I know I’ve said it before, but I can’t believe how time flies. Here we are nearing the half way point of October. Yipes.
There are three weeks left of the Hands Down Challenge and I finally feel like I’m making some headway again. I’m not sure what clicked into place but it has been easier to feel urges coming on, find tools to use, and resist said urges. Perhaps it is partly due to reading through The Hair Pulling Habit for my presentation. I’ve always known about this book but never bought it since it is targeted for younger pullers. The advantage though is that I was able to read the whole book in one night and it did really simplify the whole behavior mod/comprehensive treatment model for dealing with urges. Their strategy is “Fiddling SHEEP” which is just funny, but you’ll have to check out the book or the website to find out what that actually means.
Anyway, even though most of it is stuff I knew already and have done in one form or another over the years, it was really nice to have a quick-read version. (Granted I didn’t read all the samples by “Sally” the puller in their book.) Since reading is a trigger for me, the faster & more concise the better. To actually DO the program it would take weeks, but even the reminders from browsing it were helpful. Once this presentation is done and I feel I can concentrate on ME a little more, I might try going through a couple of the programs I’ve read up on and find a plan that works better for me.
One thing I knew but had slipped out of consciousness was that to really be successful, you have to use your tools BEFORE you actually need them. By the time your hand is on your head it is too late. It works better if the hat is on as soon as you sit down at the computer so you don’t have to go get it later (which in my case rarely happens). Put band-aids on your fingers even if you don’t feel any urges or have your fiddle toys in your hands when you sit down to read rather than having to find them later while you are in the thick of trying to resist urges too.
So, I am making progress at least for now and I hope it sticks. If any of you feel like you’re floundering but don’t want to read through a BIG book like the Penzel or Christenson et al books, then I suggest looking at “The Hair Pulling Habit and You.”
