What is Emetophobia and how can therapy help?
What is Emetophobia?
Emetophobia is an extreme fear of vomiting which can cause you to spend excessive time trying to prevent becoming sick. It can be a truly disabling condition that effects every area of your life. The risk of vomiting feels very real and unescapable. This fear normally come with a constant feeling of nausea.
Common symptoms include:
Anxiety.
Fear.
Nausea.
Panic attacks.
Being on edge.
You may try and cope by:
Avoiding triggers.
Excessively worrying.
Overplanning.
Body scanning for signs of illness.
Excessively cleaning or disinfecting.
Reassurance seeking.
Avoiding certain foods, cooking methods or places.
Is Emetophobia treatable?
100%.
It is very treatable.
The good thing about Emetophobia is that we know exactly what causes someone to have it. Which mans we know exactly what you need to do to get rid of it.
It only takes some bravery and willingness to try something new in therapy to overcome it.
What is the best treatment?
The best treatment is known as CBT, which stands for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Emetophobia is fed by a series of known psychological processes which keep you trapped in your anxiety. CBT aims to help you understand what exactly is causing your phobia to persist. Once you and the therapist understand this processes, you have a roadmap to escape the Emetophobia trap.
Emetophobia is like a house of cards. Remove just a few of the cards at the bottom and the whole thing falls down.
Why CBT?
1) It works: CBT for Emetophobia has a strong scientific basis and has been shown to be effective.
2) It’s flexible: Treatment focuses on you and is flexible to your specific needs.
3) It takes into account you and your past, as well as focus on your current situation: CBT aims to get a balance between treating what lead you to develop Emetophobia in the first place as well as fixing it in the here and now.
4) It’s validating: CBT helps you understand why you have such an intense fear of vomiting.
But I was told I need Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), not CBT to get better!
ERP therapy is known as one of the “gold standard” treatments for Emetophobia. However, what most people don’t realise is that ERP is just a tool within CBT. Your therapy will involve ERP but it will also have so much more. There will be a wide range of tools and techniques to aid you in a step by step approach to overcoming your phobia at your own pace.
Why with me?
One of the biggest complains that those with Emetophobia have is that when they have tried to reach out for support, they find that their struggles are not fully understood, their experiences are not validated, and that the standard treatments often fall short of what they needed. Sadly this is all to common. Many therapist don’t know how to treat Emetophobia.
However, I have spent my career trying to change this. Emetophobia is something I specialise in. I have written a textbook and run training sessions for therapists on how to successfully treat Emetophobia.
If you decide to speak to me, you will get someone who really understands what you are going through. You will feel heard and understood. Together we will go through treatment as a team to get you better. Recovery is possible.
Let’s do this together.
Why not book in a free no obligation consultation to see if I am the right therapist for you.
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