Hypnotherapy for Anxiety in Children
Hypnotherapy has been shown to be a very effective way of helping children to take control of their anxiety naturally. While it is impossible to tell exactly how many children are battling with mental health conditions such as anxiety, the Children’s Society estimates it is likely to be as many as 1 in 6. More worryingly they estimate that in the last 3 years, the likelihood of young people having a mental health problem has increased by 50%.
Hypnotherapy for anxiety in children – Bringing hope to all
Anxiety can have such a detrimental effect on both children’s mental and physical health, there is a well-documented link between the two. It’s very common for children to come to see me with anxiety which has meant that they suffer from headaches or stomach cramps. The great news is that once they have taken control of their anxious thoughts the physical symptoms disappear.
While the statistics concerning anxiety rates in children make grim reading, the great news is that they make excellent hypnotherapy clients. They have wonderful imaginations which makes hypnosis for children especially effective as they find it easy to use their minds to help them visualise and problem-solve.
What are some of the sypmtoms of anxiety in children?
It’s perfectly normal for children to feel anxious at certain times in their lives, such as joining a new school or performing in front of others. If however they regularly display any of the following symptoms then please get in touch as I’m confident I will be able to help them to overcome them.
- Finding it hard to concentrate
- Not eating properly
- Not sleeping well
- Quickly getting irritable or regularly losing their temper
- Constantly worrying or having negative thoughts
- Being clingy
- Regularly complaining of stomach aches or feeling sick
What is hypnosis for children?
Hypnosis is a perfectly natural daydreaming state that both children and adults go into many times during the day. It’s one of our brain’s ways of solving our day to day problems. You can probably remember a time when you were consciously trying hard to recall a particular name but no matter how hard you tried to remember it, you just couldn’t. It was only later when you were relaxed or thinking about something else that the name popped into your mind. To recall the name your brain went into trance, so hypnosis is just a way of your brain to come up with answers to problems you want solving.
The benefits of Solution Focused Hypnotherapy for children
A vast majority of the talk between myself and your child is problem free. Instead of analysing their problem, your child will spend time describing and imagining a time when their problem doesn’t exist. A solution focused approach means that our focus is on an imagined future, therefore your child has complete control over shaping their destination.
Whilst other forms of therapy are entirely focused on the problem, a solution focused approach automatically assumes that your child has all the strengths and resources necessary to move to this future they desire. Therefore, it automatically gives them control and agency which helps to fully engage them in their therapy.
Talking about the problem often just creates more anxiety, whereas talking about an imagined future actually creates new neural pathways in your child’s brain. Instead of living with worry and negative thoughts, all this positive talks helps their brains to think differently. Rather than being focused on their problem it begins to automatically look out for the positive things that are happening around them, therefore, lowering their anxiety levels.
A solution focused approach is so effective for children that it is the method that is used and recommended by The NSPCC. You can have access to their solution focused practice tool kit by using the highlighted link.
What parents say
What happens during a Solution Focused Hypnotherapy session?
Solution focused hypnotherapy can really be thought of as a process that if followed enables your child to live their life without anxious thoughts filling their mind. Our brains learn and change through repetition so our therapy sessions will always follow the same format.
First, we will discuss the positive things that have been happening in your child’s life since our last session and how that made them feel.
Then we will have a chat about what their hopes are for the therapy and their future. Using solution focused questions enables your child to start imagining a time when they are living free of their problem. Examples of questions include:
- Imagine being in a time machine that could take you into the future and when you stepped out all your worries have disappeared and your best hopes have happened, what would be the first thing you’d notice would be different?
- Imagine we had a staircase that has 10 steps and at step 10 all your worries have disappeared; what step are you on today? What’s going well so you know you’re not on a much lower step? What would be different if you were a step up?
- What’s been going better this week than last week?
Your child and hypnosis
Remember hypnosis is a perfectly natural problem-solving state. At the end of the session, I guide your child into a relaxed calmness. At this stage, during hypnosis, the part of your child’s brain that is usually very busy switches off allowing other parts of their brain to take the driving seat. Because we have just been talking about how they want to think, feel and act, when relaxed parts of their brains will be working hard to build up new pathways. Over a number of sessions due to the development of these new pathways, your child will no longer be troubled by their anxiety as they have a completely different outlook on their future.
What type of anxiety is Solution Focused Hypnotherapy suitable for?
It is possible to use solution focused hypnotherapy to successfully overcome any type of anxiety. Whatever type of anxiety your child currently has will not be present in the future that they imagine for themselves.
Examples of anxiety that I have successfully helped children to overcome include; disordered eating, separation anxiety, social anxiety, anxiety around attending school, fear of flying, fear of being sick, fear of choking, OCD and generalised anxiety.
Help for anxiety in children in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire
I am able to help children overcome their anxiety through a couple of different options. I offer face-to-face hypnotherapy sessions during the school day from my home address on the Hertfordshire/ Bedfordshire border. I have used hypnotherapy to help children from Hitchin, Letchworth and Stevenage but have also welcomed children from as far away as Milton Keynes and Cambridge.
Many parents see the value in taking their child out of school in order to attend therapy sessions and this has never been an issue with the school. It is viewed by the school in the same light as attending a medical appointment.
However, I can also see your child in the afternoon, evenings and weekends via Zoom. If you would like to find out more information on online hypnotherapy, please do so using the highlighted link.
How can I find out more about using hypnotherapy for anxiety in children?
Solution focused hypnotherapy is suitable for children above the age of 7. If you would like to find out more about how we can use hypnotherapy to enable your child to live a life free from the mental and physical symptoms of anxiety, please get in touch using this email link.
If you are ready to book a consultation please use the button below.