First Misophonia Clinic of 2026 Offers Coping Tips

It was my first clinic with the association since joining as the office and communications manager, working just a few hours each week. Of those who took the post-event survey, it was also a first for 89 percent of the attendees! We had people from coast to coast, as well as from Canada, England, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, and Singapore. 

Jaffe and Barrick opened the meeting by summarizing their backgrounds, which were quite different. Jaffe, a co-founder and board member of the Misophonia Association, has worked worldwide with hundreds of people with misophonia and written a guidebook to help train therapists to work with sound-sensitive patients. Barrick specializes in misophonia and trauma healing and also authored a book. She suffered for 25 years with misophonia, but has been free of any flight-or-flight reactions since 2018, crediting it to a memory reconsolidation experience where her nervous system unlearned her triggers as threats.

John Smoot, board member and treasurer for the Misophonia Association, served as the clinic’s host. Since more than 70 questions were submitted in advance by participants, Smoot carefully grouped similar questions to ensure as many as possible could be answered during the session. 

There were two very important themes that kept surfacing in the clinic: validation and practice. Many people with misophonia have led lives of isolation, especially before a diagnosis. Understanding what they have is real has a huge impact on their well being, as does being accepted by family, friends, classmates, and colleagues. As far as practice goes, we all know the saying, “practice makes perfect.” When it comes to gaining relief, the more you can practice coping/regulation skills before having that trigger, the more successful you will be. 

I hope you can find a new calm with one or more of the many strategies described. I’ll share expert and lived experience tips relayed in the Zoom chat by participants and Dr. Marsha Johnson, founder of the Misophonia Association.

Jump to Selected Questions and Answers

How Age Affects Misophonia

Jaffe pointed out that misophonia has only been recognized for about 25 years. “Kids today are in a better position. They will have more resources and knowledge available.” She said if you are older than 25, you likely have additional triggers. “You had no help. You were considered a brat, insensitive, or rude. People didn’t know. You had more suffering and more years to build up an increased agitation over things you had no control over.” Smoot, now in his 50s, understood her words perfectly. Having lived with misophonia since his teenage years, his triggers worsened. Now that he knows more, he has built more skills and can better cope. 

A chat participant agreed, “Dr. Jaffe’s point is so meaningful– the validation is crucial. My dad struggled his whole life and passed away in 2011. I was teased for being like him… now I can advocate for myself better at 50+.”

Barrick shared that during life stages involving significant hormonal shifts — such as puberty, the postpartum period, and menopause — individuals may notice changes in sensory sensitivity and emotional reactivity. She also emphasized that the way misophonia evolves across the lifespan varies from person to person.

Practice Your Skills

When you use coping tools is not just when you’re triggered. The speakers emphasized the need to practice the skills when you are calm as it will help you increase tolerance and avoid being overwhelmed. 

Barrick painted a visual picture of this idea: Practice in the shallow end of the pool before you head to the deep end. Directly tying into the clinic’s theme, this idea is the single most important one. Practice the tools during moments of smaller activation/distress – such as with mildly annoying sounds or with anticipatory anxiety – when you’re more likely to experience a decrease in distress when using them. Then they will be easier to remember and benefit from in bigger moments of distress, when there’s some “muscle memory” already in place.

Mindset and coping patterns also play an important role. If you are operating out of fear or avoidance of sounds, you can be making yourself more vulnerable. If you are seeking ways to take care of your nervous system and building more skills, it will likely get more manageable.

“In the Moment” Tools

When you’re in the middle of a trigger, logic tends to go out the window. The clinic focused on tools you can use right at that moment, when your nervous system is activated and you just need help getting through it.

