Using Hypnotherapy with Children
‘ A Few of the Things I ’ ve Learned Along the Way in 20 Years of Hypnotherapy with Children ’ by Lynda Hudson
I ’ m often asked for advice on using hypnotherapy with children by therapists new to the field . Sometimes they are looking for general advice and sometimes they ’ re looking for the magic answer to the more ‘ tricky ’ issues . These might include selective eating , withholding stools , or maybe difficult , disruptive behaviour in the classroom to name but a few . But the truth is that there is no one magic answer . The actual answer is that how you treat them really depends on the particular child and their individual needs and personality .
Treat the child in front of you … don ’ t just treat the problem
But of course I do also offer a whole variety of ideas and different approaches to take , possible interventions to carry out , activities that have generally worked really well and new ideas that I am still developing . In fact , each question really demands a workshop of its own ! But the truth of the matter is that however much I may know theoretically and experientially about a particular problem , the way I choose to treat one particular child will usually be very different from how I treat another . While this is of course also true with adults , somehow it seems easy to fall into the trap of believing that children will all respond in the same way !
Capture their interest
Of course , capturing the interest of any client whatever their age is vital , but I would say that one of the major differences I ’ ve found in working with young children is that there is less time to decide exactly how you will do it . Sessions with children move along quite quickly . In a funny kind of way it ’ s a bit similar to capturing someone ’ s interest when they land on your website … apparently we have about 4 to 8 seconds to ‘ get ’ them before they hop off to someone else ’ s site !