Choking, Swallowing, and Vomit Phobias

Times:   12:00pm-3:00pm EST 

Cost:      $200.00 USD per person

Workshop Location:  Zoom (you will be sent an invitation with instructions prior to the workshop).

Workshop Description: Choking, swallowing, or vomiting phobias provoke high levels of distress, functional impairment, and medical/weight problems for many patients. Sentiments such as, “Vomiting is one of the worst things I can imagine…it’s up there with dying” are common. Dr. Jessica Bodie will provide an introduction to exposure-based interventions shown to safely reduce choking, swallowing, and vomit phobia symptoms in patients of all ages. The exposure therapy protocols covered in this workshop retrain the anxious brain to tolerate aversive stimuli, sensations, and situational triggers and instill confidence. Patients gradually learn that their feared catastrophic outcomes are unlikely to occur and that if vomiting or a stuck sensation were to happen, it is safer and more manageable than their initial anxiety gauged it to be. These protocols have been shown to elicit symptom relief whether the fear developed in response to a particularly aversive experience or arose “out of the blue.”

Dr. Bodie will cover common clinician questions such as:

• How do I help patients get daily practice with rare phobic encounters (e.g., vomiting) or dangerous situations (e.g., choking)?
• Won’t having patients watch triggering videos make their fear worse?
• How do I motivate patients to approach avoided and feared stimuli? 

Additional topics include:

• Assessing core fears underlying the phobia
• Developing food and fear stimuli hierarchies
• Identifying and reducing safety behaviors
• Navigating issues related to safety, motivation, and homework adherence

CE Learning Objectives

At the end of this workshop, participants should be able to:

1. Identify safety behaviors and avoidance patterns common in choking, swallowing, and vomit phobias
2. Describe the rationale for exposure-based treatment for patients with choking, swallowing, and vomit phobias
3. Differentiate choking, swallowing, and vomit phobias from related diagnoses
4. Generate treatment plans hierarchies for patients with choking, swallowing, and vomit phobias         

About the Presenter: Jessica Bodie, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and Director of Child Services at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety (CTSA) in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bodie received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Biology from the University of Denver and her Master's and Doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from Temple University. Dr. Bodie completed her clinical internship at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Bodie specializes in the treatment of OCD, PTSD, social anxiety, panic disorder, specific phobias, and generalized anxiety. She is a certified clinician, consultant, and supervisor in Prolonged Exposure (PE) for PTSD and Exposure and Response (Ritual) Prevention (EX/RP) for OCD. Additionally, Dr. Bodie has conducted research on and clinically treats extremely picky eating (also called Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, ARFID), emetophobia (vomit phobia), and choking phobia. Dr. Bodie is active in the field and participates in teaching, writing, supervision, and consultation activities to disseminate evidence-based treatments for anxiety and related disorders.

Webinar workshop requirements:

• You must have utilities, internet service, phone service, and an appropriately private location at your home or office in order to ensure HIPAA compliance.
  • The private location should be free of noise and distractions. (If you are the parent of young children, appropriate child care arrangements must be in place.)
• You must agree to attend each hour of the video conference and agree to use video of yourself during the video conference in order to track attendance.
• You must agree not to copy or distribute workshop materials provided to you in the course of the workshop and not to audio or video-record the workshop in any form.

You will be asked to affirm the previous conditions and your agreement to them prior to the commencement of the workshop.

Continuing Education

If you are interested in and eligible for Continuing Education credits, read below:

THE PHILADELPHIA BEHAVIOR THERAPY ASSOCIATION (PBTA) IS APPROVED BY THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION TO SPONSOR CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR PSYCHOLOGISTS.  PBTA MAINTAINS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PROGRAM AND ITS CONTENT.  THIS PRESENTATION PROVIDES 3 HOURS OF CE CREDITS FOR PSYCHOLOGISTS.

PBTA IS ALSO AN AUTHORIZED PROVIDER FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS FOR PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS, AND CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKERS LICENSED IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA - THIS PROGRAM PROVIDES 3 HOURS OF CE CREDITS. 

* PBTA does not currently offer CE to practitioners licensed in the state of New York.

In order to receive continuing education credits, participants must:

• attend each hour of the workshop (no late arrivals or early departures)
• complete a post-test and course evaluation

If both of these requirements are met, you will receive a continuing education certificate after the conclusion of the workshop.

Instructions for Registration

Registrations are due one week in advance and must be completed in full. 

To register, complete the online registration.

If you need to withdraw your application for any reason, please email Dr. Sandy Capaldi. Note that workshop fees are non-refundable after the application due date (one week before the start of the workshop).