Case Study: An Emetophobia Recovery Journey
By Joanne Martin
Joanne is a 45 year old wife, mother, and very energetic and youthful grandmother. She has lived with emetophobia since she was 6 years old. When she came to see Jane Pendry at Sense-Ability Hypnotherapy & Coaching, she was really struggling with her emetophobia, some deep-rooted childhood trauma and ADHD. She has written this very articulate and moving account for the Sense-Ability website in the hope it will help inspire others. Thank you Joanne.
Joanne and her grandson
I have no idea what started my emetophobia. All I know is that I was petrified of any and every aspect of myself or others getting sick.
I was at a point in my life that I just felt hopeless. My mind was consumed with the thought and fear of getting sick.
Then I met Jane.
Tried every therapy
I had tried every therapy you can think of. Nothing worked … I was hopeful but skeptical.
I was extremely nervous when we had our first initial consultation, but Jane immediately put me at ease, with her calm, patient and caring nature. Not once did I feel judged..
Jane discussed with me the possibility that my emetophobia may also be impacted by complex childhood trauma, which I hadn’t even considered.
During the Sense-Ability Emetophobia Recovery Pathway process, Jane did some trauma-based work, which was so helpful in all aspects of my life. I was also aware that ADHD was impacting my anxiety and stress too, and always would, and the Emetophobia Recovery Pathway took that into account.
Affecting every part of my life
Any sufferer will understand how debilitating emetophobia can be. My emetophobia affected every aspect of my life, through school and adulthood. I cried over school trips, never had a sleepover, and my diet was restricted.
Family life and my phobia
Fast forward, and I married and became a mum….. eventually to four beautiful children. And WOW did this make my phobia even worse. I spent every minute of every day on edge, ready for the “inevitable” to happen (which in reality happened twice in 18 years, and I myself haven’t vomited in 37 years). I didn’t sleep, became depressed, developed an eating disorder, stopped going out to to certain places, missed out on so many events with my children over the years.
Unable to comfort my children
If my children were sick, I ran …and I mean ran. Left them with their dad or my mum and left the house. Never once was I able to comfort them when they were ill.
It broke my heart.
Spiralling and Hopeless
“Last year, my 21 year old son who lives at home got sick and I spiralled. I made him leave the house and booked him into a hotel, I made my daughter and four month old grandson leave as well, just Incase they already had it. I locked myself away, didn’t eat for nearly 2 weeks and frankly life felt hopeless. ”
Last year, my 21 year old son who lives at home got sick and I spiralled.
I made him leave the house and booked him into a hotel, I made my daughter and four month old grandson leave as well, just In case they already had it. I locked myself away, didn’t eat for nearly 2 weeks and frankly life felt hopeless.
This is when I reached out to Jane.
I tried everything
Don’t get me wrong, over the years I have tried everything you can imagine, CBT, Exposure and Response Prevention therapy, group therapy, counsellors, standard hypnosis and EMDR, which for many can be helpful but for me they just weren’t. Hence I was sceptical but desperate.
Joanne and her husband. Life is so much easier after completing the Emetophobia Recovery Pathway.
Getting my Life Back
I have had staggered sessions with Jane over the 10 months. I had just 10 sessions with Jane.
This recovery programme isn’t just hypnosis. The Emetophobia Recovery Pathway is about learning to understand yourself, your body and your mind: the way our neurobiology works, all of which, once you understand it, makes the whole concept of being sick so much less threatening and much easier to deal with.
The process included building a tool kit of simple, but surprisingly effective, practical somatic tools to manage my dysregulated nervous system. There was some deep-rooted root-case and parts hypnotherapy to address related trauma and abandonment issues. And there was dedicated, soothing and tailored hypnotherapy that included inner-child work, psycho-education and reframing and embedding new daily and weekly challenges.
Slowly, I started to respond differently. It felt a bit strange to find I wasn’t over-thinking, or ruminating, and that I was reacting much more calmly to the old triggers.
Committing to Daily Practice
The key was committing to daily practice of the simple somatic exercises, and writing my solution focused diary which encouraged me to identify and notice moments that were good or better. Jane explained that this was a gentle way of building new neural connections, and changing the way I thought, acted and reacted. I believe it was the combination of techniques, which included NLP, breathing exercises, bi-lateral tapping and affirmations, combined with tailored hypnotherapy and trauma techniques that has moved my life forward.
