Hypnosis Can Stop Bedwetting

Bedwetting at night, or nocturnal enuresis, is very common in children under 7 and more so in boys than girls. There are medical conditions which cause it eg cystitis or diabetes, or by some children's inability to produce enough of the antidiuretic hormone, ADH, which controls the production of urine at night.

However, for most, it is just a case of developing good bladder control later than others.

Some drugs help to reduce the amount of urine produced during the night but that does not teach the child good bladder control and only works as long as the drug is taken. Alarms wake the child if the bed is wet but then the deed is already done!

Unless there is also a regular problem with daytime wetting (apart from the odd accident), the problem is “in the mind” as are many problems. Our mind controls everything including sending a message to the bladder to contract the muscles and hold the water.

Psychological stresses may also play a part, sometimes temporarily eg a death or divorce in the family, moving home or school or low self-confidence.
Who decided that the child should stop wearing night-time nappies? Usually the mother just wants to reduce her workload perhaps when a new baby comes along, or decides “it is time”. This may be too soon for the child who should have some say in choosing the moment. My younger son decided to stop on the same day as his older brother and has never had a wet night.

Night-time nappies give a false sense of comfort as they keep the child snug whereas waking up to a cold, wet bed is unpleasant and so a motivation for the child himself to stop. Lying on a waterproof mattress protector minimizes the laundry. If the child has to further help with the laundry involved, this will also add to the motivation to stop bed-wetting but this should be done as a responsibility rather than as a punishment. Dry nights should be praised, recorded and rewarded to reinforce the positive.

If the child is invited into the warm parent’s bed each time, rather than having to help with the immediate laundry change, this could set up a “secondary gain” which will unconsciously encourage the child to keep wetting so be firm.
Leave a night light on somewhere so that the child is not scared to walk to the bathroom at night.

The child will usually feel too embarrassed to want to do sleepovers. I find a good motivation is to talk about the fun of being a scout and going on weekends away and the summer camp, or on activity weeks.

Often their self-esteem is low as no child likes to feel “different” to his peers. Find out who their TV heroes are. One boy told me he likes Mr Bean because he is funny and silly whilst his TV hero is Ben 10. Relating them to bed-wetting, he thought that Mr Bean would have wet the bed as a child (sorry Rowan Atkinson) whilst Ben 10 would not because he is strong and capable.

It is now thought a mistake to keep asking the child to empty its bladder as it is important to strengthen the bladder muscle. On the contrary, the child should be encouraged to drink plenty of fluid, not fizzy or unnaturally coloured drinks. Parents are advised not to wake the child when they go to bed to have him urinate. The muscle should be developed to hold water for many hours and release when appropriate.

Hypnosis is very effective in helping children overcome bed-wetting. They enjoy the whole fun idea of relaxing and hearing a story. By no means should they be scared or worried by the idea of hypnosis, or in fact even told that hypnosis will be used. Just emphasise hearing a story.

There are several approaches. One is the idea of locking up the bladder with a large, strong and colourful key and standing sentry outside it. The sentry sends powerful signals from the bladder to the brain for the child to wake if necessary, or to keep those muscles tightly closed until morning.

Another approach is used in this hypnosis MP3 download for bedwetting where the child is taken on an imaginative journey with a spaceship captain inside another child’s body. The use of the third party child is deliberate as we often learn more by looking at someone else than from our own experience. The astronaut does not refer direct to the bladder but rather to holding on to a ball and releasing it when appropriate. I used this with a seven-year old boy who explained to me what it meant as bedwetting is not mentioned. The use of a story or metaphor is typical of Ericksonian Hypnosis. The unconscious mind which accounts for 90-95% of our brain understands creative, child-like ideas which often make little sense to the grown-up, rational conscious mind.

Again using the third party, I have used a child’s middle name in hypnosis as the helper to wake him or keep the bladder closed.

Whilst some children understand the message in a single hypnosis session, many benefit from repeated listening to the same message which is why this hypnosis MP3 download for bedwetting is so helpful. The cost is probably the same as a week’s worth of laundering wet bedlinen and pyjamas so it must be worth trying.

