Ted Grossbart
Ted Grossbart, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, assistant clinical Professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, and the author of Skin Deep: A Mind/Body Program for Healthy Skin. Grossbart was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Michigan, and he received his M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University. He has been treating skin complaints with psychotherapy for over 25 years.
Grossbart specializes in working with people who have medical issues that have created emotional stress or emotional stress that has triggered medical problems. Relaxation, imaging focused psychotherapy, and hypnosis and self-hypnosis are all part of his multimodal therapy approach. He also treats compulsive skin picking (dermatillomania) and hair pulling (trichotillomania).
In a WebMD feature, Grossbart states that he encourages people to use mind-body relaxation and stress-reduction methods in addition to conventional medicines when dealing with skin problems "because mind and skin are intimately connected". DGrossbart also mentions that "an estimated 30 to 60 percent of people who come to a doctor for help with skin problems also have emotional issues", and that these emotional stressors can keep the best skin medicine in the world from working.
In a Psychology Today article, Grossbart says that psychodermatology is not only AbOUT therapies, but about viewing skin in a way that is fundamentally different from dermatology.
Books
- Grossbart, Ted and Carl Sherman. Skin Deep: A Mind/Body Program for Healthy Skin. Health Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1992. ISBN 0929173112. Selected for the Prevention Book Club.