Focusing at school or work, being able to rest at home with family, or going out to the movies with friends, can all feel challenging or impossible when specific sounds cause you to feel intense rage, panic, or even helplessness. Or you’re anticipating that these sounds will happen, leaving you tense, anxious, and on edge. This can be a really exhausting and isolating experience, especially when others (or even perhaps yourself) don’t understand what’s happening or why. You might even feel like you’re losing your sanity – you’re not alone with this.

Despite being a lesser-known experience, misophonia significantly affects about 5% of people (1 in 20), that’s a lot! Misophonia is a neurophysiological condition where hearing specific, often everyday, sounds triggers a survival fight-or-flight response. These triggers are commonly mouth, nose, or throat sounds, or repetitive environmental/mechanical sounds. Misokinesia is similar, triggered by seeing specific movements, and often co-occurs with misophonia. There are theories as to why some people experience this, but research is still quite new. You deserve support, regardless.

“There are no rules about how you should feel with misophonia. What you feel is real and valid, even if you think it makes no sense at all.”

– Dr. Jane Gregory

Therapy for Misophonia

I have several loved ones in my life who experience misophonia and have learned how I can support them personally, and how to support others clinically. While there is no standard treatment for misophonia yet, there are strategies we can explore that have been supported by people and researchers with misophonia. Misophonia can be an isolating experience, but you don’t have to go through it alone.

In my approach to misophonia, I start by asking about your specific triggers so that I can avoid accidentally triggering you during our time together, to hopefully make counselling as safe a space as possible for you. I then try to understand how misophonia has affected your life, in whatever ways you feel comfortable sharing, and together, we can find ways to improve your well-being, day-to-day living, and coping.

This includes ways to cope before, during, and after triggers, formal or informal accommodations for school, work, home, and when out-and-about, and how to support your mental health in the meantime to improve your overall well-being and stress levels, which may increase your tolerance to triggers when they do happen. Exposure to triggers has not been found to improve tolerance to it (if it worked, then it would’ve by now), so exposure therapy is not something I’ll ever ask you to do or try.

I also realize that misophonia may be just one aspect of life, and that other things may be happening that you need support with, such as anxiety or depression, which some research shows can understandably co-occur. I trust in your inner wisdom to guide where we need to go, and am here to support you along the way.

Schedule a virtual (video/audio/phone) consultation to share what’s been on your mind and see if I feel like a good fit for you, or contact me with any questions you may have.