Sick child: Hypnosis to keep the situation bearable

I recently read a study that even people who suffer from a seriously ill child, such as one with cancer, can still be happy. I found that quite strange, but not entirely incomprehensible.

In this blog article, read more about the impact of a sick child on your life and how hypnosis helps you with stress management, your well-being and being able to be happy despite the illness.

Impact of sick child

If you have a sick child, this won't be much news to you, but for future hypnotherapists, this paragraph is equally important.

Parents of a sick child naturally experience a lot of stress. This can be acute stress , but it can also cause depression and anxiety. About half of parents of a seriously ill child experience symptoms of acute stress disorder after 4 weeks.

About ^1/3rd (also) suffer from depression and anxiety.

And also about ^1/3rd are especially affected by stress.

For this, it does not matter if the child is suffering from a heart condition, cancer or is in the intensive care unit[1].

One way to deal with stress and anxiety is to have hope.

What parents "hope for" varies during the course of illness and also after any death of a child.

Parents hope in the beginning of the journey especially that:

1. The quality of life remains good.
2. Physical functioning remains good.
3. The future well-being well remains.
4. And that medical care is good.

Over time, parents focus mainly on:

1. That quality of life remains good.
2. That future well-being remains good.
3. That there is a greater meaning in all this suffering[2].

A sick child needs care. When a child is sick for a long time, it often falls on the shoulders of the mother, who consequently stops working. In the process, there is less free time, or time to do fun activities with the family. However, if it is possible to hire help to care for your child, there need not be many negative consequences in terms of time constraints and the mother's ability to work[3].

People also often think that a sick child has a negative impact on the parents' relationship with each other, but this is no different from people with healthy children[4].

So if a relationship is good, a sick child will not necessarily cause the relationship to suddenly become worse. However, if a relationship is bad, the relationship won't necessarily get better either. This has been studied with parents of more than 3,000 children.

Influence of parents on child recovery

So parents obviously have a lot of trouble with a sick child. It can be very tough emotionally, and how parents react in turn affects the child himself.

Research on children with brain trauma (concussions) shows that children's recovery takes longer when parents are very stressed. The time in the hospital is the same, but recovery at home takes longer in that case[5].

Children can get PTSD themselves from having to undergo surgery, but if parents are mentally flexible, that chance is already reduced a lot. So good parental mental health also helps the children's mental health after they have been in the hospital[6].

When a parent is visibly anxious, it is often not good for children's (mental) recovery either[7].

Stress management for parents of a sick child

All these facts about the impact a seriously ill child can have and the interaction with the child's recovery also provides inputs for stress management for parents.

Reducing stress can be done in many ways. Polish research shows that having a plan for parents is important for reducing stress and acceptance[8].

After all, parents expect a healthy baby and for parenthood to be fun with only the "normal" struggles. Then sometimes it can be hard to accept that your baby has contracted an illness.

Other ways parents deal with the stress of illness is:

1. Talking to other people about it.
2. Paying attention to the positive aspects of things.
3. Cry.
4. Prayer[9].
5. Meeting with friends[10].

In addition, breathing techniques and progressive muscle relaxation can also do much to reduce stress[11].

Hypnosis for parents with a sick child

So there are a variety of ways to deal with stress, but parents may have limiting beliefs about, for example, talking to other people about the situation and to meet up with friends while their child is sick.

In that case, a hypnotherapist can help remove those barriers.

In addition, hypnosis can also help in other ways. In child hypnosis , parents also play a large role. Because of this, child hypnosis is often actually normal hypnosis for parents, to manage their child's problems and to have a therapeutic role for their child[12].

Hypnosis can also help support breathing techniques and muscle relaxation if this is difficult from within yourself.

Research also shows that hypnotherapy helps against stress in general[13].

In hypnotherapy, a hypnotherapist can help parents use their internal resources. For example, the power of visualizations cannot be underestimated.

For example, if it is necessary to have a plan, visualizing certain goals can do a lot to help form a plan.

When it comes to staying calm in difficult situations, this can be practiced.

The ego can also be strengthened for greater self-confidence and calmness during the difficult period when a child is seriously ill.

Self-hypnosis against anxiety and stress

Self-hypnosis is also widely used for anxiety and stress and can be a substitute for medication[14]. Ideal for people who prefer not to take a pill to deal with a difficult period in their lives.

Improve wellness

As mentioned, parental response is important for the child's well-being. Because children copy, it is important for parents to monitor their own well-being as well.

Focusing on positivity is something that promotes well-being, and that is precisely something that can be done with hypnotherapy. Like you can think of a spring shower as rain, or just as wonderful refreshment.

In this case, suggestions can be used that address perception, emotion, thoughts and behavior[15]. Thus, behaviors that improve well-being can be examined and how they can be integrated into the parents' (and child's) life.

Well-being can also be promoted with a self-hypnosis MP3. So that people can perform guided self-hypnosis as it were. Research shows that this helped reduce stress and improve well-being for 71% of participants[16].

We also have a self-hypnosis mp3 for experiencing more light in your life.

Finding Happiness

This may sound very crazy, but if your child is really very sick this is all the more important, so that parents make memories not only of the treatments, but also of happy moments with their sick child.

Hypnosis helps people find happiness by helping to change your emotions. In doing so, visualizations of happy moments can strengthen the neurological connections that create happiness, making it easier to experience happiness.

In addition, your interpretation of memories, your present life and the future can be changed with hypnosis. As a result, you are more positive about it[17].

Again, this offers hope.

Hypnosis for Parents

So parents can benefit greatly from hypnosis, especially if their child is seriously ill. Often a few sessions are enough to look at the situation in a different way and to cope better with the stress of the illness.

In addition, parents can also learn techniques for pediatric hypnosis to help their child also go through the disease with as little mental distress as possible.

Learn Hypnosis

Want to help parents cope well with all the stresses and stimuli of parenthood? Then knowledge of hypnotherapy can be incredibly valuable.

With us, you can take a 3 consecutive course to become a hypnotherapist, but of course you can also use this knowledge as a coach.

Sign up for our free master class for an introduction.

Or register directly for one of our events and trainings.

You can take the training either in class here at the location, or live online. Ideal if you can't be at the location for a while or travel time makes it difficult for you to attend the training in Assendelft.

Click here for our calendar.

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Want to learn more about whether the training is right for you? Schedule a 1-on-1 consultation here.

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