Hypnosis for treatment of insomnia in school-age children: a retrospective chart review

Abstract

BackgroundThe purposes of this study are to document psychosocial stressors and medical conditions associated with development of insomnia in school-age children and to report use of hypnosis for this condition.MethodsA retrospective chart review was performed for 84 children and adolescents with insomnia, excluding those with central or obstructive sleep apnea. All patients were offered and accepted instruction in self-hypnosis for treatment of insomnia, and for other symptoms if it was felt that these were amenable to therapy with hypnosis. Seventy-five patients returned for follow-up after the first hypnosis session. Their mean age was 12 years (range, 7–17). When insomnia did not resolve after the first instruction session, patients were offered the opportunity to use hypnosis to gain insight into the cause.ResultsYounger children were more likely to report that the insomnia was related to fears. Two or fewer hypnosis sessions were provided to 68% of the patients. Of the 70 patients reporting a delay in sleep onset of more than 30 minutes, 90% reported a reduction in sleep onset time following hypnosis. Of the 21 patients reporting nighttime awakenings more than once a week, 52% reported resolution of the awakenings and 38% reported improvement. Somatic complaints amenable to hypnosis were reported by 41%, including chest pain, dyspnea, functional abdominal pain, habit cough, headaches, and vocal cord dysfunction. Among these patients, 87% reported improvement or resolution of the somatic complaints following hypnosis.ConclusionUse of hypnosis appears to facilitate efficient therapy for insomnia in school-age children.

First effects of a multicomponent treatment for sleep disorders in children

“…Three sessions are conducted for children and three for parents. Components are based on established strategies55–57 and include stimulus control (SC) instructions, sleep hygiene education, and cognitive therapy for children and parents as well as imaginative or hypnotherapeutic and relaxation techniques for children. The children receive a soft toy, the leopard Kalimba, which is employed as a coping model and therapy puppet.…”

“…With regard to sleep disorders, there have been mostly single case studies or small treatment groups (TGs) and no control group (CG) studies 69–71. Only Anbar and Slothower57 applied hypnosis in a large sample of 84 children with insomnia at the age of 7–17 years and found a significant decrease in symptoms. However, they did not use a CG design.…”

Adding Hypnosis to the Therapeutic Toolbox of Pediatric Respiratory Care

“…In the same study, nighttime awakenings were reported to resolve in 52% and improve in 38% of 21 children. 26 Notably, at this Center, instruction in hypnosis was offered to 36% of 6-11-year-old children and 55% of 12-18-year-old children who were newly referred for evaluation of pulmonary symptoms during an 18-month period of study, because it was felt that there was a signifi cant psychological component in their presentation. 9 Thus, hypnosis appears to be applicable to a large number of pediatric patients with respiratory disorders.…”

Sleep coaching: non-pharmacological treatment of non-restorative sleep in Austrian railway shift workers

“…watching TV). Relaxation therapy such as hypnosis (23), self-hypnosis, autogenous training, and progressive muscle relaxation or biofeedback are also effective in reducing sleep onset latencies and improving sleep quality (24,25). An approach combining these techniques is more effective than simply applying sleep hygiene or cognitive behaviour alone (26,27).…”