Hypnosis for children: safe techniques, when to use, contraindications

The first hypnotic therapy for children was carried out in the 19th century. Since then, the technique has been gaining popularity. Experts say that from the age of 7 years the mind is most susceptible to suggestion. In a trance state, it is easier to change the child’s destructive attitudes to positive ones, which will help him cope with problems. Technology can also help you get rid of harmful tendencies: excessive use of the computer, the habit of biting your nails, etc.

Using hypnotherapy

Parents need to understand that hypnosis for children is not a solution to every problem. The efforts made by the hypnotist will not replace treatment with medications for acute somatic diseases. Hypnotherapy should not be used if the child has mental problems.

The hypnotic method of treatment is distinguished from other psychological methods by its obvious advantages.

He has proven himself excellent in resolving problems of the psychological, psycho-emotional and behavioral spectrum. Experts recommend child hypnosis in cases of:

with negative habits, for example, a child bites his nails;
to solve problems that affect concentration, attentiveness, and memory;
with difficulties in communicating with other children;
for fears associated with educational activity: anxiety before exams;
with obvious phobias: fear of heights, darkness;
after traumatic events: parental divorce, death of a pet;
for daytime activity disorders: unjustified manifestation of aggression;
when addicted to games.

Advantages over drug treatment

The increasingly popular method of child and adolescent hypnosis is characterized by the reliability of the techniques. Typically, most young patients are afraid of medical influences, especially vaccinations, but children have no misconceptions or phobias about hypnotherapy: many children feel good during the therapy process.

Another advantage of children's hypnotherapy is its lasting results.

When treating phobias and fears with anxiolytics, the effect occurs immediately, but the drugs do not work for a long time. Unlike the use of medications, the result obtained after the hypnosis process not only remains for a long time, but also completely eliminates the problem. A big plus of hypnotic therapy is the complete absence of harmful side effects. This fact becomes the main evidence for parents in choosing hypnotic therapy as a method of treating their child. However, they must realize that the responsibility for child hypnosis lies not only with the hypnotist himself, but also with them.

The following benefits of child hypnosis can be highlighted:

reliability of methods;
durability of the result;
troubleshooting;
no side effects.

The Limits of Hypnotherapy

In childhood, fantasy is considered especially developed, so it is much easier to hypnotize a child’s brain. This type of exposure is good for getting rid of phobias or bad habits. In such cases, special exercises are carried out related to suggestion using images: the child’s association with the habit is attached to negative ones.

The difficulty is that preschoolers and schoolchildren (from 7 to 9 years old) cannot express their thoughts adequately and holistically. Children are not able to understand phenomena themselves, clarify details and describe things that they are afraid of, and cannot clearly express their own anxieties. Because of this, hypnotherapy is not used to treat children under 7 years of age. This age limit is an extremely arbitrary concept, because the formation and development of the brain occurs at an individual pace for everyone.

The use of hypnosis is possible in cases where it is necessary to help children establish a strong contact and relationship between the therapist and the patient.

The young patient should not have fear; he should absolutely trust the hypnologist who will treat him. The child needs to understand, the doctor is frank with him, worries about what is happening in his inner world and wants to do only one thing: help him. The success of the procedure depends on the personality of the hypnotherapist, his pedagogical skills and actions, but the process of child hypnosis itself is also important.

Lullaby, or Ericksonian hypnosis for children

Once, on a dare, I put a crowd of five raging children aged from one to seven to bed and “fell asleep” in 10 minutes.

At that time I discovered and vigorously studied Ericksonian hypnosis and tried it on various harmlessly useful examples. We were at a birthday party then, all family, all with children. The adults are having fun, so they don’t lag behind, and sometimes even outpace their children in the next room. Time flies - it’s already late evening. The situation is familiar to everyone - if “youth go too far,” there will be a sea of tears and nerves. And I suggested (without revealing secrets) to put the children to bed, all of them at once. They looked at me like I was crazy, to put it mildly, with surprise. The arguments that I am well over twenty and have a lot of experience did not add to my optimism. Then I offered to bet... and I won!

