It would be great if we could keep fear and phobia, anxiety and distress, out of childhood, or at least the more extreme forms which become debilitating and limiting. It’s concerning that mental health services are overwhelmed and waiting lists for support and treatment continue to grow. And it’s particularly worrying for parents, who see the struggles of their child with, at times, limited or no access to support. There is, though, a way to challenge children to beat recurring fears and phobias now.
Obviously, I would love to be able to say that coaching, NLP and hypnosis can solve all mental health issues. Undoubtedly, though, this is definitely not the case. Where coaching, NLP and hypnosis can help is with that anxiety which the result of the “fight or flight” response getting into overdrive. Similarly, it can help with the phobias which can affect us at any time in our lives.
I recently worked with a young man, aged 10. His fear of going the dentist meant that he could not sit in the dentist’s chair. Frustratingly, at least for the dentist, he could not tip his head back and open his mouth wide. Worse still, he could not tolerate the dentist putting anything in his mouth. Trips to the dentist resulted in him standing up, opening his mouth and the dentist doing a visual check. Visits, which he would start so optimistically, would end in tears.
One of the amazing things about children is how accepting and willing to experiment they usually are. They just accept and absorb stuff, without that pesky “why” question getting in the way. We adults could certainly learn a thing or two. Perhaps learning to embrace and let out our inner child from time to time.
Firstly, the young man talked about his fears. Secondly, we defined a “queasy” scale (his choice of word). Finally, we worked out what a good outcome would be for him.
We messed around with his phobia. Eventually, we created a model scenario, one in which it all went well. Critically, he defined success and a successful outcome. And then we ran a phobia cure with the slightly bonkers “Baby Shark” as the soundtrack. He was in charge at all times, his answers were always the right ones and the best ones because they were the honest ones. And that was the deal, be honest.
He didn’t make it into the dentist’s chair the first time around. Amazingly, he did open wide and tip his head back, and the dentist used a mirror to check his teeth. Unsurprisingly, he was ecstatic. I was ecstatic for him. His parents were delighted. And the dentist, well she now has “Baby Shark” as an earworm. I wonder what we can do about that!
And now? Well, the latest is he goes to the dentist, sits back, opens his mouth really wide and lets the dentist check his teeth. No drama. No big deal.
How about you? Ready to address the fear and the phobia? At the point where you can support your child to do the same? If you know what to do, do it now. Or, book an initial consultation here if you’re not sure. You know that you can do it, and you know that it makes sense, don’t you?
