‘Don’t be embarrassed by anything, because this is a real thing, and you are not the only one suffering!’ are the supportive words of advice from long-term Emetophobia sufferer and Grandmother Deb. Deb first remembers struggling with the phobia as a young child. During her childhood, Deb experienced her father suffering with the same fear. She also recognised his resistance to seeking any help for fear of ridicule, judgment and shame. Deb remembers her Emetophobia worsening as she becam...

Research suggests that the majority of Emetophobia sufferers are female but Kane's inspirational story shows that it can affect anyone. Kane developed emetophobia while serving in the royal navy in his 20’s and the phobia got progressively worse over the years. In Kane’s words, his life with emetophobia was ‘bland’. He didn’t get excited, didn’t enjoy partaking in experiences and didn’t know who he had become. Kane avoided social events, created excuses and restricted his life to such ...

In today's episode, Melina discusses her experience with severe emetophobia. Melina’s anxiety began at a very young age and after 10 different diagnoses of mental health issues, Melina finally discovered her true struggle of emetophobia. This had been missed due to lack of knowledge and understanding. Once discovering that she wasn’t alone, Melina began her journey to becoming emetophobia-free, and has never been happier! Melina’s diagnosis struggles After her Arfid diagnosi...

We receive many emails from people who are suffering from Emetophobia alongside a diagnosed medical condition (IBS, Crohn's disease, POTs, Celiac disease to name but a few). Many are concerned that their diagnosis will stop them from overcoming the Emetophobia and so are reluctant to engage in the programme. In today's episode, Sam Marker and Michelle dive into why a medical condition is not a barrier to you overcoming Emetophobia and how the programme will ultimately help you to manage...

Coach Chloe joins Michelle Johnson on this week's episode to discuss her tumultuous journey through the programme with her daughter Ava who was suffering with Emetophobia. Despite supporting Ava as best she could through the programme, Chloe was struggling to see the progress in Ava. It was only once Chloe turned the spotlight inwards did she discover the barriers that were preventing herself and therefore Ava from thriving and overcoming Ava's phobia. Ava was 11 when she finally began ...

In today’s emotional episode, ex-police officer and Kindergarten teacher Steph joins Coach Michelle & Coach Lauren discuss Steph’s journey to becoming Emetophobia-free. From her career as a police officer turned Kindergarten teacher, to being a mother, to simply cooking, all of it was impacted on a catastrophic level by Emetophobia. Nights were a key area of hardship for Steph, which she described as being a ‘constant evil bully’ which she couldn’t shake. After various aggressive a...

In today’s episode, Debi Morgan joins Michelle Johnson to discuss her journey of supporting her granddaughter through the Emetophobia-free programme. Debi discusses the best ways to support family members who are experiencing emetophobia, pitfalls they may experience along the way and tips on how to avoid them! Debi’s granddaughter began showing signs of emetophobia at the age of 11, despite spending her childhood in great spirits with lots of friends and hobbies. During the period of change ...

In today’s episode, Coach Matt and Coach Michelle discuss the power of our imagination when it comes to overcoming emetophobia. If you're not actively using your imagination to help you, it will likely be working against you... so get comfy and get ready to really explore what it means to use our imagination well. The power of our imagination Michelle discusses the use of imagination in overcoming Emetophobia; If you imagine yourself not coping, despite really working hard and putting in effo...

We were delighted to welcome Emetophobia-Free Thriver of The Year 2024 winner Sarah to join us on the podcast! Sarah shares her story of overcoming emetophobia with just the Emetophobia-Free manual. The phobia began for Sarah at 12 years old when she experienced an episode of public sickness. The embarrassment Sarah felt caused her to create avoidance techniques in all areas of her life to try and ensure that she never experienced it again. Sarah explains that after vomiting in public s...

It seems like an obvious question doesn't it... but the unhelpful thinking styles and limiting beliefs shared by emetophobes the world over often create doubt and uncertainty when it comes to knowing if they are over their emetophobia or not... so let's dive in! How do you know when you’re over Emetophobia? Emetophobia is experienced when you are plagued with negative thoughts surrounding sick, whether this be yourself or other people. It drives your decisions and behaviours which end up limi...

