The Effectiveness of Ego-state Therapy in Reducing Trypanophobia

Abstract

A phobia is an excessive fear of something or a phenomenon. Phobias can be considered to hinder the lives of people who suffer from them, and one of them is trypanophobia, an extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles. The symptoms of trypanophobia can greatly disrupt a person’s quality of life, both physically and psychologically. Phobia sufferers cannot heal themselves and so they must be assisted by therapists who are competent in their field. One of the therapeutic techniques that can help cure phobia sufferers is ego-state therapy. This therapy enables the respondents’ underlying states to be allocated to all ego states that contribute to trypanophobia and to be expressed, released, and empowered. The research objective here is to analyze the effectiveness of ego-state therapy in reducing trypanophobia. This research uses single-subject design A-B-A-B with 9 medical patients acting as respondents. The instruments used are observation, interview, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale Modification Inventory. Data obtained were analyzed used the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The results of the study found that ego-state therapy can reduce trypanophobia. On the basis of this finding, this therapy can be one alternative treatment in the reduction of trypanophobia.