Hypnosis ADD & ADHDUsing Hypnosis to Treat ADD/ADHD When you look at the statistics on ADD/ADHD, it’s astounding. In 1998, nine tons of Ritalin was consumed by young boys, and that’s only in the United States. There has been a lot of media attention on ADD/ADHD in recent years. We tend to hear only about the pharmaceutical drugs, such as Ritalin that help people with ADD or ADHD. There has been a lot of positive and negative feedback about the use of medication. Many parents have seen great changes in their children including less behavior problems. Teachers find their classrooms to be less disruptive and the drug allows children to focus on the material and various tasks. However, there is a negative side to Ritalin. Many parents feel as if their children’s personalities change. Some side effects include loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, and irritability. There are other options out there, other than medication to treat ADD or ADHD. At the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in 1999, a report was given about the usage of neurotherapy and hypnosis to treat ADD and ADHD. The study looked at the success of neurotherapy and found that it took about 40-80 neurotherapy sessions to reach a successful treatment of ADD/ADHD. In other words, it took a long time to see results of the treatment. A study was performed by Arreed and Marianne Barabasz. They included 19 patients in their study, of which the average age was 12 years old. And they averaged 6.3 years of using medication and behavior modification treatment to treat their ADHD. Before the study was performed, parents were asked to score their children based on the Attention Deficit Disorder Evaluation Scale. In this study, the clinician asked each patient to move their eyes up as if they are focusing their eyes on their forehead. After concentration and steadiness are achieved, the clinician tells the patient to focus on relaxing and feeling calm. Once the clinician sees signs of hypnosis, the clinicians asks the patient to raise their finger when they feel relaxed, yet very alert. When the patient raises their finger, the clinician gives suggestions to the patient such as “in this special state of alertness you will be able to focus your attention anyway you like, you can concentrate as completely as you desire.” The patient is then asked to move their eyes back down and start focusing on a certain task at hand. After the study, parents were asked to score their children again and a significant improvement was seen in all of the patients. The study showed improvement in inattentiveness, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Of the 19 patients, 15 of them were taken off medication, and the other four reduced their dosage by a considerable amount. These results were achieved after an average of 23.2 sessions which took on average, 11.2 weeks. This shows that by using alert-hypnosis in addition to neurotherapy, the number of sessions and amount of time is greatly reduced. In my practice, I have seen many patients that haven’t had the ability to focus their attention. Some had been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, while others wanted to learn how to block out distractions. Hypnotherapy is a great tool to achieve focus and concentration. Hypnosis gives you the ability to focus your attention on a task at hand and also trains you to avoid distraction. Source: Report presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (107th, Boston, MA, August 20-24, 1999). Steve G. Jones, M.Ed. Clinical Hypnotherapist Copyright © 2008 Steve G. Jones, M.Ed., Clinical Hypnotherapist Steve G. Jones is a board certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. He is a member of the National Guild of Hypnotists, American Board of Hypnotherapy, president of the American Alliance of Hypnotists, on the board of directors of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Lung Association, and director of the Steve G. Jones School of Hypnotherapy. Learn more about his products by visiting: www.SteveGJones.com Back to Hypnotherapists in Georgia More Info For Professionals
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