This “secret” procedure consists of three parts: preparation, relieving physical tension, and most importantly - the story itself, built according to the three rules of the storyteller-Erickson-hypnotist (hint: you will need a lot of words about warmth and peace, repetitions, special breathing and pauses) .

Of course, maybe this is an accident and I was just lucky. Therefore, I hope that you will check it personally and tell me - “does it work?”

I'll start right away with the most interesting.

The third part. She is, in fact, the key. It starts with choosing a fairy tale or song. For us, it doesn’t matter what kind of fairy tale it will be. It is important for you to remember that no matter what your fairy tale-song is called, you can change its content during the story as you wish. And we will need it.

Start with yourself. Take a deep breath and exhale and calm down, relax, otherwise all this will be passed on to the child listeners. Make at least a minimal “adjustment”: take the same or similar pose as the children, talk for a couple of minutes about their topics, sympathize with something.

Start telling. Add a large amount of relaxing text to the plot of the fairy tale about warmth in the body, peace, fatigue, pleasantness. Relaxation is one of the important moments, generally speaking, of any hypnosis. For example:

... Kolobok ran away from Grandma and Grandpa. Kolobok walked and walked along the path and got tired. Kolobok lay down in a warm clearing to rest. The grass is so soft and warm. The sun is shining so warm. Kolobok's legs are tired. Kolobok's hands are tired. Kolobok lay down on the warm and soft grass. He pulled out his hands. He stretched out his legs. Kolobok began to warm up. His legs became warm, heavy, pleasant. His arms became... his tummy became...

I hope that while reading this text, you yourself also felt warmth in your hands and feet. If not, then re-read it again.

This text can and should be repeated. For example, after meeting with each subsequent character, Kolobok again “lay down and got tired,” now together. Repetition is one of the key aspects of Ericksonian hypnosis. In addition, to strengthen the association with the tired Kolobok, you can weave links with the child himself into the text. For example:

Then he met Volchok. Volchyok says: “Kolobok, you’ve come such a long way. Are you tired?". And Kolobok replies: “I’m tired, of course.” Seryozha (Kolya, Natasha, Olya, Sveta, Yura - insert yours) and I played with cars all day and got soooo tired.

The last and most important point is breathing. Please note that at the moment of the story, the listeners themselves “join” the narrator. Rapport is established, an invisible connection. And the children begin to repeat the narrator’s breathing. If the narrator speaks (or sings a lullaby) quickly, without interruptions, is in a hurry, and holds his breath, then the listeners will hold their breath and remain tense.

This often happens when we are in a hurry to “fulfill the duties” of putting the kids to bed and try to quickly sing a lullaby, nervously hoping for a quick result. “Fast”, “nervously” - I think you can guess “what” the result will be. Therefore, you and I will do everything deliberately slowly, confidently and calmly.

Forget about the white monkey, the quality of performance, the melody, the correct tempo in a song or a fairy tale. No one cares about quality and technology and no one will notice or appreciate it. And even if he notices, then say that you are doing this on purpose, because it’s such a fairy tale.

Take long pauses in time with your normal slow breathing. Breathe at an average pace, approximately the same as during sleep. Slow, calm, noisy and loud inhale so that the children can easily hear and distinguish your breathing, then as you exhale you say something, then inhale noisily again.

If you feel the urge to yawn, that’s very good: yawn heartily too, slowly, loudly, with pleasure, so that all the children can hear well and join in on time.

Ericksonian hypnosis teaches us that holding the breath by the hypnotist helps to abruptly bring the patient to sleep. Therefore, already somewhere in the middle of the fairy tale, when hopefully rapport has been established - about once every 3-4 minutes, start doing short breath-holds. And accordingly, pauses in the story, 5-10 seconds, are no longer. (In Sinton the courses are intensive and regular).

