CBT for Adults, Young People & Children with Emetophobia – Online Zoom Workshop | 15 April 2026

This workshop will cover the phenomenology, formulation and treatment of emetophobia, across the age range from children / young people into adulthood. The cognitive model of emetophobia will be detailed, with case examples to illustrate the maintenance, using the vicious flower model.

Emetophobia is understood to have the highest impact of all specific phobias, being proportionately more likely to result in inpatient admission, especially for children and young people (11.5% compared to 2.4% of all other specific phobias; Veale, et al, 2020).Emetophobia is known to have a childhood onset and persist into adulthood if left untreated (Becker et al., 2001; Lipsitz et al, 2007). Beliefs about nausea and vomiting such as being out of control, catastrophic physical outcomes, or social judgement precipitate anxiety, and trigger excessive avoidance and often many repetitive behaviours including excessive washing, checking, and reassurance seeking (Veale, Hennig & Gledhill, 2015). In its more extreme form, emetophobia can be associated with high levels of risk to health through excessive food restriction, and complete loss of meaningful occupation such as school refusal and social isolation, and extreme fear of pregnancy, or medical interventions associated with vomiting or nausea.

Learning objectives – participants will

• Gain knowledge of accurate identification of emetophobia across the age range
• Gain understanding of the process of differential diagnosis
• Gain understanding of the utility of the vicious flower maintenance formulation
• Practice using Theory A Theory B to generate a less threatening alternative belief and bridge between a shared understanding, and active behavioural work
• Gain skills in designing and implementing behavioural experiments
• Gain knowledge in the developmental adaptations required to enhance accessibility for children and young people
• Develop knowledge of effective strategies to support families in addressing maintenance factors such as accommodation and reassurance provision.