Thyer, B. A. (1999).
Was Carl Jung a behavior analyst?
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
32, 533.
Although Ron Chernov's (1998) recent biography of John D.
Rockefeller, Sr. is an interesting book in its own right,
behavior analysts might find the following account of how
psychoanalyst Carl Jung treated one of his patients informative,
particularly in the light of contemporary approaches to treating
phobic disorders using successive approximations in real-life
contexts. On December 20, Harold [one of Rockefeller's sons]
sailed back to America without Edith [Harold's wife]. Beyond her
veneration for Jung, she was immobilized by a travel phobia that
made even brief train trips unbearable torments. The severity of
her fears can be gleaned from a gossipy account written by her
Zurich chauffeur, Emil Ammann, who was driven to distraction by
her antics.... The chauffeur played a pivotal role in the
therapy to cure her travel phobia. Jung recommended that Edith
board a train and travel as far as she could; sometimes, however,
she sprang from the train in terror before it even left the
station. But if she could stave off the terror and stay aboard,
Ammann would speed ahead in the Rolls-Royce and meet her at the
next station; if she felt secure enough to go on, she waved from
the train window and he raced to the next station. Sometimes
these grueling exercises lasted three hours, leaving both Edith
and Ammann exhausted. (Chernov, 1998, pp. 599-600)
REFERENCES Chernov, R. (1998). Titan: The life of John D.
Rockefeller, Sr. New York: Random House.