Why “Just Stop Pulling” Doesn’t Work
If you’ve spent years trying to figure out how to stop pulling your hair, you already know it isn’t simply a habit you can force yourself to break. Hair pulling is often connected to patterns in the nervous system and sensory regulation. My Grow Method™ was created to help you understand those patterns, interrupt the urge cycle, and support your scalp as it begins to heal and regrow.
Does This Sound Familiar?
If you live with Trichotillomania, you may recognize these moments:
• Your hands search for hair before you even realize it
• The urge gets stronger when you're stressed, tired, or overwhelmed
• You promise yourself you’ll stop… but the cycle keeps repeating
• You hide bald spots or feel embarrassed about your scalp
• You feel frustrated that willpower alone hasn’t worked
You are not alone.
Millions of people experience Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, which include hair pulling, skin picking, and other repetitive behaviors connected to stress regulation.
Understanding this pattern is the first step toward changing it.
Get to Know Me
I didn’t wake up one day and decide to pull my hair out.
It started quietly.
So quietly that I didn’t even realize it was happening.
I was a kid when my hands learned how to search before my brain learned how to notice. Pulling wasn’t a choice—it was comfort, regulation, grounding, escape. It showed up when I was bored, overwhelmed, anxious, tired, thinking too much, feeling too deeply… or feeling nothing at all.
For years, I thought the problem was willpower.
If I could just stop.
If I tried harder.
If I covered the mirrors.
If I wore hats.
If I distracted myself enough.
But the harder I fought my hands, the louder the urge became.
So I did what so many of us do—I learned how to hide. Extensions. Hairstyles. Avoiding bright lights. Avoiding eye contact. Avoiding myself. On the outside, I built businesses, brands, a life that looked full and successful. On the inside, I carried shame, frustration, and the constant feeling that my body was betraying me.
What changed everything wasn’t another trick to “stop pulling.”
It was realizing that my body wasn’t broken.
My nervous system was overwhelmed.
My minerals were depleted.
My hormones were out of rhythm.
My body had learned this pattern before I had language for it.
Pulling wasn’t the enemy—it was a signal.
Once I stopped asking “How do I force this to stop?”
and started asking “What is my body asking for?”
everything shifted.
I began rebuilding from the inside out.
I learned how stress burns through minerals faster than we can replace them.
How nighttime urges spike when the nervous system finally slows down.
How hands search automatically when the brain is overloaded.
How trauma, hormones, and depletion can live in the body long after the moment has passed.
Instead of fighting my hands, I gave them safer jobs.
Instead of punishing my body, I nourished it.
Instead of obsessing over hair growth, I focused on scalp safety, circulation, ritual, and consistency.
Instead of chasing perfection, I practiced gentleness.
Some days I still pull.
But I no longer spiral afterward.
Now I notice the cue sooner.
I intervene with compassion instead of shame.
I understand why the urge showed up—and what it needs instead.
Healing hasn’t been linear.
It’s been cyclical. Hormonal. Emotional. Physical. Spiritual.
But for the first time in my life, I feel like I’m working with my body instead of against it.
This journey became more than stopping a habit.
It became about rebuilding trust with myself.
About learning to regulate instead of numb.
About creating rituals that feel grounding instead of restrictive.
About growth that’s slow, intentional, and sustainable.
I’m not here because I “beat” trichotillomania.
I’m here because I learned to listen.
And every day I choose to keep growing—
with patience, with knowledge, and with compassion for the body that carried me this far.
Rooted Regulation Framework
A Nervous-System-First Way to Support Hair Pulling
Hair pulling (trichotillomania) is rarely about willpower alone. For many people, it’s a sign that multiple internal systems are out of balance and the body is doing its best to cope. Our approach focuses on realigning the body’s internal systems so regulation can come from within, rather than relying on force or suppression. This work is educational and supportive, designed to help you better understand your patterns and create safer, more nourishing ways to meet your body’s needs.
Step 1: Support the Nervous System
Hair pulling often begins as a self-soothing response during stress, overwhelm, boredom, or transitions. When the nervous system is overstimulated or under-regulated, the body looks for sensory input to feel grounded.
Instead of asking you to “just stop,” we focus on:
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Understanding when your nervous system feels activated
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Identifying common triggers and patterns
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Introducing calming, grounding inputs and daily rituals
This step creates the foundation for change by helping the body feel safer and more regulated.
Step 2: Restore the Body’s Foundations
The nervous system depends on proper nourishment to function well. Minerals, blood sugar balance, sleep, and daily rhythms all play a role in how regulated — or dysregulated — the body feels.
When these foundations are depleted or imbalanced, the body often seeks external regulation.
