The TLC Foundation Launches BFRB Awareness Week 2022 with a New Accessible Website Translated in 5 Languages

The TLC Foundation Launches BFRB Awareness Week 2022 with a New Accessible Website Translated in 5 Languages

(SANTA CRUZ, CA – September 29, 2022) - The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs) is proud to launch BFRB Awareness Week 2022 with a new website that includes accessibility adjustments to be seizure safe, ADHD friendly, and profiles for vision impairment, cognitive disabilities, and motor impairment. The new website also includes extensive health education resources for people experiencing BFRBs, family members, allies, school personnel, medical providers, and others interested in learning more about hair pulling, skin picking, nail biting, cheek biting, and associated behaviors. 

 The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (TLC) brings awareness and support to this underreported and misunderstood group of mental health disorders that impact approximately one in 20 Americans. Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors are complex medical diagnoses that affect children and adults alike, and often cause shame, isolation, and emotional distress. Yet despite their prevalence, these behaviors are rarely discussed in the general public.

For many, BFRBs are self-regulating and serve some internal need. BFRBs are not self-harm or self-mutilation. BFRBs are not caused by trauma or bad parenting. When a person engages in their BFRB, physical damage is created as an unintentional result of their behavior, not as a self-harming mechanism.

 “The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors is proud to launch its largest ever BFRB Awareness Week with a brand new website that captures the essence of the BFRB community,” commented Jen Monteleone, former Interim Executive Director of the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors. “This website includes resources for individuals experiencing BFRBs, family members looking for help, school personnel and medical professionals searching for ways to further engage with the community.”

BFRB Awareness Week is an annual celebration held October 1-7 that seeks to bring awareness to body-focused repetitive behaviors to break down myths and misperceptions that often lead to isolation and shame. 

This year’s BFRB Awareness Week is the largest-ever produced in the history of TLC, with 21 events over seven days, including a Wishcircle with Alexa Fischer, BFRB Brave Sing Along with Bernadette Bascom, Strala Yoga with Tara Stiles, pharmacological interventions for people with BFRBs with Dr. Jon Grant and Dr. Darin Dougherty, a TLC Talk with actress Violet Young from the Hulu series, ‘Life & Beth’, and a virtual fundraising concert featuring headliner Jason Cropper, founding member of Weezer.

BFRB Awareness Week 2022 is sponsored by Changemaker Title Sponsor: PsycTech, Ltd. (stoppulling.com, stoppicking.com), Inspiring Hope Sponsor: HairClub, Empowering Healing Sponsor: Shanthi Memorial Fund, and Stronger Together Sponsor: Rogers Behavioral Health. 

To learn more about the TLC Foundation and to view the new website, visit https://www.bfrb.org/ 

‍

About The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors
The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (TLC), a 501(c)3 nonprofit, is the world’s leading authority on hair pulling, skin picking, nail biting, cheek biting and associated behaviors. TLC serves the community through advocacy, awareness, connection, health education, celebration, and equitable access to effective evidence-based treatments. 

###