Rapid relief from fear of vomiting in 1-5 sessions
Therapy for Emetophobia in Seattle
Virtual Emetophobia Therapy Serving Seattle & Puget Sound
Online Throughout Washington Using Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)
The vomiting phobia is narrowing everything. You won’t take the Light Rail during winter because enclosed spaces with sick passengers feel dangerous. You avoid Pike Place Market on weekends when tourists crowd the seafood stalls and bars. You turned down the Amazon or Microsoft position requiring frequent flights because air travel triggers panic. You’re passing up opportunities that define Seattle's economy because a childhood phobia still controls you.
Emetophobia resolves in 1-5 sessions with Accelerated Resolution Therapy. Not months of weekly appointments in Fremont or years processing anxiety in group therapy at a Capitol Hill practice; phobia treatment that targets the neurological root of the emetophobia so that you can live your life in full without constant anxiety.
Learn more about my approach to treating emetophobia here.
Seattle’s geography and culture create specific challenges for people with emetophobia:
Ferry travel cuts off the region. Bainbridge, Vashon, the San Juans; enclosed boats with potentially seasick passengers and no escape route. You’re likely avoiding entire areas that define Pacific Northwest life.
Tech careers require flying. Your Amazon team flies to headquarters. Microsoft does quarterly offsites. Your startup’s investors are in San Francisco. Refusing to fly limits advancement in significant ways.
Public transit feels risky. The Link Light Rail, E Line, RapidRide: enclosed spaces during flu season mean someone getting sick between Capitol Hill and Northgate with nowhere to exit.
Restaurant culture becomes off-limits. Ballard’s restaurant row, Fremont breweries, Pike Place Market, Capitol Hill's food scene: crowded spaces with alcohol mean drunk people and unpredictable situations. You’re missing out on one of the biggest experiences that make Seattle enjoyable.
Pregnancy fear. Your friends are having kids while you avoid the decision entirely, or pay a small fortune for a surrogate.
Career networking happens at bars. Happy hours in SoDo, startup events at Capitol Hill breweries; alcohol-heavy environments where connections happen and you are afraid to show up.
Why Exposure Therapy Often Fails for Emetophobia
Many Seattle therapists offer evidence-based CBT with exposure therapy. When people complete it, research shows it works. But the majority of people with emetophobia refuse exposure treatment.
You’ve spent 15 or 25 years desperately avoiding thoughts of vomiting. The suggestion to intentionally watch vomiting videos, imagine yourself getting sick, or deliberately trigger the disgust response contradicts every protective mechanism you’ve built. It feels like being asked to jump off a building to cure fear of heights.
You’ve also already had plenty of accidental exposure: Every stomach bug season in Seattle's rainy winters, every drunk person at a Sounders game, every time someone on your work call mentions their kid being sick. These experiences didn't desensitize you; they reinforced that the world is full of vomiting threats and you need to stay vigilant.
The exposure model assumes you need to learn that vomiting isn’t dangerous through repeated safe contact. But you already know it’s not dangerous. The problem isn’t rational assessment, it’s overwhelming fear.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy Works Differently for Emetophobia
I use Accelerated Resolution Therapy, which can resolve emetophobia in 1-5 sessions rather than requiring long-term treatment.
ART approaches emetophobia as the result of an experience, rather than a belief that needs to be corrected. Most people can identify an origin point (ie, that one time you got sick at school), even if the connection isn’t immediately obvious.
Even if there’s no clear trauma memory, ART can still resolve emetophobia because fear operates through images and sensations, not logic.
Your brain holds a visceral image of vomiting, nausea sensations, or the feeling of losing control, and those sensory experiences drive the phobia, whether they came from a specific event or developed gradually over time. ART targets and neutralizes those fear-loaded images and body sensations directly.
The process uses bilateral eye movements while you hold the triggering image in mind. This creates a neurological state where memory can be reconsolidated; not erased, but stored differently. You retain factual memory of what happened, but the visceral fear response detaches.
This differs significantly from EMDR, which many Seattle therapists offer.
EMDR uses similar eye movements but lets your mind free-associate across multiple sessions. ART is more directive, meaning I guide specific steps during the session. You’re actively changing the image rather than passively processing. This gives you control and speeds resolution.
After processing, you can think about the original event or about vomiting generally without becoming afraid.
Treatment typically takes 1-5 sessions total. The core memory resolves in one session. Additional ART sessions can address related triggers: ferry anxiety, flight phobia, specific food fears, pregnancy concerns.
How Emetophobia Changes After ART…
After 1-5 ART sessions, the most striking change is how quiet your mind becomes. The constant background calculation of “who might get sick, where are the exits, what did I eat” just stops. You’re not managing fear or using coping strategies; you’re genuinely not afraid anymore.
The ferry to Bainbridge is just transportation. You board thinking about the conversation you’ll have when you arrive, not scanning passengers or planning escape routes. Seasickness exists as a concept but doesn’t trigger anything. You can live on the islands, visit the San Juans, access the entire region.
Flying becomes a logistics decision, not a fear decision. You book the San Francisco flight for the investor meeting. You take the position requiring quarterly travel. The plane is simply how you get somewhere, and turbulence is annoying but not activating. Your career opens up.