If there are several children, then the first one to fall asleep literally “drags” everyone else into sleep. This is the same effect when a fallen passenger in a car “drags” the driver into sleep, so it’s better for the passenger to hold on and stay awake. You can easily determine the result of your work by the children’s breathing: having fallen asleep, they begin to breathe noisily and frequently. You will always recognize this happy sound!

If you are interested, then here's a continuation. It is not necessary for a specific case, but for the healthy psyche of your child it is even more important than the beginning.

Second part. Relieving physical stress. It is not mandatory, and I did not do it that evening, but I am writing because, in my experience, it is extremely important for the child in general and is often necessary at a specific moment of going to bed. Relaxing games for children See→

The signal that this part is required is that the child is tossing and turning a lot and will not settle down. Although even without signals, I would recommend doing this every day. Namely, tactile contact with parents. The essence of this part is that the baby needs to be kneaded, massaged and stroked.

I'm not a massage specialist. What I did was play something like “Here came a bear and an elephant,” I pressed some part of my body to the crib, let go, pressed, let go. Very simple. Starting from the head, towards the feet. First, walk several times “with moderate force.” Then weaker, even weaker. Then just stroke it. Do you pet your child at least half an hour a day? Then this is a great opportunity to catch up.

Kinesthetic addition to the story

Johannes Brahms. Lullaby

During the story itself, it is possible and advisable to stroke the child or simply put your hand on him, this will enhance the “joining” effect. A hand “under the head” or on the head, or stroking the head - enhances emotional relaxation.

If the child is still active - trying to talk, then try lightly, gently, pleasantly clapping and tapping him to the beat of some simple rhythm. Taa-ta-taa-ta-taa-pause-taa-ta-taa... It is important to maintain the rhythm. It is very difficult to tell a fairy tale, but you can sing a lullaby. (Music: Johannes Brahms. Lullaby).

Simple, methodical rhythms inhibit brain activity. For example, it is almost impossible to tap a rhythm and think about something at the same time. This is probably why, in order to switch off, we plug headphones with loud and rhythmic music into our ears, and so often they send soldiers on different marches: “One! Once! One two Three!". Both techniques effectively block the brain.

And finally, the part I suggest starting with.

Preparation. I call it “three warnings”.

First, half an hour before bedtime, you enter the children’s room and say in a firmly confident voice that it’s already late and it’s time to go to bed. Naturally you meet resistance. Mood is a flow, it is difficult to stop suddenly. Therefore, after listening to the “resistance of flow”, you tell them that they have another 30 minutes to play. Children perceive what will happen in 30 minutes as if it will happen in the next life. They agree to everything - the main thing now is, don’t interfere.

But the “anchor” has already been installed and it has begun to work.

The second visit, this is very important, in a firmly confident tone - that there are 15 minutes left. The thought of an imminent finale is gaining momentum. And on your third reminder in 5 minutes, some people already jump up to go to bed - they say that’s it?

You can even sit with them for a few minutes. This will strengthen your “connection”, which will be so necessary in the next part. You can even play with them a little.

The very moment that it’s time to finish, you need to get up and go to the bedroom - I highly recommend doing it personally to your parents or the closest people who are here now. This is always a difficult moment, a kind of small, small “death,” and this moment is always easier to accept from a loved one. You need to be kind, loving, but firm. Every time.

Let's summarize. In this article, I proposed and described one of the interesting examples of using Ericksonian hypnosis to put your child to sleep. The main thing in it was telling a fairy tale with special slow breathing and including relaxing phrases in the text. And additionally - about physical contact with the child and about the “three warnings” for bedtime.

That's all. Sweet dreams to you and your children!

Preparing for the session

The preparation of the doctor and parents for the session will directly determine the result of the entire therapy. To achieve the maximum effect, it is necessary to ensure that parents bring the child’s favorite toys to the first session - they will become an area where the baby’s attention will be focused and will provide an opportunity to put him into a state of rest.

Parents should understand that hypnosis does not solve problems, but only effectively helps to cope with them. A hypnologist cannot simply put a child into a hypnotic state and tell him to become smart.

