Treatment of a case of school phobia by reciprocal inhibition.
Behaviour therapy by reciprocal inhibition was undertaken on a moderately severe case of school phobia in an 11-year-old boy after an adequate trial of conventional therapy had failed to bring about lasting improvement. A fairly accurate estimate of expended therapy time follows: First admission to day-school (January 1964): Five initial sessions (30 minutes each) of relaxation by hypnosis. Eighteen sessions (20-30 minutes each) of reciprocal inhibition therapy, presenting an average of four hierarchies per session. Second admission to day-school (September 1964): Fifteen sessions (20-30 minutes each) of reciprocal inhibition therapy, presenting an average of seven hierarchies per session. This form of therapy was undertaken as a learning experience by the author and its very good results are in no way meant to imply that one approach is superior to another. Rather, this paper was prepared as a plea for tolerance on the part of all who concern themselves with the treatment of emotionally disturbed persons.
Chapel
J L
JL
Child Psychiatry Dept., University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012574:Schools