How Can I Help My Therapist Help Me?

[punkieveggie]

I'm going to start seeing a therapist next week to help me overcome my phobia. However, I'm not seeing a specialist or someone who likely has any experience treating emetophobia (I live on an island so my choices are limited) and I would like to make the best of my time with them.
Does anyone have any advice about what I can do to help my therapist help me get better?
Can anyone offer advice based on their experiences abut what I should expect?
Are there any specific resources or things that I should make sure to bring with me or make sure to tell my therapist about?
Basically any input would be helpful at this point.
Thanks.

[sage]

Hi Punkie,

Your therapist (and you) can go to my website and read all about emetophobia and how to treat it with traditional CBT. Also, my resource page is for therapists and it's all free with no advertising on the site or anything. And tell them they can call or email me anytime I'd be happy to talk with them. The link to my site is in my signature line.

[punkieveggie]

Thank you so much for the help, I really appreciate it!
I really want to get better so I'm trying to find out all the ways I can maximize my time with my therapist once I start going!

[lulatahara]

I just started CBT and it is so empowering. My best advice is to be honest. I found myself sometimes not being completely honest with my therapist because I am so ashamed and humiliated that I have emetophobia. But honesty with yourself and with your therapist will really help you to establish that necessary bond and help your therapist to understand your personal struggle and begin the healing process. Good luck! We're all in this together

[KelleighNicole]

This was a great idea for a post as I feel a lot of us are scared to seek therapy because, as in my case personally, we feel just talking about what we fear most jinxes us for it to happen.

I have agoraphobia and have been emetophobic since at least the age of six. I've been in and out of therapy for the agoraphobia, but have always kept a tight lip about v* as to avoid talking about it.

I just recently began therapy again on the 20th of September, and have an appt. coming up. I am being treated with prozac, clonazepam, and lorazepam. The only thing I find that helps is the lorazepam. But I would LOVE to know how to better talk about my fear and thus overcome it. I just am so scared to address it, I feel like I'll jinx myself!

[geckohouse]

I would probably suggest CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) as one of the more proven methods. You can tell your therapist that it is an anxiety disorder with DSM-IV-TR code 300.29. Ask your therapist about building an exposure hierarchy (about 10 items in it). Tell your therapist that inducing vomiting is not recommended in the exposure treatment. I hope this quick list helps.

[sage]

Hi KelleighNicole

Thanks for being so honest! My advice is that you try to remember that the fear of jinxing yourself is actually part of the anxiety disorder itself. I'm not sure why, but it's well-documented. Of course I'm sure you realize that your fear of jinxing makes no sense because the world just doesn't work that way. On the other hand, almost everyone with OCD (a related anxiety disorder to emetophobia) has rituals and participate in avoidance behavior for the fear of jinxing themselves. Talking about what you fear cannot possibly make it happen. Your brain is just playing tricks on you. Don't let it!