Hypnotizing children

The difficulty is that children, of course, are very suggestible, but respond to hypnosis differently depending on their age - perhaps this has to do with how mature the cerebral cortex is. It can be argued that it is easy to hypnotize children over nine years of age. During puberty, the ability to succumb to hypnosis weakens somewhat, but then returns again.

Since children quickly react to all kinds of irritations, it is difficult to expect that it is possible to turn off their consciousness for a long time, but it is possible to influence this process. It must be remembered that children react to the slightest changes in the behavior of the hypnotist.

This means that the hypnotist must especially carefully control his thoughts, since they may be expressed involuntarily and transferred to the child. The child feels the hypnotist’s uncertainty especially clearly; this may call into question the effectiveness of hypnosis. If you exude unshakable self-confidence, then hypnosis is sometimes successful even on very young children. I have repeatedly managed to hypnotize seven-year-olds, and once even a four-year-old girl.

Choosing a technique for introducing a child into hypnosis

It is very important to choose an appropriate introduction technique, adapted to the child’s world of ideas. For children under ten years of age, I generally use the technique of indirect hypnosis. I ask parents to bring their child’s favorite toy to the first session and under no circumstances mention that the child is going to a hypnosis session. Perhaps parents should pretend that they themselves will be hypnotized. You can tell your child that his teddy bear or doll is sick and needs to be treated.

Example of indirect introduction to hypnosis

After a short conversation with the parents, I usually turn to the teddy bear and ask what hurts him. The child willingly tells what the bear is “sick” with. I continue to talk with the bear and tell him: “You are sick, and we will cure you. Come on, lie down on the sofa and close your eyes.” The child lies down next to the toy, but cannot close his eyes.

Then I continue the conversation, turning to the child: “The bear is so small and stupid, he doesn’t know how to close his eyes and lie still. Come on, show him so he knows how to do it. Show it to the bear and let him look.”

The child willingly demonstrates to his toy how to go to bed and how to close his eyes. Here I begin the introduction to hypnosis, as I usually do, but every time I refer to the bear.

For example, like this: “Now you will show the bear how to lie quietly with your eyes closed. The bear will learn this from you, but you have to show it to him for a long time so that he understands. That's it - now close your eyes and lie quietly, like a mouse, until I tell you that you can open your eyes. Then your teddy bear will learn everything correctly.

...You lie calmly, calmly, and now show the bear how to breathe calmly. You breathe calmly and evenly, completely calmly and completely evenly, and your arms and legs lie freely and do not move. They are completely calm and motionless, and your breathing is uniform and free, absolutely uniform.

Your eyes remain closed all the time, and you calm down, you feel calm and good. And the bear felt good and calm. You showed him so well how to calm down. You will also show the bear how great you can lie quietly with your eyes closed. You are completely calm, you breathe calmly and evenly.

The arms and legs do not move and are not tense. And in a dream you imagine something good. Everything I tell you, you will hear clearly and you will do everything. You will immediately do what I tell you. This is very important, otherwise your bear will not recover. So immediately do everything I say. You cannot do otherwise. Whatever I say, you will do immediately. You will do everything I tell you now so that your bear is healthy.”

In almost all cases this is enough to initiate hypnosis. Now you can start treating your baby directly. If, say, his parents complained that he was doing poorly at school, you can begin hypnosis with the following words:

“Your bear is now very attentive at school, he wants to become smart and smart. And now you will listen to the teacher very carefully and carefully do all the tasks. You will no longer be distracted in class.

If you know the answer, you will always raise your hand so that the teacher notices how diligently you began to study. And at home you will do your schoolwork with concentration and attention, without distractions. You will start playing only after you have completed all your homework. From now on, you will write more accurately and beautifully than before. Every day you will write more accurately and beautifully. You still write neatly, but you will write better and better.”

After the necessary suggestion has been made, do not forget the encoding stage - for introduction to hypnosis in the next session. You can say, for example, like this:

“You remember everything I said, and you will follow everything carefully. You will do what I say now. From now on, all it takes is for me to stroke your hair and your eyes will immediately close. You won't be able to keep them open anymore. You will immediately become calm, as you are now. You remember this very well and will always act as you do now.

