Children who are over 5 years old respond best to treatment – although I have used play and conversational hypnosis with a 3 year old to great effect.  However it is very important that the child themselves wants to make the changes.

Hypnotherapy can be effective in helping a child to relax. They can be taught how they can use their imagination to take themselves to a "special place" and self hypnosis. This is particularly helpful for children who have fears around going to the dentist and hospital because they can relax their body and use their imagination to take themselves to their "special place", during any treatment. 

Children are great candidates for hypnotherapy because they have such wonderful imaginations and have an advantage over adults as they tend to become completely absorbed in what they are doing. Children also respond well to imagery and story telling, and characters from the child’s life, such as action heroes or favourite toys, can often be incorporated in the therapy to achieve the desired results.

Parents are required to sit in with children during their therapy, and are sometimes required to be prepared to collaborate with me in order to support the therapy, if deemed to be helpful