Coaching professions can assist those looking to improve their overall wellness or reach a goal in life. When searching for excoriation disorder help, you may come across a Skin Picking Coach. While appearing specialized, can they actually treat you for what the average mental health professional is not trained to?
Are they qualified to help you manage such a complex compulsion?
This is personal for me, and not just because I had one try to manipulate me and another message multiple members of my facebook group Skin Picking Support to sell her guide; COACH ONE and COACH TWO, respectively.
As an eighteen year old who lived in an area that still has very little awareness for body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), I felt like a freak. Past traumas and co-morbid mental health issues affected my daily life, fuelling my dermatillomania. Anytime I made frantic attempts to stop, I felt like a failure and even more alienated from society. After barely reviewing the homework I completed for a past therapist (discussed in FOREVER MARKED: A Dermatillomania Diary), she discharged me because I “just wasn’t getting it”. I was misunderstood, blamed, then made to suffer worse alone, while continuing to live with extreme shame and distress over my scabbed appearance.
I would have done anything to stop picking my skin.
I was in university and working long hours at a call center to pay tuition while providing financial support at home. Coming from a low-income home after my father’s brain injury, my mother and I would have saved every penny for me to get any form of help to save me from my mental spiral.
With no television exposure about this topic until my appearance on local news in 2009, or official diagnosis until it was included in the DSM-5 in 2013 as excoriation disorder, I would have jumped on the opportunity to speak to anyone about my embarrassing secret, especially someone who offered the promise of freedom from my picking. I would have been skeptical, but my desperation in feeling and looking “normal” would have led me to talk to anyone willing to try harder than my previous psychologist had… anyone willing to not judge me. Had the timing been right, I could have been the perfect victim.
Coaches don’t have the credentials or experience to deal with the several mental health struggle I had that contributed to my severe picking, some which linger and still affect my own recovery today.
The Differences between a Therapist and BFRB Coach
Online coaches and mental health professionals offer similar services on paper, making it hard to discern who is capable of providing you with the help you’re looking for. The differences between education, practices, and regulatory bodies in each profession are important to consider when choosing who to see for your dermatillomania:
Education & Training
The requirements to practice as a therapist (counsellor, social worker, psychologist) is rigorous, while there are no legal prerequisites in becoming a coach.
To become a therapist or social worker, prospective practitioners must complete an undergraduate degree, along with a graduate degree: a minimum of five years of schooling. Students also undergo practicums to complete a set number of hours in the field upon before they graduate. Coaches can receive their certification through websites in as little as a month, with no work terms required.
Therapy Vs. Goal-Setting
Therapists (counselors, social workers, psychologists) help you explore and process the past through proven methods while utilizing techniques to help you manage your mental illness. Coaches work from a baseline assumption of general wellness, helping clients achieve goals through action plans rather than rehabilitating a complex disorder.
Regulatory Bodies & Accountability
While several governing boards across the world have a range of qualifications in becoming a therapist, there are none for life coaches. Whether it’s registering with an association or requiring additional certifications (ie Suicide Intervention, Mental Health First Aid), therapists need to be registered to practice in a specific area due to regulations and for insurance/ billing purposes. Legally, life coaches have free reign with no professional oversight to hold them accountable for irresponsible or dangerous practices.
Steps to Protect Yourself
Search Their Credentials
If someone is offering to help you with a mental health disorder, they must be verifiable and trusted.
Their full name, professional information, relevant education, and additional credentials should be easy to access through their social media pages and a Google search. Also consider:
- How many years of post-secondary schooling do they have in a relevant health field?
- Where did they graduate from?
- What certifications do they have, and from where?
- Where have they practiced in the past?
“A coach like COACH TWO” who has only allegedly helped friends without disclosing her lack of experience.
Beware of anyone who has emerged in the BFRB community only to profit.
Know Their History
- How long have they been offering their services for?
- What are the specific services they provide?
- How much experience do they have in the field of mental health?
- Do they have professional references?
