Hair-Focused Repetitive Behavior Disorders & Hair Care
Experiences and Possibilities for Intervention
Dissertation Project at the University of Cologne
Studies 1 & 2 2020-2023
Evaluation & Article Writing Phase 2024
Article Submissions & Publications 2025
D23 Study 1
Article 1 published with Hogrefe in the Zeitschrift für Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie
We translated the Beliefs in Trichotillomania Scale (BiTS) into German and validated it with the sample of study 1.
Validation of the German Beliefs in Trichotillomania Scale (BiTS-D)
Article 2 accepted for publication with Wiley in Health
Science Reports
The aim of this online survey was documentation and learning. Gaining a better understanding of specific personal and professional hair care habits and needs may help develop hair care interventions that support individuals in coping with their hair-pulling behavior.
You can find out more about Study 1 here.
Hair care and hair-focused repetitive behaviors: A descriptive cross-sectional study
D23 Study 2
Article 3 published in the Journal of Obsessive and Compulsive and Related Disorders
For this experimental open-label study, I developed a mindfulness-based hair care treatment and a training for hair professionals. I recruited hair professionals and people with hair-pulling disorder through my personal, professional, and academic network, online communities, and social media.
This research project aimed to determine what experiences those affected by TTM have with a hair appointment explicitly designed for them, which influencing factors are at play, and whether this measure affects hair-pulling behavior and self-confidence.
Happy New Year 2026!
I want to express my deep gratitude to the participants of the two studies.
Thank you for taking the time, for being supportive of BFRBD research, and for sharing a little bit about you.
Thank you, dear hair professionals, for being part of this research project, for your time, care, and positivity. In addition to the questionnaires, I have received over 40 emails from participants who expressed their gratitude for the experiences you provided.
Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about the project through magazine articles, podcasts, emails, and word-of-mouth.
I am currently refining the manuscript and plan to submit the dissertation by the end of January 2026.
Linda
January 2021
Hi Everyone,
it’s a New Year and we are still in partial or full lock-down and deeply affected in known and yet unknown ways by the pandemic. Last year showed us the incredible and creative ways we can still be connected, stay on course and be driven to follow our dreams and goals. I am looking ahead to a year of not much travel and different forms of contact with people. This is a huge change as I have been privileged to visit 25 countries and 13 US States. As a dual citizen I flew back and forth for over two decades and I call more than one place my home. So this page is representing my desire to connect and communicate with people and especially with those for whom body-focused repetitive behaviors play a special role in their lives. Cheers and Prost to a Good One!
Life is a big puzzle.
We are some of the many pieces.
Within each of us, there are infinitely smaller puzzles; hair-pulling disorder is one of them.
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History | Terminology | Classification | Symptoms | Causes | Treatment