We support this step by:
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Using Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) as an educational tool
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Exploring mineral patterns and long-term trends
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Offering guidance around nourishment, lifestyle, and daily support
This step is about understanding what the body may be missing — not forcing change or relying on quick fixes.
Step 3: Work With Hormones & Natural Rhythms
Many people notice hair pulling urges fluctuate with:
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Menstrual cycles
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Sleep disruption
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Stressful seasons of life
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Major transitions
Hormones and stress chemistry influence impulse control, focus, and nervous system sensitivity. When these rhythms are ignored, urges can feel unpredictable or out of control.
We focus on:
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Awareness rather than restriction
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Tracking patterns instead of fighting them
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Supporting gentler rhythms that change with the body
This step helps reduce shame by showing that urges are often cyclical and biological, not personal failures.
Step 4: Redirect Habits Through Ritual
Hair pulling often serves a purpose — providing sensory input, focus, or emotional release. Removing the behavior without replacing it can leave the nervous system searching for relief.
Instead, we introduce:
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Scalp care and sensory rituals
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Nourishing, intentional touch
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Tools that help redirect habitual movement safely
These rituals are not meant to “fix” anything. They’re designed to help meet the same need in a more supportive way.
Step 5: Build Emotional Safety & Ongoing Support
Many people with hair pulling learned early to cope quietly and independently. Healing is easier when support, education, and reassurance are available.
We emphasize:
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Gentle guidance and conversation
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Education over judgment
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Long-term support rather than one-time solutions
Feeling seen and supported allows the nervous system to soften — and survival patterns often lose their grip when safety increases.
Step 6: Maintain Momentum & Support Long-Term Alignment
(Because healing is something you live, not something you finish)
Change doesn’t happen in a straight line. Even when urges lessen, life continues to bring stress, transitions, and seasons that test regulation. This final step focuses on maintaining alignment, building confidence, and keeping spirits high — especially during moments when old patterns try to resurface.
Rather than aiming for perfection, this step helps you stay connected to what’s working.
Why This Matters?
The Grow Method didn’t come from theory.
It came from lived experience.
Everyone’s path with Trichotillomania is different.
Begin Your Healing Journey
Some people are looking for tools to help calm the urge to pull.
Others are focused on healing their scalp and encouraging hair regrowth.
My Grow Method™ offers both.
The Grow Method Toolkit
A gentle starter system designed to support both urge regulation and scalp healing. This toolkit helps replace the pulling cycle with supportive rituals that calm the nervous system and encourage healthy hair regrowth.
** Most people start with the toolkit
Includes:
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herbal scalp oil for nourishment and circulation
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scalp stimulation tool for follicle activation
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sensory urge tool to keep hands occupied
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ritual guide to support nervous system regulation
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hair regrowth tracker
Scalp Healing & Hair Regrowth
For many people living with Trichotillomania, the scalp becomes part of the urge cycle.
My Grow Method™ scalp products are designed to gently stimulate circulation, nourish the scalp, and support natural regrowth using herbal oils inspired by Ayurveda.
Through calming rituals and scalp stimulation, these tools help shift the relationship with the scalp from stress and pulling toward healing and restoration.
Root Cause Insight
Understanding Your Body's Patterns
Some people choose to explore deeper insight into the body's long-term stress and mineral patterns through Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA).
Within My Grow Method™, HTMA is used as an educational tool, not a diagnosis, to help identify patterns that may influence nervous system regulation.
Will My Hair Grow Back?
For many people living with Trichotillomania, this is one of the most common questions.
In many cases, hair follicles are incredibly resilient. With time, proper scalp care, and reduced pulling, regrowth is possible.
Supporting the scalp with gentle stimulation, circulation, and nourishing oils can help create an environment where follicles are able to recover and grow again.
My Grow Method™ encourages daily scalp rituals that combine herbal nourishment, stimulation, and nervous system regulation to support this natural healing process.
While every journey is different, many people begin to notice positive changes when they shift from fighting the behavior to supporting the body and scalp together.
A Simple Daily Ritual for Healing and Regrowth
The Grow Method™ encourages replacing the pulling cycle with a gentle daily ritual that supports both the nervous system and the scalp.
Instead of fighting the urge, this practice helps guide your hands toward healing actions that calm the body and support hair regrowth.
Nourish the Scalp
Apply a small amount of herbal scalp oil and gently massage it into the scalp. This step helps nourish the scalp, support circulation, and create a moment of calming self-care.
Stimulate & Support Follicles
Use a scalp stimulation tool to massage the scalp for a few minutes. This encourages circulation and helps create a healthy environment for follicles to recover and grow.
Redirect the Urge
When the urge to pull appears, use a sensory tool designed to keep the hands occupied. Over time, this helps replace the pulling pattern with a calming sensory alternative.