What IS A BFPA?
What is a Body Focused Process Addiction™?
A Body Focused Process Addiction (BFPA™) is a behavioral addiction which includes behaviors currently known as Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs). BFPAs™ include hair pulling (trichotillomania), skin picking, nail biting, cheek and lip biting, and many others.
Why BFPA™?
Chaille DeFaria and Karen Pickett developed this new classification to incorporate the latest research on these conditions. Their goal is to provide a means for better treatment outcomes for sufferers of these conditions.
About chaille and Karen
Chaille DeFaria MCC, CDWF
Chaille DeFaria is a Mental Health Consultant and ICF Master Certified Credentialed Coach (MCC) who specializes in helping people heal from BFPAs™ (Body-Focused Process Addictions), anxiety and shame. Chaille is the co-founder of the BFPA™ Resource Center and is a former member of the TLC Foundation for BFRBs Board of Directors. Also Certified as a Daring Way™ Facilitator of Dr. Brené Brown’s research, Chaille runs workshops and works individually with young adults and parents. Chaille also presents at conferences including NAMI and writes a column that is published monthly in the Culver City Neighbors magazine called “Cultivating Courage With Chaille”.
Karen Pickett LMFT
Karen Pickett LMFT is a licensed psychotherapist in California and Ohio and co-founder of the BFPA™ Resource Center. She is an expert in treating anxiety disorders and body-focused process addictions (BFPAs), including Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Skin Picking Disorder and Trichotillomania. Karen is a Certified Trauma and Addiction therapist and a former member of the TLC Foundation's Board of Directors. Karen was a featured psychotherapist on A&E's acclaimed TV series Obsessed, former faculty in counseling psychology at USM, and was previously the Clinical Director at the OCD Center of Los Angeles. Karen has co-produced three performances of This Is My Brave, a live show dedicated to ending the stigma surrounding mental illness.
Body Focused Process Addictions™
Chaille DeFaria and Karen Pickett created the classification and developed the treatment model for Body Focused Process Addictions™ (BFPAs™). As former members of the Board of Directors for the TLC Foundation for BFRBs, Chaille and Karen have pioneered a new path forward for treating individuals with BFPAs™ who are not served by current treatment modalities for BFRBs. Based on both their lived experience and ground theory evidence, they have designed an exciting treatment plan for recovery that many in the community are longing for.