Monday 2 June 2014

Hypnosis for Children


Hypnosis has a proven track-record for being effective in addressing common childhood concerns.    
Children tend to be naturally responsive to hypnosis thanks, in part, to their active imagination and their openness to try new experiences.

Some examples of effective use of hypnosis in children include academic performance, bedwetting, and sleep problems. These topics were chosen to highlight some of the research in areas of concern for many parents.      

·       Academic performance

o   Hypnosis was used with 13 and 14-year olds to help with exam anxiety and resulted in a significant drop in test anxiety and 10-15% increase in academic performance. http://medind.nic.in/daa/t11/i2/daat11i2p337.pdf

·       Bedwetting

o   Hypnosis was useful in achieving dry beds in 72% for children aged from 5 to 16-years after one month and had a 68% success rate 9 months later. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8259762 

o   Hypnosis was significantly effective in helping with nocturnal enuresis in boys aged from 8-13 years over a 6 month period. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1985.tb01635.x/abstract

o   Hypnosis was effective in helping 75% (9 out of 12) 8 to 16-year-old boys with nocturnal bedwetting. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14983195

·       Sleep Issues

o   In a study of 70 children as young as 7-years-old, 90% of the children experiencing delay of sleep onset reported a reduction in the amount of time to fall asleep.  Of 21 children who reported nighttime awakenings, 52% reported a resolution of the awakenings and 38% reported less awakenings following hypnosis. 87% of the children who had “body issues” (ex: chest pains, habit cough), reported an improvement or resolution of these problems.  http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2431/6/23

o   Four children, between 8-12 years, with sleep-terrors underwent hypnosis.  After 2-3 years, the children remained asymptomatic. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1580230

o   Thirty-six clients, aged between 6-71 years, used hypnosis for parasomnia (sleep disorders including bed-wetting, sleep walking, night terrors, chronic movements).  45.4% were free from parasomnia one month after hypnosis, 42.4% after 18-months and 40.5% were symptom free after five years.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1978312/

Naturally, there are many more areas where the use of hypnosis is applicable, including ADD/ADHD, sports performance, fears/phobias (including fear of the dark), nail biting, thumb sucking, teeth grinding, hair pulling, pain control and so on. Please note that a Doctor’s referral will be required for many of these issues to ensure that hypnosis is appropriate, not contraindicated and that the causes of the issues are not physiological.

Hypnosis is also a wonderful tool in helping parents and caregivers adjust or cope with the responsibilities of balancing family, work and other responsibilities.  In our hectic lives, we oftentimes forget to give ourselves the care we deserve.  Hypnosis can offer stress reduction strategies, self-confidence/self-esteem or other coping skills that are essential for the parent.

For more information about children and hypnosis, please feel free to visit: http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/hypnosis.htm
Derrick Barnes

    

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