Habit reversal training is a structured, three-part technique for stopping repetitive habits like face touching, skin picking, and hair pulling. It's one of the most established behavioral treatments for skin picking: it works by helping you become more aware of your behaviors and patterns, then uses that awareness to help you break the habit (Cleveland Clinic, "Dermatillomania (Skin Picking)"). Unlike general advice to "just stop," it breaks the process into three specific skills that are trained one at a time, in order, rather than relying on willpower to do all the work at once.
Part 1: Awareness training
The first part is learning to notice the habit itself, including the moments right before it happens. Many people who touch their face or pick at their skin do it without registering it in the moment, which means the habit can't be interrupted until it can be seen. Awareness training usually starts with simply counting occurrences for a period of time, then narrowing in on the early warning signs — a specific hand position, a particular situation — that reliably come right before the behavior.
This step is often skipped because it doesn't feel like it's "doing" anything about the habit yet. In the original method, though, it's treated as the foundation the other two parts depend on: a competing response only works if you can feel the urge coming in time to use it, and that timing only comes from awareness training done first.
Part 2: Competing response
Once the early warning signs are recognizable, the second part is substituting a different physical action the moment the urge appears — one that's incompatible with the habit itself. For skin picking, that might mean clenching a fist or gripping the opposite forearm for a set period of time, roughly matching how long the picking urge would otherwise last. A controlled study using habit reversal specifically for chronic skin picking found meaningful reductions in picking frequency using this competing-response approach (PubMed 16723422, "Habit reversal as a treatment for chronic skin picking").
The competing response works best when it's specific and consistent, not improvised each time. Choosing one action in advance — the same clenched fist, every time — makes it something you can reach for automatically once the urge shows up, instead of having to think through what to do while the urge is already happening.
Part 3: Social support
The third part is telling someone else — a partner, friend, or family member — what you're working on, so they can point out the habit when you don't notice it yourself and acknowledge progress when it happens. This part is easy to skip because it feels less like "technique" than the other two, but it's part of the original method for a reason: other people often catch the early warning signs before you do, especially in the early weeks before your own awareness has caught up.
Does it actually work?
A randomized controlled trial comparing habit reversal training against another behavioral technique for BFRBs found both approaches produced meaningful reductions in symptoms, with habit reversal remaining one of the most consistently supported behavioral treatments for skin picking and hair pulling across the research base (PMC9672630, RCT of habit reversal and decoupling). It isn't a one-time fix — like most behavioral training, it works through repetition — but it has more evidence behind it than most single-technique approaches to breaking a physical habit.
Common mistakes when trying it alone
Starting with the competing response before the awareness step. Without a well-trained sense of when the urge is coming, a competing response gets used too late, after the habit has already started, which makes it far less effective.
Changing the competing response every time. Picking a new action on the fly defeats the purpose of building an automatic substitute — the whole point is that it becomes as automatic as the habit it's replacing.
Dropping it after a few days because nothing feels different yet. Habit reversal training works the same way any skill practice does: the awareness and competing-response habits both take repeated practice before they start firing automatically.
How to start practicing it today
- Spend one day just counting. Don't try to stop yet — the goal is building the awareness from Part 1 before attempting Part 2.
- Pick one competing response and stick with it. A closed fist, hands clasped together, or gripping a pen all work; consistency matters more than which one you choose.
- Tell one person. A single friend or partner who knows what you're working on covers most of the benefit of Part 3.
How FaceQuest helps
FaceQuest's RESIST THE URGE button is a competing response in app form: when an urge shows up, you hold through a 10-second timer instead of acting on the habit, which is Part 2 above put into practice. Logging every slip with OOPS, I SLIPPED and every catch with I CAUGHT AN URGE builds the awareness from Part 1 into a habit of its own, with a streak that reflects how many times in a row you caught yourself. If you want a longer practice session on top of the in-the-moment hold, Focus Sessions add a separate 5, 15, or 30-minute hands-off session you can start anytime. And challenge missions like Urge Warrior give you a structured, repeatable reason to keep practicing the technique daily rather than only when you remember to. None of it replaces the social-support piece — that one still has to come from an actual person — but it covers the two parts of the method that are hardest to track on your own.
This article is for general information and isn't medical advice; talk to a licensed clinician for guidance on treating a diagnosed habit or BFRB.
This guide is for general information only and is not medical advice. If you’re concerned about your skin or a compulsive behavior, talk to a healthcare professional.