A Series of Single Case Design Clinical Evaluations of an Ericksonian Hypnotic Intervention Used with Clinical Anxiety

This article describes three single case design evaluations of an Ericksonian hypnotic intervention used with anxiety problems. The first study, carried out in a community mental health center, involved a 17-year-old female high school student experiencing problems classifiable under DSM-III criteria as "agoraphobia with panic attacks" and "generalized anxiety" and utilized an integration of a withdrawal and an alternating treatments single case design. The second study, also carried out in a community mental health center, involved a 39-year-old woman experiencing difficulties classifiable as "agoraphobia with panic attacks." This study employed an A-B1-B2-B3-B2 single case design. In these two studies the treatment variable was manipulated as if it were "withdrawable." The third study, in which the treatment variable was manipulated as if it were not withdrawable, involved a 76-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man. The woman was experiencing difficulties classifiable under DSM-III criteria as "agoraphobia with panic attacks." The young man experienced difficulties classifiable as "panic disorder" and "generalized anxiety disorder." The third study employed a multiple baseline across subjects and A-B single case designs. The possible causal role played by the Ericksonian hypnotic intervention is discussed in light of the convergence of results and the methodological limitations of each of the clinical studies. Possible characteristics of the treatment variable are also discussed.