Pediatric Hypnotherapy
Transforming children’s lives through their imaginations.
I’m beginning to experience additional footfall in my therapy room in Castle just lately. Smaller feet, lighter on their toes but burdened with the weight of the world on their shoulders. Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about Children.
Children from about the age of five or so, are particularly responsive to hypnotherapy. They are in a trance like state already, tend to have much more vivid imaginations than adults, and learn a lot about how they can emotionally regulate through the exercises and metaphors we use in the sessions.
Hypnotherapy can be particularly supportive with children refusing school, developing unwanted patterns or habits, and general anxiety-related issues.
Our Kids are pretty stressed all the time and may need even more skills in self-care than the current home and school environment can reasonably provide. Children are getting bossed around all the time being told what to do, at home, school, and across the various clubs and activities they are signed up for. Sometimes, behaviours can develop that are non-sensical or irrational to the adult brain but that may be totally reasonable ways to control emerging and difficult or scary thoughts that the child can have as they continue their development. Parents can often forget about this aspect of their child’s viewpoint.
Cross-check all this against the emerging effects from the pandemic on their emotional and social experiences, and we have a perfect storm brewing that the current mental health services and our schools are struggling to navigate as they need to ration the resources they have, and demand has risen sky-high.
Once we know what the problem is then it can be far more productive to show the child via metaphor, imagery, and breathing techniques that are turned into games that there are solutions that are not necessarily related to the problem. These solutions can be learned through the body (breathing exercises) and imagery. Language patterns and stories are the mainstay of the sessions and children and parents leave feeling more positive and with the tools to cope with their emotions.
Children are very suggestible and respond well to these types of therapy. This might include, super-hero work, therapeutic art techniques, and guided visualisations. Older teens can often be open to these techniques too and the therapy can be adapted as they are already much more sophisticated in their thinking already.
The benefits of hypnosis for your child can be transformative. It can help with anxiety, stress, bed wetting, phobias, and pain management, and can even improve focus and self-esteem. It has also been used to overcome stammers and reduce blushing.
Of course, all children are unique and sessions can sometimes be chaotic, anarchic, and a bit bonkers! The effects however can be long-lasting, positive, and empowering.
Book your child in for a free 30-minute session to see if we can work together on THIS LINK
