Hypnotherapy in child psychiatry: the state of the art.
Children are more easily hypnotized than adults, and hypnotherapy as a method responds to the general developmental needs of children by addressing their ability for fantasy and imagination. Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis are tools with which to assess and develop protective factors, and enhance positive adjustment. Meta-analyses and overviews have demonstrated the effect of hypnotherapy in paediatric disorders like asthma, chronic and acute pain, and in procedure-related distress in cancer patients. We wanted to examine the use and benefits of hypnotherapy when applied to child psychiatric disorders. A review of a literature search from PubMed, PsychINFO and the Cochrane databases revealed 60 publications, mostly case reports based on 2-60 cases, addressing the use of hypnotherapy in various child psychiatric conditions. Findings indicate that hypnotherapy may be useful for a wide range of disorders and problems, and may be particularly valuable in the treatment of anxiety disorders and trauma-related conditions. In conclusion, knowledge of hypnosis is useful in clinical practice and hypnotherapy may play an important role as an adjunctive therapy in cognitive-behavioural treatment and family therapy. Additional qualitative and quantitative studies are needed to assess the place for hypnosis/hypnotherapy in child psychiatry.
Huynh
Melanie Ekholdt
ME
Section for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Rikshospitalet University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. huynh.melanie@gmail.com
Vandvik
Inger Helene
IH
Diseth
Trond H
TH
D000293:Adolescent; D000296:Adolescent Psychiatry / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002665:Child Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D040921:Stress Disorders, Traumatic / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome