Therapists mean different things when they say "exposure therapy." For instance, on the TV show "obsessed" they mean something called flooding. Which is to put the patient in the position of what they fear so their anxiety goes up to 10 out of 10 and make them stay there until it naturally subsides and goes away. This works on some people. Unfortunately, like yourself, it scares the living hell out of other people and they don't seek any kind of treatment at all.

I and other therapists like me prefer to work with people where their anxiety never goes above 5 out of 10 and preferably no higher than 3 or 4. The brain is still re-learning a new way to react to the stimulus. We teach people how to bring their anxiety down and how to make it go up again, then bring it down on their own. This is not frightening treatment. We carefully construct a hierarchy of stimuli that will induce anxiety. Perhaps it is just the word "vomit" or just talking about the last time you vomited, or even a cartoon picture of someone vomiting. Whatever makes your anxiety rise just a little.

Anyway, when you go for treatment never forget that YOU are in the driver's seat. Never agree to do anything you really don't want to do because it may not work for you long-term if you do.

I hope this helps! Don't be afraid of getting treated! Just find the right person to treat you and be as courageous as you can be which will help move your treatment along more quickly.