© Antonia Harrison 2011 is the English Hypnotherapist in Belgium and recommends Download Hypnosis Mp3s for immediate access to positive life-changing hypnosis sessions.

Hypnosis for Children

By Louise Watts

One day, a little boy living in Germany in the eighteenth century had to undergo a serious operation to remove a tumour that was growing on his head. In the absence of any anaesthesia, the procedure would be a risky one. Before and during the operation, the little boy’s mother held his hand tightly and told him a story so vivid and so fantastic that the little boy was completely engrossed. The surgery was a success and throughout the operation the little boy had felt no great discomfort whatsoever, as his mind had been so completely focused on his mother’s amazing story. That little boy was Jacob Grimm, and the story was Snow White.

Using hypnosis with children is not a new phenomenon – there are references in both the Old and New Testaments describing children responding to treatments using suggestion and faith. It is simply that knowledge regarding this powerful therapy is fairly limited amongst the general public and many medical professionals alike.

Unfortunately, there are still many misconceptions that children hold about hypnosis – some of these come from the parents, but in the majority of cases, television is responsible. An example can be found in the Disney film, Aladdin, which depicts an evil sorcerer using hypnosis to “magically” make his victims obey his commands. However, more often than not, children are drawn to the “mysticism” of hypnosis, and any fears and misconceptions can be corrected before the start of each session.

It is fairly well known amongst hypnotherapists that children are excellent hypnotic subjects. As adults, we lose much of our ability to fantasise and daydream – something children are experts at. Up until around 10 years old, children have little distinction between fantasy and reality, and can usually create imaginative stories and tales with ease. Their imaginative capabilities are, therefore, incredibly useful when it comes to using hypnosis to help a wide range of problems.

Our minds are made up of the conscious mind (logical, rational) and subconscious mind (emotion, behaviour), which are separated by a kind of gatekeeper called the Conscious Critical Faculty (CCF). The CCF filters out anything unwanted that it perceives might harm us (although sometimes it also gets it wrong and filters out the good things!). However, children don’t develop the CCF until between 10 and 12 years. As a result, up to this age they accept everything at face value and their belief systems are very susceptible to suggestion.

Think of the situation whereby a child has fallen over and hurt their knee - the mother calms them by giving them a “healing kiss” and, as if by magic, the child’s knee automatically begins to feel better. This is an example of waking hypnosis being used by a mother, whether she consciously realises it or not.

In children over 12 years old, behavioural change can still take place, as the beauty of hypnotherapy as a treatment method is that it bypasses the CCF and communicates directly with the subconscious, that is, the part of the mind responsible for the behaviour or symptom in the first place.

As a rule, hypnosis will generally not be effective with children under the age of five. This is due to the inability to build the necessary rapport, as well as the fact that children of this age prefer not to close their eyes or sit still for long periods of time.

When we consider that many emotional problems we suffer from as adults have their root in childhood experiences and environment, it makes sense to ensure our children’s issues are dealt with as and when they arise. As a child’s mind is not fully developed, they believe that anything bad that happens is somehow their fault in one way or another: the father who leaves home, the mother who pays them no attention, the child who does badly in their school grades.

Some examples of the way hypnosis can help children and adolescents are:

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Lack of self-esteem
Learning difficulties, including dyslexia
Destructive behaviour
Fears and phobias, particularly injections or visiting the dentist
Habits, including bedwetting and thumb sucking
Chronic pain
Weight control
Relationship problems, perhaps with a step-parent or sibling

The benefits of hypnotherapy don’t just end at when the child begins feeling better. Self-hypnosis techniques can be taught to both parents and children alike and children can be taught to express themselves, either verbally, or through creative methods, such as drawing or writing. Hypnosis works by empowering the child, rather than taking any control away from them, by allowing them to develop the necessarily skills to deal with any difficulties they may face in the future.

Antonia Harrison is the English Hypnotherapist in Belgium with wide experience in helping children through hypnotherapy.

Hypnosis with Children

As currently practiced, hypnotherapy most often involves teaching a child how to self-hypnotize in order to control bad habits, physical symptoms and other conditions. The child learns to use relaxation techniques and mental images — similar to a daydream or fantasy — to enter an “altered mental state” (in other words, to induce hypnosis).

