Have you ever felt like saying the word "throw up" might somehow make it happen?

Or found yourself typing "unclaim" in the comments of a TikTok, knocking on wood, avoiding certain words, or believing you've somehow jinxed yourself?

If so, you're not alone.

In this episode of Handle Emetophobia, Katie and Ally explore magical thinking—one of the most common (and misunderstood) compulsions in OCD and emetophobia.

Together they discuss:

• What magical thinking is
• Why jinxes and superstitions feel so convincing
• The psychology behind "unclaim" comments
• How magical thinking reinforces OCD
• Practical ERP exercises to challenge these fears
• Using uncertainty instead of reassurance
• How values-based recovery helps you stop obeying compulsions

Along the way, they share personal stories, laugh about some of the strange rules OCD creates, and intentionally practice "jinxing" themselves as an exposure exercise.

Whether your magical thinking revolves around words, numbers, colors, bedtime routines, clothing, comments on social media, or something completely unique, this episode will help you better understand what's happening in your brain—and how to start breaking free.

Because recovery isn't about proving that your jinxes aren't real.

It's about learning that even if your brain says, "Maybe..."

...you can handle it.

Traveling can be one of the biggest challenges for people with emetophobia.

In this episode of Handle Emetophobia, Katie and Ally talk all about traveling with emetophobia—from airplanes and airports to cruises, road trips, concerts, and vacations.

They share the travel safety behaviors they used to rely on, how recovery has changed the way they approach trips, and why acceptance—not certainty—is the key to enjoying life again.

Together they discuss:

• Flying with emetophobia
• Fear of vomiting while traveling
• Motion sickness and travel anxiety
• Airport and airplane fears
• Traveling with children
• Safety behaviors and reassurance
• Packing medications "just in case"
• Public transportation fears
• Recovery wins from recent trips
• Fun travel "This or That" questions and hot takes

You'll also hear Katie's story about witnessing someone throw up in the TSA line, Ally's experience throwing up on a bus in the Dominican Republic, and an honest conversation about how both of them are continuing to challenge themselves through ERP.

If you've ever delayed a vacation, skipped a trip, avoided flying, or spent an entire vacation worrying about getting sick, this episode is for you. Recovery doesn't mean you'll never feel anxious when you travel.

It means you don't have to wait until the anxiety is gone before you start living.

You can handle it.

What if people see?

For many people with emetophobia, the fear isn't just vomiting—it's vomiting in front of other people.

In this episode of Handle Emetophobia, Katie and Ally dive into the hidden relationship between emetophobia and social anxiety. They explore why public embarrassment feels so threatening, why many of us become hyperaware of what other people might think, and how fear can disguise itself as anger and judgment.

Katie shares several recent public ERP exposures—including carrying a vomit bag through Target, intentionally making a scene by dropping a drink in public, and practicing telling someone, "I don't feel well." They also discuss the backlash those exposures received online and have an honest conversation about trigger warnings, discomfort, and why recovery sometimes means allowing other people to misunderstand you. 

Together they discuss:

• The fear of throwing up in public
• Social anxiety and emetophobia
• Public embarrassment exposures
• Fear of judgment and rejection
• Why anger is often fear in disguise
• Trigger warnings and personal responsibility
• Hot takes on recovery and willingness
• Practical ways to challenge fear through ERP

Whether you're afraid of vomiting in public, being judged by others, or simply making a scene, this episode is a reminder that recovery isn't about controlling the world around you.

It's about learning that you can handle whatever the world brings.

You can handle it.

Natasha Daniels | How To Help Kids When the Fear of Throwing Up Takes Over:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/at-parenting-survival-raising-kids-with-ocd-anxiety/id1205679186?i=1000771845927FearCast Podcast | Trigger Warnings with Nathan Peterson, Kelley Franke, and Lauren Rosen:https://youtu.be/E8dNG7t4aLE?is=80b1IoaH3UvPlzwAYour Anxiety Toolkit | "But My Fear Is Different" -- The Anxiety Trick That's Derailing Your Recovery (with Drew Linsalata):https://youtu.be/YJDF6FyyBxk?is=pAAcdcF0pbsc9GRI

What is it like to raise a child with emetophobia before you even know emetophobia exists?

