Ep. 127: Dara Lovitz & Dr. David Yusko — How to Master an Intense Fear of Vomit (and Anything Else)

My guests this week are Dr. David Yusko and Dara Lovitz. We talked about the book they wrote together called Gag Reflections (affiliate link), which describes Dara’s history of emetophobia—an intense fear of vomit—and her treatment with David. We discussed things like the difference between ordinary fear or dislike of something, and an actual phobia; why avoidance is the real problem, even though it’s so understandable that we want to avoid the things we fear; how to do exposure therapy effectively; and lots more. If you suffer from a fear of vomit, this conversation can give you a lot of hope. And whether or not you deal with emetophobia, there’s a lot to take from this discussion.