In the spirit of full disclosure, let me state that I love kids. I'm a mother and a grandmother. I loved the baby stage (though not always the hours!) and the toddler stage right through to the interesting person stage. First words and garbled baby-talk are my favorite music. My grandchildren are 5 and 9 and I'm loving the big-kid fun we can have. I know, however, that being a kid can be tough, lots of things can happen that kids cannot control but have to tolerate as best they can. Hypnotherapy can be a big help and it has been my pleasure to help many, many children over the course of my career.
Hypnotherapy with children looks very different from the techniques we use with adults. I never have a child under ten or twelve just sit and close their eyes. There is no need because, as my first hypnosis instructor said, children are in trance most of the time anyway. If you think about children you know, you can see that their imagination is never far from the surface and they can follow you on flights of fancy without any difficulty at any time. Because their imagination is right there, they can access their unconscious minds very easily. We usually tell a story (or create one together) or do art or play an imaginative game.
Because children can access their unconscious minds so easily, the work tends to go very quickly, with one or two sessions being the norm. If other issues surface as the first issue resolves, it only takes another session or two to address that as well. Children gain new ways of doing things, whether something like waking up dry or comfort with injections, quickly and then they can enjoy their lives more.
You might be wondering why a child would come to see a hypnotherapist. It's a fair question. I see children for a wide range of issues. Some kids may have a habit that causes them or those around them distress, such as thumb-sucking or nail biting or hair-pulling. Sometimes children are fearful of certain things. Examples are animals, school, new situations, or medical situations. Some children wet the bed or have trouble falling asleep or forget things they need to know. All of these and many more issues can be addressed with hypnotherapy.
So, in short, hypnotherapy is a great choice for most children with most issues. It's quick, less costly (due to having fewer sessions and often a lower price per session) and and very easy. it's also fun!