Once in this altered state, the therapist makes suggestions aimed at producing the desired change in behavior, anxiety level, or symptom intensity. These may range from recalling times of feeling happy and well in a child with chronic pain, to thinking of the body as a “computer” that the child can “program” with his or her mind.

The child may also receive specific teaching about their problem as a means of helping them learn to exercise control over their body. For example, a child with nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting) may be taught the basic anatomy and function of the bladder. Ultimately, the child is able to induce self-hypnosis when needed to achieve the desired changes.

What is the history of using hypnosis with children?
Hypnosis of children was first described in 1779 by Mesmer, who reportedly used hypnotherapy to treat a child with visual problems. Historically, hypnotherapy was rarely practiced with children because people thought that children could not be hypnotized. In the 1970's, however, observations suggested that children were easier to hypnotize than adults, and that hypnosis could be used in the treatment of behavioral and physical problems in children.

What are some uses of hypnotherapy in children?
Hypnotherapy has been used to treat hundreds of behavior disorders, chronic diseases, pain control and easing discomfort. Here is a partial list:

Behaviour problems:
- Habits, tic disorders, thumb sucking, trichotillomania (hair-pulling), Tourette's Syndrome.
- Nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting)
- Sleep terrors, nightmares and other sleep disturbances
- Swallowing problems, food aversions and choking (not related to anatomic problems or disease)
- Anxiety and stress

Chronic Conditions
Asthma
Case reports suggest that hypnotherapy may reduce episodes of wheezing or shortness of breath, and may decrease reliance on asthma medications.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF)
A study in adults and children with CF suggests that hypnotherapy can reduce symptoms of cough, shortness of breath, anxiety, and other problems commonly faced by these patients.
Migraine headaches
Cancer
See this summary of medical literature on the uses of hypnotherapy for children with cancer.

Control of pain, treatment and medical procedure discomfort and other symptoms:
Chronic pain in cancer patients
Initial results from small studies showing that hypnotherapy can be used to manage chronic pain in children with cancer; larger studies are likely underway.
Nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy
Several studies comparing hypnotherapy to anti-nausea medications and simple relaxation techniques show that hypnotherapy plus medications was more effective than medications alone in reducing nausea and vomiting. Children treated with hypnotherapy had less pre- and post-chemotherapy nausea and vomiting.
Treatments: pill-swallowing, injections, and medical procedures
Hypnosis has been shown to be very effective in helping children through painful procedures like shots, IV pokes, even spinal taps and bone marrow studies.

Source: http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/hypnosis.htm Carolyn Lorenz, M.D., Neda Yousif, M.D. and Kyla Boyse, R.N. Reviewed by faculty and staff at the University of Michigan. Updated January 2007.

Antonia Stuart-James is an English Hypnotherapist in Belgium helping people make positive change.

Why Children Might Come to a Hypnotherapist

Issues, for which hypnotic methods and tools are a helpful response, include doing homework, performing better in the classroom, getting to school and liking it, improving grades, friendlessness, thumb sucking, bedwetting, nightmares and fear of the dark, stealing, low self-esteem, dealing with divorce or death in a family, illness - their own or someone in the family and a myriad of other problems.

One of the most frequent reasons children are brought to hypnotherapists is for learning improvement. When it comes to school life, there are many problems children can develop. This may be one of the largest areas of concerns for parents and one for which good marketing can reap good results. Such arenas as reading, writing, memory, getting homework done, grades, peer pressure and friendships, classroom deportment, self-esteem and even wanting to be in school are effectively and easily handled, for the most part, by one or two hypnosis sessions.

The Power of the Imagination

The imagination of children is very keen until parents, teachers and others interfere. In many schools, the style of teaching in the classroom can tend to rule out the playful and imaginative, once children pass the second or third grade. When adults consider daydreaming worthless, when they call attention to its “cuteness” to others and associate imagination with lying, or otherwise imply ridicule and non-belief, the child gradually lets it weaken.

The doorway between the conscious and the unconscious mind is the imagination. For children, it is relatively easy to reach at the deepest levels, in a much quicker time than required by a good many adults. Stories, adventures, visualization, imaginative games, role-playing, magic, puppets and costumes work most effectively with children. Any tools that stimulate the imagination should be at the hypnotherapist's disposal.

