Child Development

Hypnotherapy is a method of treatment for resistant obesity. This study was undertaken to ascertain the efficacy and/or risks it holds for adolescents. All tended to see hypnosis as a quick solution to longstanding problems. Other forms of weight control therapy had been unsuccessful. Untoward reactions occurred in many teenagers. These included: dissociated state, depersonalization, anxiety and fears. Patients who were not in a deep state of hypnosis were disappointed and viewed this as another failure experience.

The treatment of children aged 1-18 who experienced physical pain from an acute burn and the emotional pain of disfigurement offers a prototype for treatment of pain and understanding its impact on the child's emotional life. The author presents an initial report on differential response to and treatment of burn pain in infancy, the preschool years, latency, preadolescence, and adolescence.

Moral reasoning was assessed with two dilemmas from the Kohlberg Moral Judgment Interview (1976) in 7 adults who were hypnotically age regressed to four ages: 15, 12, 9, and 6 years. Seven adults in a control group under task-motivation instructions were age regressed to the same ages and administered the dilemmas. Age-regressed moral maturity scores for both groups were compared to pretest scores, to data for actual 15-, 12-, 9-, and 6-year-olds from other studies, and to each other.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of self-hypnosis on the perceived self-competence of children undergoing treatment for cancer and to determine longitudinal differences in perception of self-competence over time. Twenty-two children were randomized into an experimental group (taught self-hypnosis) and a control group (given standard care). Data were collected using the Harter Perceived Self-Competence Profile (HPSCP) during four courses of chemotherapy.

Childhood psychic trauma appears to be a crucial etiological factor in the development of a number of serious disorders both in childhood and in adulthood. Like childhood rheumatic fever, psychic trauma sets a number of different problems into motion, any of which may lead to a definable mental condition. The author suggests four characteristics related to childhood trauma that appear to last for long periods of life, no matter what diagnosis the patient eventually receives.

This article revisits the too-long-forgotten relation between hypnosis and development, illuminating common processes underlying both, and using research on one to provide insights into the other. Hypnosis is defined within a communications framework, and essential features of hypnosis are identified in the communicative exchanges of the first months of life. This forces a reconsideration of our understanding of the ontogenesis of hypnosis. Hypnosis, in turn, offers important insights into development.

Children who have survived ritual abuse have endured physical, psychological, and sexual trauma; brain-washing; and mind-altering drugs. Their trust in adults has been eroded. Their coping strategies include anxiety, denial, self-hypnosis, dissociation, and self-mutilation. Although reports of ritual abuse initially seem hard to believe, nurses have a responsibility to detect clues to abuse, diagnose the child's responses, and recognize controversial issues regarding ritual abuse.

Evidence indicates that hypnotic responsivity in children younger than 8 years of age differs significantly from that of older children and adults. The sudden increase in responsiveness around age 8, differing patterns of item difficulty for young children, specific problems with hypnotic dream and age regression items, and the lack of conceptual distinction between volition and nonvolition argue for a fundamental discontinuity between young children and adults regarding responsivity.