What therapy for emetophobia?

[SevenKingsMustDie]

My DD15 has (self-diagnosed) emetophobia. I have no doubt she is correct, and it has a negative effect on her life.

She said recently that whenever she is invited anywhere or asked to do something with friends, her first thought is whether anyone will be sick, and this rules whether she takes part or not. She won’t go on boat trips on holiday, is frightened of travelling by coach, won’t eat meat cooked anything other than well done…I could go on!

I would like to get her some therapy to help her cope with this - does anyone know if CBT would help or is she better off with another approach?

Hypnotherapy/remedial hypnosis is good for specific issues such as phobias as it addresses the subconscious reason for the fear. Look for someone who works primarily with children/teenagers (doesn't have to be local if there's no-one in your area, most people work remotely since Covid and it's just as effective).

Cbt can be great for phobias. Graded exposure is the 'behaviour' part of cognitive behavioural therapy, they will work with her to take manageable and gentle steps towards the feared event. She will learn to tolerate the distress of the feared thing and learn that she can bear it - and she'll get her life back! Good luck to her x

My DD had crippling emetophobia as a teen. She tried all sorts of therapy which didn't really help until she discovered the Thrive programme. We had a therapist near us and she had a course of therapy and a book to work through. Totally sorted it out. We were amazed.

How do you do graded exposure to vomit?

As with other phobias, you draw up a list of things from least to worst tolerated - so with vomit it could include things like talking about it, seeing pictures of it, hearing the sound of someone vomiting etc - there are actually recordings that therapists can use and even recipes for making vomit-like substances! Cbt can be really creative

@Pamspeople OK, that makes sense. With hypnosis you tap into the subconscious, which controls the imagination/memory/emotional responses.

Did the fear come from a specific event? If so EMDR could help. It’s not an easy process but the only thing that helped lessen mine (I unfortunately have tried everything else and it’s still awful but EMDR helped with intrusive thoughts and images).

Thank you all - I don’t think it came from a specific event, so I don’t think EMDR would fit the bill.

I will look into the therapies suggested - thanks again!