pediatric hypnosis

[Moira]

A friend who is a nurse practitioner recently suggested Pediatric Hypnosis as something to look into for my son with sensory defensiveness. The University where I live has a program that is used for children with chronic pain - and she has heard they have good success in those cases.
My son's tactile defensiveness is pretty extreme, making any clothing touching his body a huge challenge to tolerate.
Has any one else looked into this?
Moira

[Moira]

My son has had some progress related to seeing the pediatric hypnotherapist. The hypnotherapist "told" my son that he needed to bathe and wear his seatbelt correctly... and as a surprise to all of us - including my son - he's been doing it. That was a huge huge improvement. The hypnotherapist doesn't use traditional hypnosis... it just looks like he's talking with my son.

[Sammi]

I am very curious about this. Anything to make my son's daily life easier. I will look forward to hearing how it goes for you Moira.

[Moira]

Thanks, Sammi.
Things seem to be getting harder for my son lately... I am so hoping for something to truly help him. Like you said, "anything to make my son's daily life easier".
I had to change his four appointments to starting in January - so I will let everyone know here once we get into them.
Moira

[Moira]

Well.... My son has had three appointments with the hypnotherapist so far. I realize now that this is not going to be a quick fix.... just like everything else with spd.
The hypnotherapist has developed a great connection with my son - we're very impressed with the way he relates and how happy my son is at the appointments.
The first thing he's working on with my son is establishing a rating scale (0 to 12 - like inches on a one foot ruler - 0 is no discomfort) that my son can think about his level of discomfort and rate each day on a calendar. So far he's rated his days between 4.5 and 12. The hypnotherapist says the next step will be helping my son work down his discomfort in his mind. I don't see any indication that this stage has started yet.
It seems like these appointments could go on for a long time. I'm not sure. Our insurance will cover the appointments once we hit our annual deductible.

[John C.Creet]

Hypnotherapy could help persons who have sensory issues, as it relaxes the conscious cognitive process in the brain , this allows the parasympathetic nervous system to kick in and inturn relieve the person of any anxiety attached from these sensory issues. Learning to relax deeply is the practice to be mastered. And this will help any person who has sensory defenses. Please see http://sublimemindsystem.blogspot.com

[Moira]

My son is still going to see the hypnotherapist. Now about once per month, down from twice per month. It still helps. This hypnotherapist is an MD who specializes in pediatric behavioral issues. The type of hypnotherapy is not traditional - it kind of seems like they are just talking and joking around. Still, the hypnotherapist has been able to give my son a couple of suggestions - or - told him he needs to do these things - and my son has actually done them.
The first was a bath each week - which it had been a year since my son had taken a bath (had only swam and dripped dry in the same clothes). Now, my son has been taking a bath each week for about 5 or 6 months... still challenging for him but he does it.
The second thing was stopping skin picking. My son had open wounds all over his hands and arms that had started as eczema but he would never let them heal. The hypnotherapist talked to him about this... and within a week they were healing up. They have been completely healed all summer.
The most pressing next concerns are my son wearing the seatbelt correctly (which the hypnotherapist has discussed with him a number of times and there has been some improvement but not quite right yet), also anger management, and being able to wash his clothes and put them back on clean. Maybe later we'll think about wearing something more than one outfit for 3 to 6 months straight.
Anyway, I wanted to update to let people know that I really think the hypnotherapy has helped on a couple of key points. The issues are still challenging for my son... but he is able to cope better with them and somehow change his behaviors.