USE OF IN VIVO AND IN VITRO DESENSITIzATION IN THE TREATMENT OF MOUSE PHOBIA: REVIEW AND CASE STUDY

This is a case study of a 45-year-old woman with severe mouse phobia. She had developed the phobia at the age of 10 and this had been due to the fact that her mother had also been phobic of mice. She sought treatment because her phobia had worsened over the last two years, and the fear of suddenly coming across a mouse had caused an avoidance reaction at work. The treatment was a multi-modal approach combining imaginal exposure in hypnosis with in vivo desensitization, both approaches using a hierarchy of scenarios. The therapist also used props to encourage her to view the mouse as a ‘friendly’ object, as well as pictures of cartoon mice and real mice. Gradually, the woman became desensitized to mice and, after five sessions, having held two dead mice in her hand, made a complete recovery. This improvement was maintained at six-month follow-up.