Of course, we would all like to consider childhood as a carefree time, full of happiness, love and laughter. However the reality is that many children face similar challenges in every day life as their adult parents, the difference for children, is that they do not have the wisdom or years of experience to make sense of their feelings.
It is claimed by many child psychologists that between the ages of 3 years and 11 years is an imprint period. This means that childhood experiences between these ages are likely to have an impact on who that child becomes, how they feel, behave and represent the world to themselves in later life. This is why it is extremely important that a child is given the opportunity to understand their feelings and emotions. Failure to do so, could lead to that child growing up and feeling unable to ever achieve their full potential.
Common problems for children include:
- Exam stress e.g. 11+ examinations, GCSE’s or specialist subject exams.
- Lack of Confidence caused by natural shyness or life experiences.
- Low Self Esteem e.g. self doubt, lack of assertiveness, negative beliefs, sensitivity.
- Phobias From mild fears to sheer terror.
- Bereavement– remember this can be a confusing time for children, they may react to the emotions of others who are close to them or may experience a deep loss for someone/something that may be regarded as minor by others around them.
- Parents Divorce or any other kind of changes in home life can also cause disruption to an ordinarily balanced emotional state.
Prior to becoming a Hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner, Gemma Bailey spent over a decade working with children in various childcare settings, ranging from Private Day Nurseries, Schools, Creches, as a Nanny and Managing Day Care Setting. She qualified as a Nursery Nurse in 1997 (NNEB) and was proud to achieve one of the best portfolios nationwide in that year as well as obtaining the Mulberry Award, presented by my college for outstanding endeavours throughout my training.
Now, in her work as a Hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner, she has taught her team at the Hypnotherapy & NLP Clinic to use both sets of skills. Enabling them to relate to children in a way that empowers them and engages them with their imagination to create the subconscious developments that need to be made. Gemma trained as a Nursery Nurse at a time when learning was encouraged through play, and it is using this mind set that she now teaches the practitioners how to gain such good rapport with their younger patients
Children are much easier patients than adults as their minds are more open to the idea of improvement. They have not received the same conditioning from life that adults have. This means that results occur much more quickly when working with children. we ask parents to support their child throughout their treatment in a variety of ways, and this will usually involve others within the family behaving or reacting in new ways. Since our practitioners work alone with the child after the initial consultation involving the child and parent(s) they am able to build up good rapport with the child, and if we’re honest, they do tend to express themselves a little better when their parents are not around. This is because when the parents are in the room, they would let their parents do most of the talking and thinking! All of our practitioners have a valid CRB clearance, and so parents should feel comfortable and confident about leaving a child in our care. To View qualifications and registered body details, click here.
The Hypnotherapy and NLP Clinic also supports NLP4Kids. NLP4Kids provide practical solutions to help children overcome emotional challenges, to increase confidence and self esteem and therefore enable children to reach a greater learning potential. The workshops are designed and adapted from the effective techniques in NLP to help children to become better able to manage their own emotional states, to become inspired and motivated by the learning opportunities that are offered to them. The techniques used are delivered in a way that is fun and comprehendible for children, encouraging them to co-operate more effectively with other students as well as improving their confidence and commitment when working individually.
Click Here to find out more about NLP4Kids workshops.
