Too much too soon? Mega stressing!

[BeccaB]

Hey everyone,
I'm new to this site so I'm not sure if there's a thread for this elsewhere and if so I apologise.
I have suffered from emetophobia since I was 8 years old (I am now 26) and have finally accepted that I need therapy. I have recently started CBT/Exposure and I am really stressing about it. I have had one session and my therapist is already talking about me putting my fingers down my throat to make me v*. To be honest I'm terrified to go back and don't think she really knows what she is doing. I have no idea if she has experience with this type of phobia (she is a specialist in rapid exposure) I am really considering not going back. She want's to do a three hour session in a week from Friday and this would be when she asks me to stick my fingers in my throat. I really do want to beat this phobia but the therapy session was counter productive and I have had panic attacks ever since going last Friday. As this is my first therapy for my phobia I don't know if this is 'normal' for her to want to do this so soon (if at all?)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated (so terrified)
P.S my phobia is relating to myself v*ing not seeing other ppl

Many thanks
Rebecca

[staystrongxx]

Oh no no! You need to tell her to slow down and do gradual exposure. You should be starting out very slowly. Try printing out the fact sheet from this website for her- it helped my therapist a lot. This is not normal, unless you express to her you want that kind of therapy. You need to have a talk with her and tell her that it needs to be taken slower because it has been causing you more anxiety- that is NOT the goal of exposure therapy. If you do not feel safe with her (I surely wouldn't!) i suggest finding a new therapist. During exposure, you need to feel you are in a safe place. If you talk to her and she is unwilling to change her ideas, then I say find a different therapist.

I know a lot of people (non-emets as well) who would NOT be comfortable putting their fingers down their throat! I couldn't do it, that motion is completely foreign to me.

Anyway you can PM me if you want to talk