In this episode of Handle Emetophobia, Katie and Ally welcome Ally's parents to share their perspective on her childhood, family life, and recovery.

They talk openly about the early signs of anxiety, the accommodations they unknowingly made, the challenges of supporting a child with a phobia they didn't understand, and how their perspective has changed over the years.

You'll hear conversations about:

• Childhood emetophobia
• Family accommodations
• Parenting through anxiety and OCD
• Recovery from a loved one's perspective
• Public vomiting, health anxiety, and difficult memories
• Supporting recovery without reinforcing fear
• What they wish they had known years ago

This episode is honest, funny, emotional, and filled with grace—for parents, for families, and for anyone who has ever looked back and thought, "I did the best I could with what I knew."

Whether you're the one living with emetophobia or you're supporting someone who is, this conversation is a reminder that recovery is rarely a solo journey.

The goal isn't to stay safe.
It's to realize that you don't have to be.

What happens when the people who love you most are accidentally helping your emetophobia stay alive?

In this episode of Handle Emetophobia, Katie and Ally talk about family accommodations—the ways spouses, parents, friends, and loved ones can unknowingly reinforce emetophobia and OCD through reassurance, avoidance, other safety behaviors, and attempts to reduce anxiety.

We discuss:
• Reassurance-seeking and why it never truly satisfies anxiety
• How accommodations become part of the fear cycle
• The challenges family members face when trying to support recovery
• Parenting children with emetophobia
• The difference between helping and enabling
• Why loved ones sometimes need to be willing to make us uncomfortable
• How families can become powerful allies in recovery

This episode is equal parts practical, funny, honest, and challenging. If you've ever asked someone, "Do you think I'm sick?" or "Do you think this food is safe?"—or if you've been the person answering those questions—this conversation is for you.

Recovery isn't about staying safe.

It's about learning that you can handle uncertainty—and helping the people around you learn that too.

You can handle it.

Can you be a good parent if you have emetophobia?

In this episode, Katie and Ally tackle one of the biggest questions many people with emetophobia quietly wrestle with: pregnancy, parenting, and raising children while living with a fear of vomiting.

They discuss fears around morning sickness, labor, stomach bugs, sick kids, and the reality of how emetophobia can affect family life. They also share personal stories about pregnancy, motherhood, safety behaviors, mom guilt, recovery, and what happens when the thing you're most afraid of becomes part of everyday life.

This is an honest conversation about fear, values, uncertainty, and why recovery matters—not just for you, but for the people you love.

If you've ever wondered whether emetophobia should determine whether you have children, this episode is for you.

Topics discussed:

• Pregnancy and emetophobia
• Morning sickness fears
• Parenting with OCD
• Stomach bugs and sick children
• Safety behaviors in motherhood
• Mom guilt and anxiety
• Exposure and response prevention (ERP)
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Recovery while raising kids

Because the goal isn't to stay safe. The goal is to learn that you can handle life—even when it's uncertain. 💛

Join the HANDLE Community:

https://handle.mn.co/

Dr. Max Maisel on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/drmaxocd/

OCD SoCal:

https://ocdsocal.org

In this episode of Handle Emetophobia, Katie and Ally talk about one of the biggest things keeping emetophobia and OCD alive: safety behaviors.

From chewing gum, taking Zofran, avoiding situations, distracting ourselves, mentally preparing for worst-case scenarios, and trying to prevent nausea at all costs — we unpack the many ways fear convinces us we need these behaviors to stay safe.

