Hypnosis and Children - Part 1 - Seven Hypnotic Tips!

Over the last couple of years I have helped many children with hypnosis, from helping increase their self esteem to removing a fear. Children are in fact the easiest to hypnotize because they have great imaginations and are very suggestible and open to new learning. In many ways they are also very  resilient. You may remember when you were a child learning how to cycle a bike, how that even after falling off the bike a few times, you always got back up, sure that you would soon master it. Isn't it true that as adults sometimes we can give up after the first attempt at something? Maybe we can learn something from our kids! I know I've learned a huge amount from mine!

In this blog I am going to give seven hypnotic tips so that parents out there can deliver positive suggestions to their children. Being a full time Dad I have been having a lot of practice when it comes to some of these tips, and with another one on the way in two months time I'm going to need to keep practicing!

1. One of the first things to be aware of is that for a child external motivation will always be temporary. For lasting change, the motivation must always be 'Internal'. What I mean by this is that the child must always want to improve for his/her own benefit, rather than the benefit of others (including the parents!).

2. It is important to understand what your child is thinking so that you can then communicate with them more efficiently and offer hypnotic suggestions to influence your childs behaviour.

3. You cannot remove a negative behaviour with a negative suggestion. A good tip is to get your child thinking what would bring them the most success in life. Be careful not to give them a negative suggestion, for example 'Don't be bold' is a negative suggestion. You can say exactly the same thing with a positive suggestion embedded, such as: 'Be a good girl now'...now that's much more productive!

4. Good and bad habits, behaviour patterns in general and most fears that the child develops, are mostly based on what is called an 'Imprint'. Any habit, behaviour or fear that began as a result of something we have seen felt or experienced, is called an 'Imprint'. These habits, behaviours and fears, reside in the subconscious mind and can be positive or negative. For example if you are afraid of spiders and scream in front of your child every-time you see one; most likely you will be creating an 'Imprint' and the child could easily develop the same fear. 

5. Get in the habit of talking to your child no matter what you are doing. For example if making the dinner talk to them about what you making, etc., tell them the names of each ingredient, or if gardening tell them the name of each plant or the colour of each flower. The more information you give them the quicker they learn. It helps strengthen their brain cells. Research shows that one of the best ways to assist a child in their critical brain building years is to talk, read and sing to them.

6. This one might seem a bit obvious but the more loving and patient you are with your child, the more secure they will feel. If children are ignored or not fully nurtured they will not fully develop all of their brains. Research has shown that holding, feeding and comforting your baby does impact the way the baby's brain develops. 

7. Create a 'Positive Anchor' - An anchor is a cue that is developed to create a response. An anchor can be positive or negative and is what triggers the 'Imprint' discussed in tip 2. For example every time your child is really happy, touch their shoulder and say something positive or play some nice music. Anchors can be then triggered if you child is feeling down or say preparing for an exam by either touching their shoulder, saying the positive word or playing the piece of music, so that the child will automatically relax. The idea of the 'anchor' is to make it automatic / subconscious. What worked really well for us is a CD titled 'Mozart - For Mother and Baby', that really had the 'chilled' effect!

I hope you have enjoyed the first part of my blog about 'Hypnosis and Children' and will have taken something from the few tips I have provided. Join me next time where I will be interviewing a very special lady who really is an expert when it comes to helping children using hypnotic techniques!

Citations - the following amazing book was referenced while compiling this blog:
1. 'Raising Your Children With Hypnosis' by Mottin,Donald J. ASC HYPNO_CLASSICS, 2005.

© Trevor Eivers 2015

 

My name if Trevor Eivers and I am based in Waterford, Ireland. I am a Certified Consulting Hypnotist (since 2010) with the National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH), which is the largest hypnosis body in the world with over 14,000 members in 83 different countries worldwide. I am also a Certified NLP practitioner. I love my job in which I help everyday people with everyday issues. Contact me at 086-8211677 or check me out online at waterford-hypnosis.com or Facebook at : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Trevor-Eivers-Hypnosis/177881245578285