The Usefulness of Hypnosis in Pediatric Patients

Hypnosis has been shown as being an increasingly beneficial treatment for helping children with medical illnesses. Studies have shown that children in particular are very suggestible and have a good chance of benefiting from hypnosis.

A study was performed in a pediatric pulmonary center from 1998-2000. During this 30 month time period, 303 patients received hypnotherapy for a variety of symptoms and illnesses. All patients were having pulmonary problems including persistent cough, asthma, shortness of breath, and chest pain.

Patients received hypnotherapy to help their pulmonary symptoms due to psychological issues, side effects of medication, and fear of treatment. Some patients received hypnosis even after medical treatment was administered, due to continuation of the symptoms.

All participants received at least one hypnosis session. The session took about 45 minutes. Both the participants and the parents were introduced to the concept of hypnosis and all questions and concerns were addressed. The induction and deepening was then given based on the child’s preferences, usually a favorite place. During the script portion of the hypnosis session, the participants were told to use imagery to feel as though they had control over their symptoms. After the hypnosis, the session was reviewed and self-hypnosis and practice was encouraged for several weeks.

Out of the 303 participants, 53 needed one additional session, and out of those 53, 22 needed a third session to work on hypnosis.

Evaluations were performed by the Pulmonologist and a self-evaluation was performed by the participants. Results showed that 81% of the participants showed improvement in their pulmonary symptoms. In some of the cases, patients reported no symptoms after the first hypnotherapy session. Many others saw improvements after the first few weeks. Many reported seeing a decrease in the frequency and intensity of their pulmonary symptoms. No participants reported a decline in health or new symptoms after the hypnotherapy session(s).

The study concluded that hypnotherapy is a successful complementary treatment to use on children with pulmonary problems. The study also encourages pediatricians to use a positive approach in treating patients and using hypnotherapy on children is highly encouraged by the researcher.