Re:Hypnosis and phobia

Phobias in treatment can be handled differently depending on the other social factors involved. However, if there are no complications to worry about, phobias can often be cured rather quickly with techniques as simple as visual reheasal of the previously phobic event, while the hypnosis has arranged for comfort and/or dissociation to be held constant for the client, and ending with simple post hypnotic suggestion.

Similar visual rehearsals with stabilized comfort have been shown in research by Meichinbaum to be more useful that systematic desensitization. Look in Meichenbaum, D. (1977). "Cognitive behavior modification: An integrative approach." New York: Plenum Press.

Other library referrences to seek:

Erickson himself only has a few indexed referrences to phobia. You can find these in libraries in the Collected Papers of Milton H. Erickson, M.D. (Ernest Rossi, editor). Look for Vol. 3 pp. 231 and an article titled: "The permanent relief of an obsessional phobia by means of communications with an unsespected dual personality".

Also find Vol. 2 and a couple of mentions on pages 147, 153, 189, 280, and 170f. However, these involve his experiments with sensory alterations...like helping to create a phobia experimentally by suggestions that resulted in an olfactory adversion to the animals. (This is with students who gave permission for experiments, of course).
They do not involve details of curing one.

And find Vol. 4, pp 413 for "Patient E" who had a mild phobia or water fountains. He used age regression and pseudo-orientation in time to help. HOwever this was ont the main focus of the session.

William Kroger, M.D.'s work on hypnobehavior cure to phobia (and for that matter a good source to find referrence to many many other authors on any subject in hypnosis) can be found in most any of Kroger's books.

And Finally, the "Journal of Clinical Hypnosis" and "Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis" should be in libraries. I don't have an index for them here...but a card catalog pionting to anything in those will be useful.

You may find a chapter of mine of interest in Rachelle Dorfman's book "Paradigms of Clinical Social Work, Vol 2" (1998). The chapter is 'Ericksonian Approaches in Soical Work'.

Finally, you asked about hypnosis in general in a way that is well address by Michael Yapko, Ph.D. in many of his books like: Trancework (1990) and any of his followup texts.

Hope that helps.

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