Chloe is 5 years old and suffered from severe anxiety every time that she needed to do something new or transition to an environment where she was away from her parents. She described this anxiety as ‘the feeling’ and, although we worked with her to learn coping techniques such as deep breathing and positive imaging, the feeling still came upon her regularly in these situations and she would shake and cling, sometimes going into what I would call a full anxiety attack. This ‘feeling’ didn’t only happen in new situations, but reoccurred daily when it came time to head into school for her kindergarten class. This meant that a lot of preparation was involved on a daily basis to prepare for activities (especially new situations). It was sad to see her so filled with worry.

We decided to try hypnosis with Chloe and Wally felt that she was a good candidate because she was clearly able to identify ‘the feeling’. Of course, when we attended the session, Chloe took quite a while to adjust to the new environment and to relax enough that she was able to participate in the session. We made sure that Chloe brought her comfort items with her (a bear and a blankie) and Wally showed a great deal of patience with her allowing her time to adjust and making changes to his normal procedure so that she would feel comfortable (I was able to sit outside the door where she could talk to me through the door if she called out). Eventually Chloe and Wally were able to complete the Hypnotherapy session. Chloe no longer has ‘the feeling’ which is wonderful for her and for us! She does still get nervous and have anxious moments, but these feelings are no longer overwhelming and she is able to use coping techniques such as breath control to overcome them. We are so happy that she is able to relax more and just enjoy life!

Ken and Rebecca