Gag Reflections

Dara Lovitz is an adjunct professor of animal law, a publications manager for a continuing legal education provider, and co-founder of the nonprofit organization Peace Advocacy Network. She lives in the Philadelphia area. David Yusko, Psy.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and co-founder of the Center for Anxiety & Behavior Therapy, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He spent 10 years with the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania developing cognitive behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders with a particular emphasis on exposure-based therapies.

• Table of ContentsIntroductionAct 1: AvoidanceOne—Growing Up as an EmetophobeTwo—Applying Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on My OwnThree—The Proverbial Straw That Broke the Proverbial Camel’s BackFour—Easing Into Exposure TherapyFive—Learning. Doing. Learning. Repeat.Act 2: ExposureSix—The History of Exposure TherapySeven—How the Wonderfully Awful World of YouTube Changed My LifeEight—“Join the Fiesta, Bitches!”Act 3: MaintenanceNine—Relapses and How to Prevent ThemTen—Maintaining RecoveryEleven—My Life as a Recovering EmetophobeAppendix I: Exposure Therapy Treatment Rationale for EmetophobiaAppendix II: Exposure Homework FormsAppendix III: SUDS ThermometerAppendix IV: Instructions for In Vivo ExposureAppendix V: Sample Exposure HierarchyFAQs with Dr. YuskoReferencesIndex

“I recommend [Lovitz and Yusko’s] volume wholeheartedly, both for individuals who suffer from emetophobia but also for therapists treating individuals with anxiety disorders of any kind: the rich clinical detail and humanity on display here provides something that few formal treatment manuals ever can, which is an insider’s view both from the therapist’s and the client’s perspective. I fully expect that I will be assigning this to my own trainees forthwith, and look forward to engaging with them around the ideas presented herein. I have every confidence that these myriad audiences will be better off for having done so, whether in the service of confronting a difficult problem of their own or helping other people to do so as part of their professional life.”—Martin E. Franklin, Ph.D., associate professor of clinical psychology in psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, clinical director, Rogers Behavioral Health, Philadelphia