03 Oct How Hypnotherapy Helped 2 Children with Eating Disorders
Case Study – Hypnotherapy for Children
People often ask whether hypnotherapy is effective with children. Assuming the process is properly and safely managed, the answer is ‘yes’.
Because they haven’t learned to be cynical, children tend to be very open-minded and often very creative.
These are fantastic resources to have when you’re looking to find solutions to problems.
Two examples spring to mind of two very different children with a very similar issue.
The Situation
Jack and Katy (not their real names), were 14 and 8 respectively. Both had extremely limited diets (apart, of course, from sweets); Jack would only eat chips and Katy ate nothing but chicken nuggets. The texture of food (specifically, how it felt in their mouths) was the main issue in both cases.
Jack’s and Katy’s parents were, not surprisingly, extremely concerned about the situation, mainly from a health and wellbeing perspective but also from an inconvenience point of view.
Unhelpful words like ‘nightmare’ and ‘embarrassing’ were openly used in front of both children, which was only making the situation worse, as both Jack and Katy believed they were (a) disappointing their parents and (b) different to other children in a ‘negative’ way.
Importantly, both children were strongly motivated to change and (excluding family approval), the key driver for both was social inclusion, including being able to go to parties, have sleepovers and take part in other social occasions involving food/eating.
The Goals
The main long-term goal in both cases was to achieve a healthy, balanced diet relevant to age and their body stage. A secondary goal was to be open to experiment trying new foods (on the understanding that everyone has diet preferences).
The immediate objective was for Jack and Katy to try any new type of non-confectionery food.
The Strategy
It was clear that achieving the above goals would require the involvement and co-operation of parents and children.
Parents agreed to reposition their perception and verbal description of the issue from ‘catastrophic’ to a temporary, life-stage challenge. They also agreed to be non-judgmental about each child’s choice of food for experimentation, as long as the food requested wasn’t unhealthy.
The children agreed to:
- Make a list of 10 ‘new’ foods that they would agree to try at least once in the presence of others
- Find out 5 things about nutrition/food/diet
Katy had an excellent reading ability for her age, so this wasn’t an issue in either case.
For the hypnotherapy sessions (which were conducted in the presence of parents), a visualisation technique was used whereby Jack and Katy were able to ‘watch’ themselves successfully sampling new foods.
The Results
Everything was very straightforward with Jack and his parents at our next meeting. Jack had quickly discovered that there was more to life than chips and had tried lots of types of food. He’d also done some research and written a few lines about nutrition and the importance of a balanced diet.
With Katy, the parental mood was different. Before Katy joined us, her mother advised that no progress had been made that she was aware of. Katy was then called and arrived with 2 sheets of paper. One listed the foods that she wanted to sample and the other contained a drawing of a ‘balanced diet’ graphic that she’d copied from the internet. Her mother looked amazed. When asked if she’d tried eating anything new, Katy reeled off a list that included ham, peas and several vegetables. Her mother asked where this had taken place. When Katy said that it was at her friend’s house, the mother rang the friend’s mother for verification, which was duly given.
In summary, both problems had been allowed to develop because of indulgence at young age. The problems had then been exacerbated by over-negative parental description of the issues.
Once the issues were repositioned as a temporary challenge, the children had little problem finding their own solutions.
Children’s hypnotherapy sessions must be conducted in the presence of a parent or appropriate adult. Where possible, it is recommended that sessions take place in the child’s home, but if this is not practical, then appointments can be held in Ewell, Surrey.