research



Previous editions of Uncle Lightfoot Flip That Switch have been tested, with the first studies conducted at the University of West Florida under the supervision of Dr. William Mikulas and a later study conducted at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Ollendick. Two additional studies were conducted in Europe that also suggested the usefulness of Uncle Lightfoot in helping dark-fearful children.


One small study of phobic children ages 5 to 7 at Virginia Tech led by Dr. Krystal Lewis and Dr. Kaushal Amatya and supervised by Dr. Thomas Ollendick found that an earlier version of Uncle Lightfoot, Flip That Switch, significantly reduced fear of the dark in 89% of the subjects, ages 5 to 7. The treatment period was for only four weeks of treatments, a far less time period than the typical 8 to 16 weeks, used to treat phobias by Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT) through individual therapy. The author recommends that the book be used with children for eight or more weeks.



Thomas H. Ollendick, PhD



Thomas H. Ollendick, PhD, is University Distinguished Professor in Clinical Psychology and Director of the Child Study Center at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is the Editor of Behavior Therapy and founding Co-Editor of Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. Dr. Ollendick has authored or coauthored numerous books and research publications. His clinical and research interests include diverse forms of child psychopathology and their assessment, treatment, and prevention from a social learning/social cognitive theory perspective. Dr. Ollendick has conducted a number of studies on One-Session Treatment, an approach that uses individual therapists to successfully treat specific phobias in a single 2 to 3 hour session, followed by a month of homework assignments.





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