• Carry a pack of gum. When a gum chewer triggers you, politely ask, “Would you consider taking this pack of gum in return for not chewing any while we are here together?”
• Offer tissues. When someone is sniffling, kindly offer, “Would this tissue be helpful to you?”
• Employ breathing techniques. Breathe in through your nose, then slowly out through your mouth.
  • Jaffe also described what she calls “magic breathing” with kids. Inhale, then exhale even more. She said the brain’s chemistry shifts when this action is taken. Practice throughout the day, perhaps every time you pick up your phone.
• Use cold stimulation. Cold is calming to the nervous system. Carry ice water for drinking or even holding or placing it on the palm of your hand or cheek. Hold on to a piece of ice.
  • At home, try cold packs on your lap (e.g., dinnertime, family movie time) or an ice roller on your face.
  • On an airplane, ask for a cup of ice.
• Activate gentle touch. Try crossing your arms and brushing down or moving your hands in a washing motion. Massage your hands, feet, or ears. Learn about the Havening Touch. 
  • At home, use a massage roller on your arms or thighs, and focus on the tool’s sensation. Try a head massage tool. 
• Draw an imaginary “X,” closing in the top and bottom to create a lazy 8. Trace it one way, then reverse. Try it on your thighs or arms.
• Tense and relax muscles. Focus on tension and relaxation in your hands and toes. Push your feet into the floor or your palms into your thighs. The contrast between tensing and relaxing helps the nervous system relax.
• Be kind to yourself. Try a positive internal dialogue with phrases like the following: I’m safe, I’m in control, I can make it 5 more minutes. Jaffe said you can also remind yourself that the irritating person is not doing anything wrong or on purpose. If they are sniffling due to allergies or illness, they really can’t help it, for example.  
• Use noise-reduction tools such as specialized earplugs or noise-canceling headphones. 
• Step away from the situation. Take a break and leave the room. 
• Ask the person committing the irritation with caution and always with extreme kindness, “Would/could you… Is it possible…” Not everyone asked will take the request seriously. 

After Being Triggered

Some of the strategies above can still help once you’re out of the immediate moment. However, if your body is still revved up and having trouble calming down, these additional tips might help: 

• Immerse your face in a cold bowl of water for a few seconds. 
• Press one finger from each hand on a piece of ice until they feel cold. Then place those fingers at the tops of your cheeks and keep them there while you take a deep breath. Hold it, bend over, and take a deep breath. Hold your breath and bend over for a few moments.
• Learn how to tap on your meridian points.

Special Notes for Helping a Child

It’s especially difficult when you are the primary trigger for your own child, yet it is the most common scenario. The most important thing to remember is that it is not personal. Some tips for helping your child cope after a trigger include putting an arm around them for support or having them sit with a weighted stuffed animal. If school is challenging, make sure to offer them a break from triggering sounds a few hours each day so that their nervous system can calm down. Have them practice relaxation techniques during that time. You can also request accommodations at school to make things easier for your misophonic child. (View our Helpful Guides page.) 

An even greater challenge is when the trigger is the parent’s voice. If you find yourself in that situation, try these unique interaction methods. 

• Text or designate a special journal to pass back and forth. I’ve created some special memories journaling like this with my daughter.
• Participate in non-verbal activities and games (e.g., charades, walking, watching a favorite show).
• Engage in movement. Walk and talk at the mall or some other larger space.
• Toss a ball from a distance and communicate.
• If you have two languages spoken in the household, sometimes there are fewer issues with one of the languages. 
• Determine if the irritation can be narrowed down to certain words or sounds, and try to adapt or be more careful with those.
• Prioritize time in the day when your child is typically less irritable.
• Have the child write a story of how the main character overcomes bothersome noise.

For the youngest children (under 10 years old), consider therapy, but don’t lead with needing someone who is familiar with misophonia. Find someone who can help your child with distress tolerance, emotion processing, and nervous system regulation. Art therapy and drawing have been effective for some.  

A Few More Tools 

The helpful tips haven’t ended yet. Here are a few more, including some from the chat: 

• Make wellness a priority. Make sure you get sufficient sleep, practice self compassion, and exercise. All of these play into the tolerance you exhibit. 
• Place sensory stickers with bumpy edges on your phone or laptop case. 
• Carry a stress cube or stress ball in your purse or backpack. 
• Avoid sound proofing your environment. Attempting to bypass triggers altogether can actually amplify sensitivity and increase reactivity. 
• Create a defensive misophonia kit for yourself, including corn nuts, gum, and noise-canceling headphones or earplugs.
• Filter some sounds while still in conversation with loop plugs.
• Try dark sunglasses to help with visual triggers.
• Offer therapy or support groups to teenagers.
• Use white noise apps or box fans.
• Check out the Misophonia Association’s online provider list.  

Helping Others Understand 

To help family and friends understand your condition, recommend the documentary “Quiet Please” —or, at a minimum, the trailer. (The documentary is not recommended for people with misophonia.)

If a loved one’s sound has been triggering your misophonia and you’ve waited to say something, it’s still okay to share—understanding makes a difference. Communication in any relationship is really important. Jaffe said partners have likely already picked up on the stress, so letting them know, using a lot of “I” statements, will help. She offered a sample script, “This will sound crazy. We’ve known each other for so long. I’m working on handling my misophonia, and I could use your help. This {person’s irritating sound} is very hard on me. I wonder if we could work something out. Could you do that in a separate room? That would be really helpful.”