So the next time I stroke your hair, your eyes will close immediately. You will again be immersed in this wonderful state of peace, just like now. You remember this very well and will always act this way. Now I'll count to three. After this you will open your eyes. Your arms and legs will become light and mobile again, you will feel invigorated and rested. One-two-three... Open your eyes! You are fresh and energetic, you feel great.”

Second session after coding

If you do this, then at the next session it will be enough to stroke the child’s hair, and his eyes will immediately close and a hypnotic state will occur. But first, I tell the child exactly what I will do so as not to violate the trust that has been established between us. For example, I say:

“I'm glad you came to visit me again. Now I will run my hand through your hair, and your eyes will immediately close. You will again plunge into the wonderful state you were in last time. As soon as I run my hand through your hair, it will close, your arms and legs will stop obeying you, you will plunge into a wonderful state of peace, even deeper than last time.”

Introduction to hypnosis using a fairy tale

If the child is very young, it is recommended to start hypnosis with a fairy tale. Here's an example of how this is done:

“Today I will tell you a fairy tale. This is a fairy tale about a little girl, as little as you. This girl didn't want to study at all. Come on, lie down comfortably on this sofa, close your eyes and listen...

Once upon a time there was a girl who did not want to go to school. And I didn’t want to do what the teacher asked at all. She wanted to run through the streets and play. The parents were very upset by this, because they wanted to have a smart girl. One day this girl met a smart old man. She told him that she didn't like going to school. The old man shook his head and said to the girl: “You may not understand it now, but when you get older, you will need all the knowledge they give at school.

Then you will cry for not listening to your parents. You won't find a job. Because you didn’t study anything, and you won’t have money. You won't have enough money to buy food or nice toys. But while you are still little, you have a lot of time and you can change everything. If you study hard and do your homework well, then you will earn a lot of money and be able to buy yourself all the beautiful things you want.

And one day a beautiful and smart person will appear in your life, whom you will really like, and you will get married. He will be very proud that he has such an intelligent and diligent wife. He will love and pamper you very much. You see how important it is to go to school and do your homework well. And since you understand this, then from today you will willingly go to school and study diligently..."

The little girl promised the wise old man to study diligently and always do her homework carefully. She thanked her for the good advice, started going to school with pleasure and joy, and became a smart girl who had all her wishes fulfilled. You also want to be like this girl. You will be willing to go to school and do your homework first, and then play with toys. Parents will be very happy. And later all your wishes will come true.”

You will find that during hypnosis, few people are as willing to play along with you as children. The main thing is to penetrate into their world of ideas. Then in every case you will be successful.

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Hypnosis process

It is necessary to have a conversation in advance with a hypnologist, where the possibility of suggestibility and preparedness of the psyche for the session will be determined.

After this, you can begin hypnosis, which lasts about 20 minutes. and consists of several stages:

relaxation: the child sits in a chair, the hypnologist asks him to close his eyes and introduces him to a state of complete relaxation using certain phrases to the sounds of a meditative melody, after which the patient falls into a light trance;
eliminating the problem: the hypnotherapist pronounces special phrases with the help of which he instills in the patient the necessary thoughts or ideas aimed at combating the problem;
withdrawal from a trance state: the specialist uses a countdown from 10; when the number 1 is announced, the patient comes to his senses rested and cheerful.

By resorting to this technique, you can painlessly rid your child of a number of problems: fears, depression, bad habits.

Psychotherapy - busting myths

Ryzhakov Boris Anatolievich

Psychotherapist

April 26, 2021

Psychotherapy as a science has become overgrown with various myths. In this article I will try to present and debunk the most common of them.

Myths about psychotherapy can essentially be reduced to two main ones.

First myth

A psychotherapist cannot do anything; psychotherapy is a permitted form of relatively harmless quackery that people with money in their wallets can afford.

