Worthing Hypnotherapy Treatment For Emetophobia
Would you like to learn, at a pace that is comfortable for you, to stop feeling panic when you or someone else feels sick?
Do you want to start enjoying being around others more without the dread, feeling calmer, safer and more in control?
Would you like to expand your world, which has been shrinking due to emetophobia?
My Name is Alex Vrettos, I am a therapeutic Hypnotist based in Worthing, and I've been helping people with emetophobia since 2011. In person and online. It is one of the most common things I've helped clients with over the last couple of years.
“Most clients are happy with what we achieve in three sessions”
I recommend my three-session structure for £270, but a pay-as-you-go option is available.
Sessions are calm, conversational and tailored to your comfort level. You will not be forced into distressing exposure exercises.
You do not need to “just live with it.”
Many people with emetophobia experience major improvements surprisingly quickly once they understand how the fear cycle works. Would you like to find out more?
FEAR OF VOMIT TESTIMONIAL
“Yeah, I'm doing really well, thank you. I still have worries about not wanting to be sick, but it hasn't made me anxious when I think about it. A child was sick in another room the other day at work and usually I would panic and not sit on the staff room with the people that have been with the sick child but I heard about it and my heart didn't go crazy and it didn't bother me that I was sat with the people dealing with the child so I'd say quite a big improvement so far.”
To live in fear of your own bodily function and that of others, though, can turn the world into a scary place.
A squelch or grumble in your own belly for no known reason can take you immediately to nausea and panic. When you experience people, food and drink as a perfect storm of potential threat, some of the most fun places and times can become your worst nightmare.
The hyper-vigilance is exhausting, and the world shrinks with your options and possibilities, not to mention the embarrassment of having to explain yourself or people's confusion when you do not want to.
Does this sound familiar?
A phobia of vomit is perhaps one of the more sensible phobic reactions; it is disgusting and unpleasant in every way, but why is it just disgusting for others, terrifying for you?
Why Emetophobia Happens
If you experience fear of flying, it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. Your mind is actually working exactly as it was designed to.
You like being well and healthy, and you hate throwing up. An aversion to these things is sensible. Your brain is wired to protect your well-being.
It's the most natural thing in the world to have thoughts focussed on keeping you away from vomit or anything else that causes sickness and harm.
Almost everyone likely has the same thoughts as you when someone is sick nearby or threatening to be, certainly when they fell sick themselves. The difference is that for most people, those thoughts quickly pass into the background.
When you struggle with fear of vomit, those thoughts feel convincing and emotionally real. Your imagination starts treating possibility as danger. Your thoughts about being sick feel more real than the reality that you are fine.
Once that happens, your nervous system responds as though you are in genuine danger, even while your body is well and functioning normally.
How To Stop Fear Of Vomit With Hypnotherapy
During your sessions with me, you will learn how the mind and body work together to create the fear response.
Together, we’ll work on changing your relationship with the thoughts and feelings that currently feel so threatening, helping your nervous system respond in a calmer way.
Instead of becoming pulled into catastrophic “what if?” thinking, you can begin focusing on things that are more fun and directing your energy towards getting out there and enjoying a more fulfilling life without excessive fear.
We’ll mentally rehearse scenarios that once filled you with dread with a cool head and a calm heart, helping your mind and body learn a different response to the possibility of you or someone else being sick. All done at a pace that feels comfortable for you.
Imagine being able to go out, meet people and travel without those unnecessary layers of planning and dread.
See yourself feeling healthier and stronger.
Think about the opportunities that can open up when you can eat out, travel without feeling trapped, and care for children without excessive stress and worry.
How nice would it be to feel more compassionate when someone you know feels unwell?
What Help For Emetophobia Looks Like With Me
I generally work within a three-session structure, although some people choose to have additional sessions depending on their goals and previous experiences.
Session 1: We’ll explore your experience of fear and help you understand how the mind and body work together to create the fear response. I’ll also introduce you to hypnosis through some simple experiential exercises and thought experiments, which can be good fun, so you can begin seeing your anxiety in a different way.
Session 2: Using hypnosis, we’ll explore how your mind learned this fear response. From there, we can begin reshaping those responses into something calmer and more helpful.
Session 3: We’ll strengthen the progress you’ve made, build confidence around your body, immune system and other people, and help your mind and body become more familiar with responding calmly to the possibility of you and others being sick.
If you'd like to explore whether this approach feels right for you, you’re welcome to get in touch.
Fear Of Vomit FAQs
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Emetophobia is an unhelpful form of self-hypnosis. Thoughts of being sick and thoughts of other people being sick are experienced as reality and as a real threat. You are experiencing imagination as reality. With therapy there is no one size fits all, but hypnosis is a good choice for emetophobia as it uses the same psychology to resolve the issue. Hypnosis engages your imagination as a way to unlearn the fear response.
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There is often great comfort in discovering that your mind is actually working as minds are designed to work, and that it is your relationship with the thoughts and feelings around vomit that has become fearful.
When you learn how to step out of that fear loop, the thoughts themselves stop feeling dangerous, and your mind and body can begin responding calmly again. Many people find that once this happens, the emetophobia no longer feels like something controlling their life.
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You could teach your brain to fear the word 'geranium' if you screamed and hid behind the sofa every time you heard it. Emetophobia is this conditioned response with the thought of vomit. One the thought of vomit becomes a threat, everything that might lead you to think of it becomes a threat.