The meeting concluded with Dr. Marsha Johnson inviting participants to consider making a donation. She explained that the support provided by the Misophonia Association is made possible through these regular contributions. She requested, “If you have an appreciation for today, please tell us and please give.” The next annual convention, MisoCon26, was also announced and will be held Oct. 22-24 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Selected Questions and Answers

The first question asked at the clinic was if the speakers thought there would be a cure. They agreed that it was unlikely there would be one cure for misophonia, as there are believed to be multiple causes. Since the theme of the clinic was about coping tools, that was where most of the content stayed. A few of the more loaded questions have been selected for this last section.

How do I help myself from lashing out when noises anger me? I have suffered for 43 years. What advice do you have for me when my lid is flipped, and I desperately want to regain control, but I feel panicked and unable to cope?

Barrick: If you leave that moment and are still very activated, you have some more options. She described the “diving reflex.” Fill a bowl of cold water, take a breath, hold it, and submerge. Dunk your face in the water and just hold it there for a few seconds, and then lift your face up. Again, let your breath go. Another less extreme version is to place one finger from each hand on a piece of ice. Then place those fingers on the cheeks. Hold them there while you take a deep breath. Barrick recommended speaking to a doctor before using these methods if you have a heart condition or take beta blockers. 

Jaffe: If you can give yourself the opportunity to learn some ways that work for you, to calm yourself down, center yourself, relax your neurological system, relax your body, it will help. She returned to the list of tools shared throughout the clinic and again to Sara’s advice: practice these tools while in the shallow end of the pool.

Jaffe and Barrick had a lot more to say about this particular question, emphasizing the practice of strategies to widen your window of tolerance in the moment. The following list details the additional tools suggested:

• Havening touch
• Emotional freedom technique, tapping on the meridian points 
• Touch from a partner or parent to the child– arm around or hold them close
• Weight can be regulating to the nervous system if you have a pet– or use a weighted stuffed animal
• Hold one weight with each arm
• Bilateral stimulation music used with headphones or earpieces 
• Vergence technique to refocus
• Pay attention to something else. Think about the person across the room, the chair you are sitting on, and the floor under your feet. 

Practice the skills outside of the misophonia moment. Again, this idea was central theme.

How can you prevent new triggers?

Jaffe: Notice what you are paying attention to. People with misophonia tend to be suggestive. It’s like when you’re looking for a new car and you all of a sudden, you notice the brand all over. It was always there. When you hear someone else talk about something that bothers them, quickly dismiss it.

Barrick: I call it the guard dog… the lower part of your brain is like, should I pay attention to that? No, pay attention to your breath, to this cold thing, the chair beneath you. Consciously choose a different path. Sometimes, with my guard dog, I have to tell him, drop it. Drop it. But don’t shame yourself for having the thought. 

What do you do when you’re faced with frequent sounds in your neighborhood when you can’t escape your own home? 

Barrick: Try reframing the sounds: This is the sound of connection…They’re having a meeting…It’s a temporary thing. Use the tools to support the nervous system: breath, background noise, movement, cold, self-talk. Plant the seed for the next moment, “Maybe we don’t have to get as activated.” If you’re focusing on the doom and gloom, you’re actually reinforcing the sound as a threat and hence the need for the fight-or-flight response.

Jaffe: One way I approach this. Make two lists: one of things you can change and one you cannot. You could try leaving a note or confronting someone. If you truly cannot do anything, do everything you can to calm your system. Analyze your self-talk, consider how “true” the thoughts are, and make adjustments. Often, the thoughts are catastrophizing, adding too much weight. Watch out for words like always, never, 24/7. We believe what we tell ourselves; that’s why placebos work. 

Some communities have more rules with the Homeowners Associations, so you could check for anything there that could help you with things like loud music or barking dogs.

What can I do to support my partner when she has been triggered in a public area? How do I make her feel safe?

Barrick: Ask her what would be most helpful. It might involve holding/offering a hand, providing some ice water, or putting your arm around her. 

When thinking about treatment methods like hypnotherapy, meditation, neurofeedback, or music therapy, which are most proven?

Jaffe: A lot of different approaches have been taken but there is not one proven way for everyone at this time. Having someone who understands misophonia, or is willing to try, is helpful. A combination of more than one approach might be the most effective.