Of all my specialties, working with body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) most often involves going shopping: specifically, buying tools to support recovery.
While so much of recovery with BFRBs is acceptance, awareness, and compassion, the going is often more easeful with a few tools.
All the better when this purchasing can happen locally, and at a store that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion – ensuring that our individual growth and healing is connected to others’ wellbeing, too.
So welcome in IKEA: known for it’s ecologically-considerate practices regarding material sourcing and packaging, likewise for being the first company with a prime-time television commercial with gay people (and continuing to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion today), IKEA will soon be in Fort Collins with some tools I regularly recommend for clients with BFRBs.
For example, dimmable lighting. Adjusting lighting (brightness, tone) can minimize visual cues to use behaviors, or to compensate for behaviors. Likewise, adjustable lighting can be in one direction restful, and the other direction activating, depending on need – which is empowering, and may reduce sensory overwhelm … which may reduce the need to use behaviors.
Another example is clocks. In exploring recovery with BFRBs with a harm-reduction approach (in which the focus is reducing the behavior), knowing the time is super helpful. To be aware of the time when logging urges (ah ha, I use behaviors more often in the evening), to accept the occasional need to mitigate a challenging emotion with a behavior (set a timer for three minutes), and to celebrate successes along the way (a minute with out a behavior, hooray!).
What I notice about the products at IKEA that support, incidentally, recovery with BFRBs is that they are colorful and, to some, aesthetically pleasing. Which means they are more likely to be used, and – instead of shame – may elicit joy.
This is similar to the tools I have laid out for part of next month’s mini-workshop, Exploring Recovery with BFRBs, various tools to keep on hand as alternatives to BFRBs. All may be fun in and of themselves, in addition to their therapeutic use. And the tools being fun is important because the biggest part of this work is being okay in our bodies, accepting our needs, and taking good care of ourselves.
– Cat
Cat Stone
she/her
MA MEd LPCC
Cat Stone 