old. I wish I could say I had the hopes and ambitions of my future sparkling in my eyes while I went about life in a carefree manner, but I...
Guest Blog: Discovering Dermatillomania
This blog was submitted to us after the submitter, who wishes to remain anonymous, was sent a link to the recent post in the Calgary Herald. ——– Someone close to me, who is also a “picker” sent me the...
Breaking Down BFRBs – Katy’s Story
Last October we had a seminar in Toronto called “Breaking Down BFRBs”, we had several guest speakers who shared their personal stories with our audience. Here is Katy’s story:
BFRB’s Make Calgary Headlines
Our Peer Support Coordinator, Danielle Roberts, shared her story of living with dermatillomania (skin-picking disorder) which was published in her local newspaper, the Calgary Herald. Read the article here! A huge thank you to Danielle for her ongoing support...
Skin-Picking Stigma
Here at CBSN, we often talk about the stigma that comes with BFRBs. Spread the Word. Break the Stigma. That’s one of our main taglines, but while we talk about stigma a lot, we don’t really speak about...
Dear Mom & Dad: a BFRB Poem
A beautiful poem from the perspective of the writer’s 12 year old self. Written by: Mariahlyn Elvers from Calgary, Alberta. “Dear mom and dad, I need you to understand I don’t mean to leave hair everywhere, on the...
CBSN reaches The Yukon! “No need to be ashamed”
Our Yukon Peer Support Leader, Colleen, shared her story about living with trichotillomania, and it was featured in the Yukon News this past week! Read the article here. Congratulations and a big thank you to Colleen for her bravery...
The Dreaded Relapse: Dermatillomania
This guest piece comes from Danielle Roberts. Danielle is a Canadian freelance writer who graduated from the University of Calgary in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. She is an avid runner, reader and mental health advocate...
I Shaved My Head To Stop Pulling My Hair Out: A Trichy Tale
A guest post by peer support group leader Julie Mason. ——– On January 17th, 2014, my hair and my head were in rough shape. I would say that about half of my hair was gone. After ten years of...
Spread The Word, Break The Stigma- Awareness Video
CBSN is very proud to present our first Awareness Video. A big THANK YOU to Sky Wylie, a member of one of our Peer Support Groups, who put together this amazing video. We hope you enjoy, and be sure...
Parenting & BFRBs: the Child’s Perspective
“You can’t resolve other people’s issues, but you can sit with them and share the burden of their pain, thereby lightening it.” – Yehuda Berg When someone we love is suffering, one of the first things we want to...
Finding Love with a BFRB
By Andrea Wondering if you’ll ever find love with a body-focused repetitive behaviour (BFRB)? I wanted to write about this topic because I see so many posts giving advice for significant others dating someone with a BFRB. But what...
Accepting My Skin Picking: Is This Really Recovery?
What if I stopped fighting my skin picking? What if I stopped begging for a cure? What if I stopped agonizing over and hating it? What if I just let it be? What if I accepted it? Those are...
Is BFRB Recovery Possible? Professionals Weigh In
There are many opinions or even just curiosity throughout the body-focused repetitive behaviour (BFRB) community about whether recovery is possible. With how much is still unknown about BFRBs, it can probably seem premature to even make that call. But...
Skin Picking Recovery: Challenges and Opportunity
Angela Hartlin has a long history with excoriation (skin-picking) disorder (also called dermatillomania). You may be familiar with her story, but if not, the disorder had a grip on her life from a young age. During her teens and...
The Benefits of Peer Support Groups in BFRB Recovery
If you’re familiar with the Canadian BFRB Support Network’s story at all, then you know that the organization started as a small gathering of people with trichotillomania and other body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs) in our founder’s living room. It...
9 Tips to Kick-Start Your BFRB Recovery
Talking about recovery for your body-focused repetitive behaviour (BFRB) is all fine and well, but where do you even start? Like how recovery itself may look different from person to person, getting started with approaching recovery at all may...
What Is BFRB Recovery? What Can It Look Like?
If there’s one thing to learn from the body-focused repetitive behaviour (BFRB) community, it’s that different people have different steps they take to reach recovery and that recovery looks different from person to person. That can make it difficult...
Steps to BFRB Recovery: BFRB Awareness Week 2021
re·cov·er·y /rəˈkəv(ə)rē/ a return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength. the action or process of regaining possession or control of something stolen or lost. Google/Oxford Languages Recovery can seem like an elusive thing when you have...
Call for Story Submissions: BFRB Awareness Week 2021
Sometimes we can feel like we can only share our story if we have a piece of sage advice to share, or the answer to burning questions, but that’s not the case. At CBSN, sharing our stories, no matter...
Preventing Mask Acne as a Skin Picker (the Less to Pick, the Better)
Mask acne, or maskne as it has been dubbed, is something that many of us might be dealing with as public spaces reopen. It’s meaning we’re out in public more, and in many cases wearing a mask is still...
How to Spot Those Preying on the BFRB Community (Bad Actors)
While it’s a nice notion to think that everyone has good intentions and is only meaning to help, there are, unfortunately, those who prey on the vulnerabilities of others. This is true in the body-focused repetitive behaviour community as...
13 Hairstyles for Trich Hair Loss (Ungendered)
Feeling good about yourself is something that most everyone strives for, and when you have trichotillomania, that can often be a challenge because of bald spots, thinning, and hair loss. Getting a new haircut or being able to achieve...
An Inside Look at BFRB Coaches
You may have heard of coaching before, such as with life coaches, but did you know there are also folks out there offering coaching for body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs)? Maybe you’ve seen them across the internet and read their...
An Inside Look at BFRB Treatment Providers
While often sought out, treatment options for body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs) can seem elusive. Because of how little knowledge there currently is about BFRBs, many treatment providers don’t know about them, but suppose you do find someone that says...
Mental Health Resources and COVID-19
By Angela Hartlin Along with the rest of the world, Canadians have been experiencing the devastations caused by the COVID-19 crisis. With access to effective treatments for trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling), excoriation disorder (skin picking disorder), and other body-focused...