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Hypnotherapy and Children  |
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Hypnotherapy has a long history of helping with children's problems, beginning with Mesmer in 1779 who described how he helped a child with vision problems. For a long time it was thought that children could not be hypnotised but in the 1970's a series of studies showed that children are actually easier to hypnotise than adults and that hypnotherapy can be helpful with childhood behavioural and physical problems. Robert Schacter, a renowned clinical psychologist at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who has considerable experience in the use of hypnosis with children, has found that hypnosis works best with children from the age of 5 onwards. One area where hypnosis has proven quite valuable is in helping children manage painful or uncomfortable treatments, for example, regular injections or chemotherapy. I need to be clear about what I mean here; I am not suggesting that Hypnotherapy is an alternative to these treatments, but rather that children can be taught, often quite easily, to self hypnotise. This will help them to remain calm and to cope more easily with the discomforts sometimes associated with these vital treatments. Hypnotherapy can often help children to build self confidence or to eliminate unhelpful habits. My experiences as a mother and grandmother often give me an understanding of what both parent and child might be going through. If you think hypnosis may be helpful for a child in your life, you are welcome to contact me. I will be happy to advise.
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