Product reviews for Hypnosis in Pediatric Practice (PAL)

This documentary, which is what it calls itself, is an excellent piece of work. The editing and content inclusion gives a wonderful overview of hypnosis in pediatrics medicine, and in my opinion ought to be course material for all medical students and hypnotherapists. It does not intrude into the field of child psychotherapy or psychiatry but stays well within the field of the use of hypnosis in pediatric medicine.

Sugarman is a community pediatrician in Rochester, New York, where he serves as Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He is joined by Robert Adder, PhD, MD; Robert Haggerty, MD; Daniel P, Kohen, MD; Richard E. Kreipe, MD; and Karen Olness MD. All of these professional participants in this documentary seem to have considerable experience in both clinical hypnosis, biofeedback and psychoneuroimmunology in pediatrics.

Included is footage of those clinicians working with children and hypnosis in the fields of pain control, dealing with needle phobias, nocturnal enuresis, psychosomatic gastrointestinal disorders, juvenile migraines, medication tolerance, end-stage renal failure, leukaemia and asthma. Also, what is of great use to the viewer is footage of follow-up where those patients have clearly benefited by hypnotic intervention. Many a GP and practice nurse would do well to have this teaching footage on their shelves.

As is well pointed out pediatric hypnosis requires different criteria than other applications including different approaches to induction and post-hypnotic suggestions. There is great emphasis on getting the little patients to practise self-hypnosis under their own volitions without parental pressure. In order to foster the sense of trust between the clinician and the pediatric patient, the socio-behavioural theory that all hypnosis being self-hypnosis is laboured, which is the only major blind spot in the production.

Of all the footage of child hypnosis in pediatrics I have seen, this documentary is one that medical libraries would wisely have as standard upon their shelves. It is blatantly suggesting medication reduction using autonomous pediatric self-care through hypnosis in a very wise and down-to-earth way. This can be quite surprising and brave of the documentary's creators when one learns that some of the funding for this project actually came from drug companies.

Review by Dr Tracie O'Keefe DCH, Hypnosis Australia Online Journal