We discuss:

• Safety behaviors and compulsions
• Acceptance vs. control
• Exposures vs. “experiments”
• Parenting with emetophobia
• Fear of airplanes, stomach bugs, and public vomiting
• The placebo effect and anti-nausea medication
• Why recovery requires willingness instead of certainty

The conversation is honest, funny, emotional, and deeply relatable for anyone struggling with emetophobia, OCD, panic, or health anxiety.

The goal of recovery is not to stay safe.
The goal is to learn that you don’t need to be.

“How do I actually start recovery?”

We’ve been getting this question constantly lately, so in this episode we sat down and talked honestly about what beginning recovery REALLY looked like for us.

Katie shares what it was like realizing she’s now weaning off therapy after a year of ERP work, while Ally talks about just beginning OCD therapy and feeling completely overwhelmed by how big recovery can seem at first.

We walk through:
• the OCD/emetophobia cycle
• triggers, feared stories, and safety behaviors
• reassurance seeking and mental compulsions
• why exposures aren’t usually the first step
• how delaying compulsions helped us
• the importance of values and finding your “why”
• acceptance, uncertainty, and willingness
• why recovery is uncomfortable… but worth it

We also get very real about parenting with emetophobia, health anxiety, avoiding discomfort, and the fear of vomiting itself.

And maybe most importantly:
The goal of recovery is not to stay safe.
The goal is learning that you don’t need to.

If you’re feeling hopeless, overwhelmed, or unsure where to begin, we hope this episode helps you take your first step.

In this episode of Handle Emetophobia, we sit down with Karl from Ireland — one of the members of the HANDLE community — to talk about what recovery actually looks like in real life.

Karl shares how emetophobia led to years of isolation, job loss, panic, avoidance, reassurance seeking, and dependence on anti-nausea medication. Then he walks us through a major turning point: starting a new job, hearing that multiple coworkers had been “wiped out” by the stomach bug, and choosing to STAY instead of RUN. 

We discuss:

• Cost-benefit analysis in recovery
• Why avoidance doesn’t actually keep us safe
• The hidden costs of safety behaviors
• Acceptance, uncertainty, and values-based living
• Recovery wins that feel impossible… until they happen

We also laugh a lot about magpies, movie triggers, weird OCD logic, and why emetophobes somehow become experts at detecting when someone might throw up.

If you’ve ever felt trapped by emetophobia or OCD, this episode is a reminder that recovery is hard — but staying stuck is harder.

You can handle it.

There are a lot of misconceptions about emetophobia—and some of them might actually be keeping you stuck.

In this episode, we break down the most common myths about emetophobia and what’s actually true when it comes to recovery. From the belief that it’s “just a fear of vomiting” to the idea that safety behaviors help or that you need a therapist to even begin healing—we’re unpacking it all.

We bust some of the most common (and frustrating) myths about emetophobia, including:“It’s just the fear of vomiting”“Exposure therapy makes it worse”“Safety behaviors help”“You need a therapist to start recovery”“If you don’t eat, you won’t throw up”“You have to throw up to recover”“Emetophobia is rare”

We also talk about why emetophobia feels like a constant, 24/7 fear, how nausea anxiety plays a bigger role than people realize, and what exposure therapy is really supposed to do.

If you’ve ever found yourself avoiding foods, constantly preparing “just in case,” or feeling like you’re always waiting to get sick—this episode will hit home.

The goal isn’t to stay safe.
The goal is realizing… you don’t need to be.

The OCD Stories - Doing an Exposure (ERP) vs. being exposed:https://youtu.be/UMGEfuOUs-w?si=ifj9-ibbMXm93lmsYour Anxiety Toolkit - Acceptance with Jonathan Grayson:https://youtu.be/8FTewvlg0TU?si=-WGtDSoKWslbdF0iKimberley Quinlan and Nathan Peterson - Recovery Without Therapy:https://youtu.be/GqwzgxUMVdE?si=mQ9IV7w31IyH7r7M