What Hypnosis Can Do For Children

Hypnosis works well because there are less years of reinforcing imprints on one's mind. Children are more susceptible to hypnosis. They have the drive to discover and they hunger for new experiences. They are open to new learnings, willing to receive and respond to new ideas, as long as they are presented in an understandable way. Children are usually easily relaxed and focused. They have an ability to change and to be versatile, and, before the age of twelve, to accept most ideas uncritically. They are not as dominated by rational questioning and concerns that adults have formed through their life experiences. Also, they do not have the fears and misconceptions about hypnosis that so many adults have. This makes it relatively easy to work with them.

Working with children is a wonderful specialty. The benefits of hypnosis with children are the same as for adults, as long as their problems are treated as seriously as adults. Hypnosis is a powerful tool in strengthening a child's confidence. It helps a child to feel empowered where, before, they have been “victim.” It releases willingness to use their natural gifts. It elicits talent and creativity. It provides a wonderful foundation in their education. With a good hypnotherapist, children can experience true success in their lives in all areas. They feel happier, and have a sense of real freedom.

Source: CHILDREN AND HYPNOSIS by Del Hunter Morrill, M.S., C.C.H.

Antonia Stuart-James is an English Hypnotherapist in Belgium helping people make positive change.

What brings about or exacerbates children's problems?

Much that goes on in our world can cause problems for children, just as it does for adults. Rapid physical growth over short periods of time and concerns about changes in their bodies can cause stress and loss of self-esteem. Various problems in school with studies, teachers or peers, may be troubling a child. There are many fears that can plague children: fear of the potential danger in our schools today, fear of the dark, fear of going to sleep, fear of doctors, dentists and needles, etc. Many children experience the embarrassment of habits they find hard to break, like bed-wetting or thumb sucking. A new baby or other addition to the family can cause undue stress. Loss of their own bedroom space due to a new addition to the family, or having to move to a smaller place can make children unhappy. An underlying fear of kidnapping and other abuses may affect our children far more than we realize. It is difficult to keep such news away from a child's hearing, these days.

With children, the world revolves around them until experience helps expand that world. As they are the “center,” then everything is where they are. If there are problems in the family, they take on those as their own. If parents are having trouble in relating well, their children can become fearful and guilty, as if they were the cause or should have prevented it in some way. This is what creates “ADULT CHILDREN.” A recent client of mine was the oldest son of his family. He saw his mother beaten, nightly, and both he and his brother received the rage of a drunken father. Yet, he could not help his mother or protect his younger brother. This left him scarred with tremendous guilt and fear, which he carried into his marriage and his relationship with his own sons.

School and Learning Influences

In school, common problems for many children are the loss of a friend who moves away, being shamed or frightened by a teacher or principal, the death or serious illness of a school peer or teacher, boredom with school and having to make new friends. Unfamiliarity with schoolwork, or falling behind in a subject can cause excessive stress. The insistence upon “correct” performance in front of others in a classroom can be extremely hard on a shy child. Threats or bullying by other children and the general fear and pressure of drugs and guns, in many schools, are serious concerns and add tremendous stress for certain children.

Societal Influences

The Media - Our modern century provides an enormous spread of negative influences on our children. Television and movies regularly present violence, sex and innuendo as the norm. Shallowness and self-centeredness are projected by sit-coms on TV by unmarried 30 year olds who are totally wrapped up in themselves. Advertising and acquisition are other primary images, as parents go crazy trying to get the child whatever the child wants. Pre-teens understand that being very thin or buff are the models they must follow or they will not be acceptable to their peers. Young girls, especially, begin worrying about their weight at an earlier and earlier age.

News events on TV - War and the resulting migration of homeless families, famine and other tragedies within countries, kidnappings, abuse and other mayhem against children, and the latest disease or other terrors are projected on the screen, nightly, inundating our children, just as it does adults. Children are just as impacted as their parents by this constant onslaught of negative messaging.

