Hypnosis in the Desensitization of Fears of Dying 1 S.R. Hamburg Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy, http://pcsp.libraries.rutgers.edu Volume 2, Module 2, Article 1, pp. 1-30, 05-11-06 [copyright by author] Hypnosis in the Desensitization of Fears of Dying SAM R. HAMBURG a,b a Independent Practice, University of Chicago’s Pritzer School of Medicine, Family Institute of Northwestern University b Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sam R. Hamburg, Ph.D., P.C., 79 W. Monroe Street, Suite 1311, Chicago, IL 60603 Email:
[email protected] _________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT This paper describes two cases in which hypnosis was successfully used, in the context of an integrative approach to therapy, to treat pathologically obsessive fears of death. The hypnotic interventions employed in each case are described in detail. The cases illustrate how hypnotherapy can be adapted to clients with widely differing clinical contexts and demographics, with one involving a 40-year-old African-American man (Lawrence), and the other, a 36-year- old white woman (Betty). The latter case illustrates how clinical knowledge, transmitted via a published case of Milton Erickson’s, provided the author the idea for developing a novel solution to the client’s pressing clinical problem. Key words: obsessive fear of death; hypnosis; hypnotherapy; multimodal therapy ________________________________________________________________________ 1. CASE CONTEXT AND METHOD The Cases The two cases presented here have in common their presenting problem: pathological fear of dying. (Note that the names and other identifying characteristics of the clients have been disguised to preserve their anonymity; and both clients gave their permission to have their case written up for publication.) In both cases, hypnosis, within the broader framework of an integrative behavioral/experiential approach to therapy, is the treatment technique that seems to have helped.