“Now, I don’t think about getting sick on a daily basis; I don’t lay awake at night waiting to hear someone getting up; I don’t get triggered by hearing someone say they’ve had a bug. I even held my grandson why he was sick, cleaned him up and gave him a cuddle. ”
Its so much easier to look after her grandchildren now Joanne has undertaken The Emetophobia Recovery Pathway
Resetting my Nervous System
I can honestly say for the first time in almost 40 years I have my life back. Jane’s technique of hypnosis combined with our solution focused conversations and strategies to enable me to reset my nervous system, have been my lifesaver. Understanding how my body works, using daily techniques to reset my way of thinking, learning how to relax and bring myself down when I panic, along with hypnosis have given me a sense of freedom I never thought possible.
How my life changed day to day
Now, I don’t think about getting sick on a daily basis; I don’t lay awake at night waiting to hear someone getting up; I don’t get triggered by hearing someone say they’ve had a bug. I even held my grandson while he was sick, cleaned him up and gave him a cuddle.
I absolutely know how this fear can take over and unless you live it, it’s very hard to explain to anyone how it makes you feel.
There is hope
But… there is hope … and after over three decades of trying, I found my hope.
I am finally forgiving myself for not being able to be the mum I had wanted to be and for not always being present. I have dealt with many other traumas over the years which I have come to realise are probably the root cause of my emetophobia, so working on these with Jane had also aided my recovery.
Now I can be the grandmother I want to be.
Does it take work? Yes.
Does this take work, consistency and commitment? Yes!!! Is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY!
But remember recovery isn’t linear. It looks different for everyone. Someone like myself who suffers from an anxiety disorder, and also ADHD, is already prone to overthinking, excessive worrying, inability to relax and ruminating. These all play into to my emetophobia. BUT what I have learnt is how to use breathing techniques, cold water techniques, affirmations and recordings to control my anxiety in general. Whether emetophobia related or not, learning to manage anxiety and stress has, in turn, helped me manage my emetophobia symptoms.
The more I can relax, the less anxious I am and the less I think about illness.
Yes, I do still have periods in my life where I start to worry about being ill or worry that I feel ill, however I have learnt to live with the feeling of nausea, rather then trying to fight it.
Now I know anxiety and stress can cause nausea and other physical symptoms through the gut-brain axis and vagus nerve. For me this knowledge, and the tools to tackle the physical symptoms, has helped relieve my symptoms 100% of the time, and allowed me to carry on with my day to day life with feeling calmer and more in control.
Summing up my experience
After the Emetophobia Recovery Pathway, Joanne can enjoy drinking coffee in a cafe with her daughter
If I could sum Jane up, she isn’t just my therapist. She became my confidant, someone I trust and can open up to. I can be my true self and feel 100% comfortable with Jane.
After our sessions I feel reset and ready to keep going.
From my experience the Emetophobia Recovery Pathway takes determination and consistency, but not once did Jane ever make me feel like I couldn’t do this. Continuous evaluations and the Solution Focused approach made sure I could notice day to day improvements and stay motivated.
Since I started work with Jane, I have seen many improvements. I can’t fully comprehend that I have made the amount of progress that I have.
Jane’s Emetophobia Recovery Pathway has honestly saved me, and given me the ability to live a life I never thought possible.
It was a continuous work in progress, but one which has been so worth it.
Ongoing support
For me personally; my journey isn’t over. After decades of suffering and emotional dysregulation it’s something I will continue to work on long term. As someone with ADHD, it helps to incorporate the practices, tools and techniques I have learnt into my daily life.
Jane says my emetophobia is now a kind of ‘barometer’. A friend even. If symptoms start to return, that tells me that I’m getting too stressed, or overwhelmed; they are a signal that I need to rest, reset boundaries and carve out time for myself.
Now I know that general anxiety and stress impacts the vagus nerve and the gut/brain axis causing nausea. I have to look after myself first and foremost if I am to be a good mother and grandmother. That’s a life lesson for women everywhere.
I will continue to book one-off sessions with Jane, to recap and check in. Some people may not want or need that I feel I will need support in future, but for me I feel it would be of great benefit. A way to destress, maintain my general mental health and keep my emetophobia in check.
Don’t lose hope
From a lady who was desperate, sad and felt hopeless I can say, hand on heart … signficiant improvement, even recovery, is possible with the Sense-Ability Emetophobia Recovery Pathway.
Don’t lose hope and remember your not alone.
Jane Pendry
BA Hons (London), PGCE (Cantab), DSFH, HPD, AfSFH, ABNLP, ABH, CNCH, IARTT
Sense-Ability Hypnotherapy & Coaching
jane@sense-ability.co.uk
07843 813883
www.sense-ability.co.uk
Wheatley, Oxford, United Kingdom Online across the U.K. and Europe