You can take The Light Rail. You think about your stop, check your phone, notice the other passengers as people rather than threats of someone getting sick or you getting sick.
Restaurants are about food and company. You try the new Ballard spot everyone’s raving about. You order based on what sounds good, not what feels safe. Happy hour means catching up with colleagues, not calculating alcohol consumption around you. You participate in Seattle’s food culture.
The pregnancy decision is about readiness. Morning sickness becomes a practical consideration like any other; something to manage if it happens, not a reason to avoid having children. If you’re already pregnant, you can now excitedly prepare for the baby without nine months of dread.
Outdoor plans are about logistics and weather. The drive to the trailhead is just a drive. Camping means planning gear, not proximity to bathrooms. You ski, hike, camp, and participating in what drew you to the Pacific Northwest.
You show up where your industry gathers. Networking events, happy hours, startup meetups; you’re present and building relationships instead of opting-out.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy: 1-5 Sessions for Emetophobia Relief…
I’m independently licensed in Washington (LICSW #LW61398886) and provide emetophobia treatment entirely via secure telehealth. You don’t need to commute to Capitol Hill or Fremont for appointments. You don’t need to navigate I-5 traffic or find parking in Ballard. You don’t need to sit in waiting rooms during flu season.
Sessions are between 60-90 minutes, typically 1-5 sessions total. Most people see significant change in the first session. This is targeted phobia resolution that addresses the neurological root of the issue.
Investment: $500 per 90-minute session. Most emetophobia cases resolve in 1-3 sessions, making total investment typically $500-$1,500.
My practice is entirely private-pay, which enables intensive 90-minute sessions focused on resolution, rather than insurance-limited 50-minute appointments. I provide Superbills for potential out-of-network reimbursement. ART qualifies for HSA/FSA, and many Seattle employers offer generous HSA benefits.
A 90-minute Accelerated Resolution Therapy session is $500.
ART sessions are $500 per session. Each session runs as long as needed to complete the protocol, typically 60-90 minutes. The average length of treatment is 1-5 sessions.
Total investment for most clients: $500-$2,500.
ART is an investment in your freedom and well-being.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
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Yes. ART works without a clear originating memory. Sometimes the connection emerges during the session, sometimes we work with current fear imagery. The brain makes unconscious connections that ART can access and change even when you’re not consciously aware of the origin.
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Yes. Flight anxiety driven by emetophobia (fear of getting sick on the plane or other passengers vomiting) resolves as the underlying phobia resolves. After treatment, people regularly fly to conferences or travel internationally for work.
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Yes. Most people see significant change in the first session, with full resolution in 1-5 sessions total. If your teen is limiting college choices to UW and Seattle University because of travel anxiety, treatment can expand those options within days or weeks.
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No. ART doesn’t use exposure to vomiting imagery and doesn’t require verbalizing traumatic details. You work with the image internally while I guide the process. This is why people who refused or dropped out of exposure therapy can often complete ART successfully.
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Traditional CBT focuses on changing thought patterns and gradual exposure. ART targets the thought, image, or memory itself, changing how your brain stores the triggering image so that the fear response stops activating.
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About 48% of people with emetophobia meet ARFID criteria, but the restriction is strategic (avoiding foods that might cause vomiting) rather than the person “having” an eating disorder. Once we resolve the vomiting fear, food flexibility often returns naturally. If you’re already working with an eating disorder specialist in Washington, ART can complement that treatment. On the other hand, once you complete ART, if you decide you want to work with someone on eating behaviors, I would be happy to refer you to a specialist.
Get in touch
Serving Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and All of Washington
I provide emetophobia treatment via telehealth throughout Washington State:
Seattle & Eastside: Capitol Hill, Fremont, Ballard, Wallingford, Queen Anne, Magnolia, Green Lake, University District, Ravenna, Wedgwood, Northgate, Greenwood, Phinney Ridge, Madison Park, Madrona, Mount Baker, Columbia City, Beacon Hill, Georgetown, West Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Renton, Bothell, Kenmore, Woodinville
South Sound: Tacoma, Federal Way, Kent, Auburn, Puyallup, Lakewood, University Place
North Sound: Everett, Marysville, Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Mukilteo
East Washington: Spokane, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Cheney
Southwest Washington: Vancouver, Camas, Washougal, Longview, Kelso
Olympic Peninsula & Islands: Bainbridge Island, Vashon Island, Port Townsend, Sequim, Port Angeles, Bremerton, Poulsbo, Silverdale
Whatcom County: Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine
About Allyson Clemmons, LICSW
Real healing happens in the nervous system, not just in conversation.
After 15 years in traditional talk therapy, I now specialize in helping people who have tried multiple approaches but aren’t finding lasting change. Using ART’s bilateral eye movements (similar to what happens naturally during REM sleep) we’ll work directly with how traumatic memories are stored in your brain. Most clients experience their breakthrough in 1-5 sessions instead of months or years.
If you’ve hit a wall with other approaches and want freedom from symptoms (not just management), you’re exactly who I work with.
Get in touch
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heal the root cause in 1-5 sessions
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heal the root cause in 1-5 sessions —