Children are ideal candidates for hypnotherapy. From the moment of birth until the onset of puberty a child is in hypnosis or "waking trance" 75% of the day. ( Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy With Children, Karen Olness, M.D., G. Gail Gardner, Ph.D: Grune & Stratton, 1988, second edition.) Common applications with children include ,but are not limited to: bed wetting; nail biting; thumb sucking; eating disorders; school phobias; habit modification or elimination; sports performance, etc . I use hypnotherapy with children from about ages 4 through 19. Hypnosis with younger children is different than hypnosis with teenagers.
Since a young child would not understand what hypnosis is, we do "let's pretend magic sleep". I have the parents encourage the children to bring in any magic tricks that they may know and I have magic tricks that I use at the hospital. This is the beginning of rapport building with a child patient. After I meet the child I make a list of the best friends, pets, favorite cartoon or movie characters, and characters in favorite books.
This material is used in the inductions. The same basic five techniques mentioned earlier are used with children too, i.e., types of suggestions, visualizations, etc. When working with small children you use their language. The length of time in trance is shorter as well. I recently treated a young man who only ate certain foods. He had read all four of the Harry Potter novels. I did a TV induction and had him visit Harry's home for a cookout. His favorite characters from the novels were at the cookout too. Naturally Harry and the other fictional kids ate the foods that this young patient wanted to learn to enjoy ( visuals ). Harry gives some advice to the patient on how the patient can overcome his eating problems. The patient saw himself eating and enjoying the new foods!
Hypnotherapy with teenagers is more like therapy with adults than with young children. I have worked with many teens for sports hypnosis, self-confidence, testing anxiety, social skill development, improving memory, academic organization, etc As with adults I make an audio tape for all children, regardless of age. No one is sure as to exactly how long post- hypnotic suggestions last, so the tape is used until the new behavior replaces the old performance. When working with children it is critical to have the parents totally involved and supportive. Parents are strong authority figures to their children, and will follow the parents' disposition about hypnosis.
by Ted Benton, MED, C.I
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