Second myth

The opposite of the first - a psychotherapist can do everything. A psychotherapist is a magician who has a doctor’s or psychologist’s diploma to create apparent legality. Whatever such a specialist does, it’s all a cover for pure magic.

The rest of the myths are variations of these two or some elaboration of them.

For example, it often happens that during a family therapy session, spouses expect the therapist to say something that will make the other party immediately change and think, feel and behave the way the first half would like. Or that the psychotherapist will give such advice that the entire married life will turn upside down and flow in a different direction.

Myths apply to all types of psychotherapy and reflect a lack of understanding or fear of change (the first myth) or an irresponsible attitude (the second myth). Having never attended a psychotherapy session, it is difficult for people to imagine the specifics of a psychotherapeutic method compared to medication. This is where an aura of mystery arises around this area of medicine, and various speculations are born.

To dispel both myths, psychotherapy is a process of change within a person that leads to problem solving, reduction of painful symptoms, or personal growth. That is, the goals and objectives are determined by the client himself, and the psychotherapist directly or indirectly helps him, using various techniques, to achieve his goals. This is a joint work, under the guidance of a psychotherapist, in which you should not count on a miracle, but you should not be afraid of changes and tune in to searching for answers within yourself.

The position of the psychotherapist can be directive, that is, he guides the patient, directs him on the path of change. And non-directive, when the psychotherapist, with his warm, accepting position, achieves in the patient an increase in faith in his strengths and abilities and, as a result, a solution to the problem.

Ready-made advice in psychotherapy is rare, almost exclusively during one-time consultations. Magic is not related to psychotherapy at all, but there are unusual methods of treatment that can achieve positive changes quite quickly.

Myths about hypnosis

Myth one

Hypnosis is magic, and the hypnotist is omnipotent. In fact, hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness that is the background for hypnotic communication. You can compare it with deep relaxation, a feeling of comfort, inner peace.

A hypnotist is a specialist who has undergone training and passed exams. Everyone can learn the technique of hypnosis to a greater or lesser extent.

Myth two

Hypnosis is induced and controlled by a hypnotist, on whom everyone becomes unjustifiably dependent. In fact, any hypnosis is self-hypnosis; the hypnotist only directs the trance and monitors its depth. For high-quality work in hypnotherapy, self-hypnosis training is organized.

Myth three

Hypnosis can make people act against their will. This myth appeared mainly under the influence of cinema and stage performances, when they show people under hypnosis who may behave inappropriately: bark, cackle, etc. In fact, it is impossible to force a person to commit some forbidden action (especially a criminal one) using hypnosis : the person will successfully resist such suggestion. It is impossible, using hypnosis, to force a person to do something that he would not allow himself to do in a waking state.

Myth four

Hypnosis is always a dream. This is not true: there is so-called “domestic hypnosis” - for example, in which drivers, driving a monotonous section of the road, can disconnect from the surrounding reality, but remain active and fully conscious about everything related to driving a car. Many people, immersed in their own affairs, lose their time orientation. The experience of trance is highly individual, and trance can occur with both closed and open eyes, amnesia can be either complete or partial.

Myth fifth

Hypnosis occurs only when hypnotic induction is used. That is, special actions to introduce a state of hypnosis: an object swinging on a rope, repeated monotonous repetitions, etc. This is not so. Erickson and many psychotherapists who followed his direction have repeatedly carried out and continue to carry out hypnosis without using formal induction.

Myth six

Hypnosis occurs only in a state of complete relaxation. This is wrong. The depth of trance can vary, hypnotized people can walk, talk and open their eyes.

Myth seventh

The state of hypnosis is psychotherapy. Hypnosis is just a supportive technique and does not cure or solve problems on its own. Hypnosis is always used in the context of psychotherapy, or in the context of professional activity. Not only psychotherapists can use hypnosis techniques. For example, a dentist can use hypnosis to reduce pain during dental treatment, psychologists can use it to reduce anxiety and depression, therapists can use it to relieve asthmatic attacks, dermatologists can use it to reduce itching, etc.