We get a number of telephone enquiries everyday from people wanting to organise a consultation or from people that want to find out about our services in general.
One client recently enquired with us and she said she was overwhelmed to discover that there was actually a name for her type of hair loss and also that there were other people with the same problem – Trichotillomania. She explained that her call to us was particularly difficult as she had never told anyone the real reason for her hair loss. Her parents had assumed that it was Alopecia and so she went along to various appointments but was never willing to say that her hair loss was a result of hair pulling. I explained to her that we have had similar calls in the past – many of our Trichotillomania clients would have kept their hair pulling a secret. This hair loss type is something we deal with on a daily basis and it is very important to put the caller at ease – imagine having kept something like that to yourself for years and years, I can appreciate that having the conversation with me was quite daunting but the client was happier having taken the plunge.
There is now more information about Trichotillomania on various websites but not everyone uses the net and this lady said she would not have even considered doing a search for hair pulling – she really did think she was the only person that did this. She happened to be reading a colleague’s magazine during her lunch break and there was an article about a client of ours with Trichotillomania in the ‘real life’ section. She stored the info in her head for 6 months before making the call to us.
This lady has now been to see us for a consultation. She had the opportunity to speak to another of our clients with the same problem and she is now focused on getting the help that was recommended. She is having her hair done with us but alongside that she is now having appointments with a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist. Talking through the problem with both us and her CBT specialist has been a real positive step forward for her. It would seem that this is a happy ending to a lonely experience.