NOVEMBER 2011 Volume 39, Number 2, Article 2
THE USE OF HYPNOSIS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF NEEDLE PHOBIA
Charlotte Weigold, Psychologist, Adelaide
Hypnosis was used in the management of anxiety for a 15-year-old girl who had developed a fear of needles originating from a negative experience during the first of a series of three school vaccinations. A treatment approach incorporating hypnosis within a cognitive therapy framework was designed and implemented to achieve a successful outcome. Age regression and progression were utilised to acknowledge, harness, and then practise the desired response and post-hypnotic suggestion enabled these lessons to be generalized and applied to other aspects of the client’s experience.