Children with ADD/ADHD and Hypnosis - Suggestions and Idea's Please

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Permalink Reply by James Hammett on September 16, 2008 at 7:01pm

I've read a couple of places about the "imagine arm" or "Imagination Arm". Which s supposed to work with children. (I think it is one of bandler's books)

I was at a seminar and the speaker mention using 3,4 and 5 points of attention to help calm kids with ADHD. Its not really hypnosis, but more of a practice/tool they can learn. Have them:
1. Pick a point in front of them
2. Will still focusing on that 1st point at one on either side
3. Slowly expand the distance between the 3 points.

4. Add another point (4 points)
5. Add a 5th point.

Long ago I had a martial arts/tai chi instructor describe something like this using candles. (But it did not involve ADHD).

later,
James

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Permalink Reply by Donna Carter on September 16, 2008 at 7:03pm

I know how difficult it can be to have an ADHD child sit still. Thankfully, you really don't have to "use" hypnosis with these children. I mean, basically depending on the childs age...they are probably in a state of hypnosis for the greater part of their day! So, make sure you are giving good suggestions all day long.

Might I, instead, suggest - operant conditioning. I hold workshops/seminars at local elementary and junior high schools on how to 'get wanted behavior' from your children. I have worked with parents who have children with ADHD as well as used operant conditioning to get wanted responses from children with learning disabilities. The results are AMAZING!
My best friends kids (two boys) have diagnosed ADHD. By using operant conditioning... her 10 year old child went from failing at reading in school... to reading ALL the Harry Potter series - in less than a year. He is now an AWESOME reader. Her second child is following in those footsteps. He seemed a problem child in school...now he is one of the best in class.

I would like to remind you that "anything" that is reinforced...is likely to occur again. (tape that on your refrigerator) ANYTHING that is reinforced is likely to occur again!!!!! This is true for people and animals.
So, one must look at the behavior and try to key in on what is reinforcing their current bad behavior - and YES there is SOMETHING reinforcing it. It isn't always possible to find what is reinforcing it, and that's okay... you can still change the behavior, however - if you can see what his/her payoff is - it really speeds up behavior change. Because...you can stop reinforcing it - and the behavior becomes extinct.

The key with operant conditioning is to 'notice the good behavior' or if there isn't any...then notice the 'no behavior' - notice it and reinforce it!

How old is the child?
I would be glad to give you more information on this (and maybe an example or two) if it interests you.
Depending on childs age...you can also add bedtime stories (hypnosis) - I can give you examples of that as well. It is sooo much easier talking to them as they are laying in bed!!

My best,
Donna.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on September 16, 2008 at 7:57pm

Hi Robert, et al

I will be challenging ADD/ADHD as a pharma-driven medical construct on my new Alternative Medical Group in the near future --

For now, my advice is focus on what your son can do - find things that do hold his attention and work from there -Below is some food for thought:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23388389-details/The+gre...
The great ADHD myth
10.03.07

Have hyperactive kids been misdiagnosed with ADD?

The psychiatrist who identified attention deficit disorder - the condition blamed for the bad behaviour of hundreds of thousands of children - has admitted that many may not really be ill.

Dr Robert Spitzer said that up to 30 per cent of youngsters classified as suffering from disruptive and hyperactive conditions could have been misdiagnosed.

They may simply be showing perfectly normal signs of being happy or sad, he said.

'Many of these conditions might be normal reactions which are not really disorders,' he continued.

Dr Spitzer developed the bible of mental disorder classification in the 1970s and 1980s, which identified dozens of new conditions including ADD and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Since then hundreds of thousands of children have been diagnosed with ADD, a behavioural disorder linked to poor attention span, and ADHD, which adds an element of hyperactivity.

The disorders describe disruptive and restless behaviour that results in children having difficulty focusing their attention on specific tasks. ADHD is most commonly noticed at the age of five, and as many as one in 30 British children is said to have it.

It is often treated with drugs, with Ritalin being the most commonly prescribed.

Some scientists say ADHD is a genetic disorder that does not disappear with adulthood.

But sceptics believe the diagnosis is a 'biobabble' label, which has evolved from a soundbite culture that is too prepared to medicalise anti-social human traits.

Dr Spitzer, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York, now says the classification led to many people being diagnosed as medically disordered when their mood swings and behaviour were simply normal feelings of happiness and sadness.

In a BBC2 documentary series The Trap, which begins on Sunday, he says that between 20 and 30 per cent of mental disorder diagnoses may be incorrect.

His admission comes as figures show that the amount spent by the Health Service on drugs to treat ADHD and similar disorders in children trebled to £12 million in just five years, from 1999-2003.

Almost 400,000 British children aged between five and 19 are believed to be on the drugs - despite doctors' fears about side-effects.

That is the equivalent of every child in Britain each taking more than four doses of the drugs every year.

NHS guidelines recommend drug treatment for the most severely affected, although there have been reports of cardiovascular disorders, hallucinations and even suicidal thoughts.

There have been at least nine deaths reported to the UK's Medicinesand Healthcare products Regulatory Agency since Ritalin became available in the early 1990s.

But Dr Spitzer, who chaired the taskforce that compiled the international Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, said he is less concerned by wrong diagnoses and possible side-effects from drugs, than failing to prescribe them where needed.

'By and large the treatments for these disorders don't have serious side effects,' he told the Times Educational Supplement.

'I mean, some do, but they're not that serious, whereas the failure to treat can often be very hard on the child and on the family.'

He acknowledged that some parents put pressure on doctors to diagnose ADHD and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and prescribe drugs.

'We don't know to what extent that's been happening inappropriately,' he added.

Ian Graham, headmaster of Slindon College, an independen

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Permalink Reply by Robert Dodge on September 16, 2008 at 11:52pm

Thank you everyone for your responses so far!
My son is 11 and thankfully is no longer perscribed Ritalin due to it making him extremely down and emotional and not really helping too much.
I will try the re-enforcement ideas and see how that goes.

Thank you again
Regards
Robert

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Permalink Reply by Jocelin on September 17, 2008 at 7:08pm

Hi Robert,
(I wrote this before I read the replies...operant conditioning sounds interesting too...thanks Donna!)

I was wondering the same thing. I'm teaching while I go to school to get certified in hypnosis. I find that ADD/ADHD is so prevalent these days. I want to help these kids and youth more. I would think hypnosis would be a great therapy for ADD/ADHD. You bring up a valid point...how to get them to stay still. I wonder if a combination of exercise firsttire them out) and then, hypnosis after the exercise....as long as they don't fall asleep. Hav(to e you educated(or, rather sold) your son first on how the hypnosis will really help him(with friends, in school) so that he is really interested in it and what it can do for him? All the best and let me know how it goes. (:~

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