While it isn’t necessary to be in recovery to be a coach, if they claim their services derive from personal experience you have the right to research their story. Questions to consider include:
- How long did they have it for?
- How do they define their recovery?
- Was it a lifelong struggle or a brief bout?
- Have they shared images of their skin before recovery?
Be Skeptical of Advertising
When I appeared on The Doctors, Karen Pickett, LMFT, was asked if I could stop this behavior. As an experienced therapist, she didn’t promise a miracle because she understood that there could be underlying issues that needed to be clinically assessed before addressing my excoriation disorder. Voicing high expectations from therapy would have set me up for failure.
Karen Pickett gives a responsible reply when asked if I could overcome my skin picking.
Another warning sign is when resources are only available after signing up by email, which can be sold to third-parties or used to spam you with products or services instead of what you hoped for.
COUCH ONE hasn’t disclosed her extensive career working for several pharmaceutical companies. She left the last one only a month after creating her social media account, and then became employed with another later on.
Client Feedback
Search for past or current clients for their experiences with the coach.
- Look for testimonials from real people (with first/ last name, non-bot social media handles, etc.) who back up the validity of the services.
- Were clients satisfied or disappointed, and with what part[s]?
- Would they see the coach again, or recommend them to other skin pickers?
Language
What are they promising with their services? Are they using hyperbolic language, with buzz words like cure, stop, or eliminate, to market a perfect scenario?
There is no scientific evidence behind claims urges can disappear forever. A picker whose skin was as bad as mine, starting in childhood, will likely never stop 100% forever. Not only is skin picking a natural grooming behavior for everyone, it’s a part of my neurobiology. During stressful times, we’re likely to revert back to old patterns because the neural pathways in the brain that self-soothe by enacting BFRBs have already been created. What matters is how we manage those urges.
Social Media Accounts
Be careful who you follow. While some may post motivating content, they may also serve as advertisements meant to gain trust and direct you to their services.
If they are transparent about their practice and provide realistic expectations for their coaching, they have the ability to alleviate everyday wellness issues or help you set goals, but their backgrounds do not involve the education required for mental health care. They are not qualified- or equipped- to replace professionals in treating any disorder, let alone a suicidal 18-year-old who would have felt like a failure in not becoming “pick free” and guilty for wasting money my family needed.
Six months of recovery with time to help others, charging $3333 USD ($4093 CDN) for three months of sessions; more than what a trained psychologist with years of experience does.
Similar to my PickFix analysis, every book/ guide, device, and product deserves your skepticism. Question everything you see online, especially when it’s connected to a dollar sign. Be thorough in your research before placing your faith in a self-proclaimed coach who may be out for your wallet.
Life coaches who specialize in skin picking may be effective at encouragement or knowledgeable about practical wellness tools, but they are not equipped to work with people who have serious mental health issues. Whether it comes from the belief that they’re genuinely helping someone or the drive to prey on the desperation of an under-represented and highly-stigmatized mental health community, they risk harming a vulnerable client if they don’t outline appropriate expectations or know how to handle a mental health crisis.
If you’re the victim of a scam, you can file a complaint internationally or in your country:
Since most people don’t seek help until their picking becomes psychologically distressing, my recommendation is to see a trained professional who is certified to treat BFRBs.
If you’re looking for professional help for excoriation disorder or another BFRB, many of these providers have completed the certification program in Clinical Training in CBT-Based Treatment for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors through TLC‘s accredited Professional Training Institute.
Suggested Articles:
- Why do we fall for scams?
- Money and Mental Health
- Are you a Fraud Coach?
- 7 Ways to Know if a Business or Life Coach is Legit
- How to Tell if the Health Coach You Hired is Legit
Support:
Always remember that there is hope for recovery.
If you’re unsatisfied with services from a BFRB coach or unqualified therapist, do not let it deter you from seeking proper help and utilizing online supports for your skin picking. It is not a reflection of your inability to improve; it’s a sign that they are not equipped to handle these, oftentimes, debilitating mental health conditions.