What adults consider important in life - Millionaires seem barely out of diapers. A car at age 16 is a must. Slimness for women and powerful “pecs” for men are major images projected by television, movies and magazines. Fear of retirement, ill health and the desire for youthfulness remind us, “For god's sake, don't get old or your life will be over.” Millions are spent every year in keeping us beautiful forever, and in staving off eventual death. Children receive this information by words or inferences from the time they are born, unless they have parents who find ways to help them keep a balanced approach to life and living.

Family Influences
When children are brought to a counselor's office, they come with their parents. Those parents may reflect the other factors that contribute to a child's problem. Parents often lose sight of the impact of major events or stress in the family upon the children. Often, adults make the mistake of believing that children are resilient. They do not speak to them about difficult situations, yet will speak “around,” or in front of them, as if they were not there or would not understand. Many times they do not bother to ask the question of “why,” when a child is troubled. Often, parents perceive their children's problems as rather unimportant, in the light of their own difficulties.

Problems many children face, in family life, are dissatisfied parents who can never be pleased, being compared to a sibling, an older sibling leaving for school without them, a death in the family, divorce or other separation, loss of a parent or favorite grandparent, and moving away from friends or members of the family. A depressed, anxious or highly-strung parent, family members who are chronic worriers, and otherwise negative influences affect the outlook of children. High stress is created by an abusive sibling who teases or shames, arguments or violence between parents, threats of harm, an addictive parent or step-parent, physical, sexual or verbal abuse of the children, a parent or sibling who is physically ill much of the time. These must be considered when dealing with the child's presenting symptoms.

Influence of Peers

Although possibly more strongly felt once children reach pre-teens, even smaller children are affected by their friend's choices and experiences. Moving to a new school, having to make new friends, handling bullies, unfamiliarity with schoolwork, as well as falling behind in a subject or being “behind” the other kids, and other comparisons, are common problems for many children. Being teased for being the “wrong” height or weight, or for not fitting the status quo embarrasses some children. The struggle to belong and rejection by groups become especially hard on pre-teens and teenagers.

How Stress Can Affect Children

When children are experiencing unrelenting stress or are worried, whether or not they are conscious of it, there are warning signs for those who have the eyes to see. Schoolwork may begin to slide. A child may begin to lose things on a consistent basis, steal, become accident-prone, have headaches or stomachaches, bite their nails or pull hair or lashes. They may return to wetting the bed, after having been dry for some time. Health problems may start cropping up. Other people may notice a dramatic change in disposition. The child may begin to stop wanting to go to school, or begin to cause problems in the classroom. They may lie and have other avoidance patterns. They may turn to drugs or alcohol. They may begin to have trouble sleeping, experience frequent nightmares or sleep walk.

Source: CHILDREN AND HYPNOSIS by Del Hunter Morrill, M.S., C.C.H.

Antonia Stuart-James is an English Hypnotherapist in Belgium helping people make positive change.

Bedwetting Responds to Hypnosis

I once helped an eight year old boy to stop bedwetting, or nocturnal enuresis to give its medical name. His parents had tried a mat and alarm. They did not let him drink anything for two hours before going to bed yet still the problem persisted. As he was about to go away to boarding school, it had become an urgent problem to avoid shame and inevitable teasing from his fellow dorm mates.

I came across this technique which worked amazingly well. Under hypnosis, I simply called the boy, Adam, by his middle name, James, and told that boy to wake up Adam whenever he needed to empty his bladder. Combined with the fun of sitting in the magic chair, Adam and James responded well and the problem was overcome.

Children generally do respond well to hypnotherapy, providing they are at least seven years old, of normal intelligence for their age and can sit still long enough with their eyes closed. They enjoy the concept of sitting in a magic chair which also works on a trip to the dentist, or flying around in their mind's eye on a flying carpet.

Obviously, I have changed the names of this boy to protect his identity. It is important to establish whether the child has always had the problem (primary) or has lapsed after months of dry beds (onset) and that there is no physical cause. Parents should not expect dry beds before the age of five.

I use this as a source book for working with children, available from amazon.com:


These books from amazon.co.uk might be helpful in treating children with hypnotherapy:



Antonia Stuart-James is an English hypnotherapist in Belgium helping people to make positive change, overcome unwanted habits and relieve stress-related health problems. For more information, visit http://www.livinghealthtoday.com