In this episode Shannon shares her long journey to discover the root cause of her physical pain, nausea and discomfort. From a young age, Shannon was living with almost constant nausea and a belief that she had something wrong with her, and was returning to doctors for years of testing! She was given an IBS diagnosis but Shannon knew deep down this wasn’t what she was experiencing... Shannon wasn’t aware of what emetophobia was at the time, however was aware that she struggled to cope with fe...

Navigating life as a parent when your child is suffering from Emetophobia can be really difficult. Claire shares the difficulties she faced while helping her daughter through Emetophobia and how the pressure of the situation took a toll on her sense of self and identity. This is an inspiring story of a mum who dedicated so much of herself to her child that she lost herself along the way and had to rebuild herself in the wake of her daughter's experience. Claire’s daughter, Lauren, was ...

In this episode Michelle Johnson is joined by Coach Samantha Marker to talk about the 6-8 week timeframe mentioned in the programme. The podcast is incredibly reassuring with the main message being that recovery within 6-8 weeks is entirely possible but if that isn't your journey then there is nothing wrong with that. Your journey is as unique as you are but because the programme is entirely predicatable, if you keep working and applying the skills you WILL beat your phobia, no matter how lon...

Sunneva is a single mum of two boys who was aware of her Emetophobia from a very young age Her initial reaction would be to run away from each situation involving sickness, whilst creating anxiety and panic. Despite her emetophobia, Sunneva became a mother to two boys, however was suffering to navigate the life of motherhood whilst her phobia controlled her. Perfectionism was dominating Sunneva during parenthood. She wanted to become a perfect mother and describes herself as being an ov...

Welcome to a very heartwarming episode! Ex-emetophobe Emma joins ex-emetophobe and Emetophobia-Free coach Michelle Johnson to talk all things pregnancy and sickness bugs. Since overcoming their fears, both Michelle and Emma have fallen pregnant AND experienced a sickness bug! Both women have an amazing story to tell and are here to tell you that no matter what you might currently believe, you can overcome your fear, experience being sick and still be wonderfully Emetophobia-Free! ...

Anne’s Emetophobia years: Anne experienced her Emetophobia for around 50 years before overcoming it.She used to believe her phobia began because a student was sick on her during a school assembly, which lead to her becoming ill herself. Anne’s belief became ‘if someone else is sick around me ill, be sick too’.Anne recognised how low her self-esteem really was, and how much she hid her phobia from others because she feared their judgement. Her phobia prevented her from pursuing a ca...

When Annabel’s daughter Charlotte started to complain of regular stomach aches and nausea, as well as expressing difficulty remaining in the school environment, at around the age of 7, Mum Annabel was at a loss. Charlotte was taken to many doctors appointments, which involved blood tests and investigations. However, no medical procedure or professional was able to answer for what was going on for her! Charlotte would experience motion sickness, and struggled to eat food. When on holiday Charl...

As an occupational therapist, Hannah is faced with many people who are sick regularly. When she had Emetophobia, Hannah would escape these situations due to the fear she was creating. Hannah also experienced contamination OCD, IBS, trouble sleeping and continuous nausea which affected her all through her younger years. Hannah would sanitise her hands continuously and would inspect her food before eating it. Hannah began the Emetophobia Free coaching in summer, and was thriving by Autumn...

Does your intense fear of vomit stop you from travelling? Ex-emetophobe Lauren Singer joins Michelle Johnson on the podcast to talk all things Emetophobia and travel. Lauren developed her Emetophobia from around 5 years old. Before the Emetophobia-Free Programme, when the topic of travel was raised Lauren thought “I would love to be able to do that!” but then her inner voice would begin asking what if XYZ happened, which would increase the pressure she felt to engage in the experience. ...

Meg is keen to share her powerful message: 'Don't let your ASD diagnosis hold you back from tackling your biggest fear - you CAN beat Emetophobia!' Meg held a strong belief that she couldn’t overcome her Emetophobia because her ability to process information wasn't the same as neurotypical people. She had heard of the Emetophobia-Free programme but was skeptical about starting as she believed her ASD would hold her back. Another main reason that Meg put off her journey to becoming Emetophobi...