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Introduction to Working with Kids and Teens Using Hypnosis

by Niki Cassar, DCG, DHP, GQHP Hello everyone, and welcome to my new column, designed to help and support you when you work with children of all ages. et me tell you a little about myself, and how ! came to work with kids. "fter doing my basic and advanced training in ondon, ! was eager for more knowledge and more tools to add to my toolbo#, and so, like most of us, ! have continued doing training courses wherever and whenever ! can. "bout $ years ago, ! was offered the chance of %oining a Pediatric Hypnosis course hosted by &haun 'rookhouse, and facilitated by the truly wonderful (aurice )ershaw. ! found myself intrigued by the idea of working with children, and started including them in my advertising. &ince that time, although the main core of my work continues to be with adults, ! have found my %unior clientele gradually increasing, and ! now see $*+ per week, with ages ranging from , to -.. ! do not pretend to be a specialist in this field, and ! am /uite sure there are others out there who have greater e#pertise. ! know that for a fact, because ! borrow and learn from them all the time, and many of the tips and techni/ues ! am going to be sharing with you in coming months will have been gleaned from these dedicated people. 0henever and wherever possible, ! will of course be mentioning their names. 1he purpose of these articles is to encourage you to work with these incredible little humans that we call children. "s someone who is very proud to be one of Cal 'anyan2s -3*ers, as a ,*P"1H4 and 5th Path &elf*Hypnosis4 Graduate, ! completely empathi6e with his belief that our clients are sent to teach us. ! am constantly ama6ed by how much ! learn from the children ! work with * they are the best teachers of all. 1he pleasure you will get from working with children is indescribable, and the knowledge you will accumulate will be priceless.
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7ow might be a good time to tell you that you will never make your fortune from working with children8 7ot unless you are going to stick your neck out and insist on charging the same fee as you do with adults, that is. 9or my part, ! charge what you would call 1op Dollar for my adult sessions :generally ;< minutes duration=, and ! am fortunate in that ! have a pretty steady stream of clients wanting my services. 0hen it comes to kids, ! charge a concessionary rate, partly because the sessions are generally shorter :seldom more than one hour unless they are teenagers=, and also because it is my way of 2paying forward2. !f ! can help %ust a very few children to become happier, more balanced and emotionally healthier adults, then ! feel ! am in some very small way contributing to making the world a better place. >n the more practical side, working with children can also e#pand your practice. 1here will be many times when you will recogni6e that the only way to help the %unior client is to also work with one or both of their parents, and you will be surprised how, after some initial resistance, they will readily agree to this. Parents will also recommend you to other parents, leading to a steady stream of sad, fearful, frustrated and angry miniature people walking through your door. 1eachers will comment on the improved behavior and attitude of their students, prompting the parents to e#plain how this came about, and you can then ask for permission to contact the school, with the re/uest that they pass on your details to the to the parents of some of their more troubled or disruptive students. 1he format of this column will be very straightforward and simple. ?very article will deal with a specific age range, starting from toddlers, and finishing with mid*teens. ! want to actively encourage you to email me by going to the Contact @s page. &end me your /uestions thoughts or suggestions, and ! promise to share these 2online2, so this can become a forum of shared ideas and techni/ues. ! know that there are many highly*trained and e#perienced hypnotists out there who are intrigued and interested by the idea of working with the younger population, but lack the confidence to start, and perhaps feel they don2t have the necessary skills. et me tell you right now that you already have those skills, you %ust need to use them in a different way8 "re you willing to roll around on the floorA 1o use glove puppets and silly voicesA 1o
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create dreams, secret places, fantasiesA 1o act out being a magical person, or a fairy godmother or a wi6ardA 1o %ust be there, to listen, really listen to what they have to sayA !f the answer to these /uestions is Bes8 then you can be sure that you really do have what it takes to work with these little guys. 9inally, !2d like to suggest some simple guidelines for working with children. ! use the word 2guidelines2 because every child is different, and you will need to use your own %udgement to decide the mental age of the child you have been asked to work withC -. Prior to age ,, it is unwise to attempt hypnosis, as it is unlikely that the child will have either the attention span or sufficiently* developed cognitive ability to benefit from the process. However, you can teach the parents a number of e#cellent techni/ues, using 2waking suggestion2 to improve the toddler2s behaviour. D. 'etween the age of ,*;, do only short sessions, ma#imum of one hour, spending the ma%ority of the first session building up trust with your little client, then doing some 2magic2 and a very short hypnosis session. 1hereafter, break the sessions down into a combination of fun and gamesEshort hypnosisEmore fun and gamesEshort hypnosis. Probably no more than three mini* blocks of hypnosis in any one session. $. 9rom around age -<, assuming the child is mentally mature, you can start doing a simplified form of adult hypnosis * ,* P"1H4 works beautifully with adolescents and teenagers. &implify the language where necessary, and if doing anger and forgiveness work, then be a little more gentle with the offender than you would normally be. +. "lways, always, always talk to the child or teenager on the phone before you meet them8 1his is vital. Check to make sure they are happy about the idea of seeing you... reassure them that it is going to be fun and they are going to >F? hypnosis... give them the suggestion that they can very /uickly resolve their problem. Bou only need to chat to them for about five minutes, but a lot of rapport and e#pectation can be created within that time. ,. 0ith younger children, ask the parents to casually mention you in several conversations between themselves :knowing that
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the child is listening nearby= in a very positive way. 0hat the parents apparently believe, the child will 2borrow2 and readily absorb8 .. 7ever, never, never allow a parent to remain in the room during the session. Bou will not get the same /uality of information, and the parent will find it very hard to keep /uiet. 0ith younger children, invite them both into your room for a co6y chat. 9or the first few minutes, you can focus on the parent and talk to them in a friendly and %olly way, knowing that you are being closely observed8 1hen switch your attention to the child and start to build rapport, and as soon as you sense that the child is comfortable with you, ask him or her if it will be >) for the parent to wait outside so the two of you can do some 2very important2 work together and sort out their problem. 9or female hypnotists, this is unlikely to pose a problem. However, ! do recogni6e that male hypnotists may be concerned about working alone with children, so you might want to consider doing a video recording of all sessions with children. 5. 0hatever the age of your child client, reassure them that anything they tell you is %ust between you and them. Gespect this totally with teenagers, only passing on limited information to the parents with their permission, on the understanding that it might be helpful for their future happiness and improved relationships. 0ith younger kids, ! ask them at the end of the session 20ould it be >) with you if we share %ust a little bit of our secret with (umEDad :whoever is waiting outside= so we can help them understand why you2ve been having this problemA ! will only do this is you give me your permission.2 1hey almost always say yes8 !2m very much looking forward to sharing some more of my e#periences with you, and to receiving your comments, tips and suggestions. ! don2t know about elsewhere, but here in the @), it seems there are :sadly= relatively few hypnotherapists who are comfortable about the idea of working with children, although they will confidently accept adult clients with far greater emotional issues. 0orking together, we can build up the confidence of those who are teetering on the edge of going down this path, and
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hopefully have a lot of fun in the process8 &ee you again soon8