Look at her smile

This lovely young lady

is Poppy who was 9 years old, when she came to see me for a session at the beginning of the year (2024). Now it is October and she has sent me her latest photo to show me how she is very confidently wearing her almost invisible braces! Just look at her smile!

She came to see me about ten months ago
because she was finding it almost impossible to put the Invisalign braces into her mouth. Her orthodontist had given them to her a couple of months previously and during that time she just hadn’t managed to do it although a part of her really wanted to! Poppy had tried a variety of ways to insert them, including calming her breathing, which was a very good idea, but despite that, she had not succeeded in putting the brace on her teeth as her fear was too strong!

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to straighten her teeth …

she certainly did! The reason was that for years she had had a fear of the dentist and having things done in her mouth so the idea of inserting and wearing this brace everyday was completely terrifying to her.

Excellent imagination plus some appropriate hypnotic suggestions

So, when she explained how scared she was I got her to use her excellent imagination plus some appropriate hypnotic suggestions to let go of the fear. I got her to remember and relive the strong confidence that she displayed when she was swimming. She had told me how she loved jumping into the swimming pool in the deep end and swimming very happily and confidently.

Confidence and bravery

I showed her how to use this confidence and bravery, which she understood was in fact a very real part of her, when putting the brace in her mouth. So, she saw this bravery in her mind and she felt it inside her body and I helped her store it inside herself so she could bring it out and use it in all sorts of situations easily and effortlessly in the future. Using these strong, brave feelings, we did lots more imaginative activities in regard to inserting the brace.

A supportive, lightly hypnotic audio

After the session itself I made her a supportive, lightly hypnotic audio to listen to regularly, ideally just before sleep. This actually increased and strengthened Poppy’s brave and carefree feelings every time she listened  and imagined actually inserting the brace with ease and success.

She is proud and I am delighted

So, I believe now that she is rightly very proud of her achievement (her parents too!) and maybe you can imagine just how delighted I was to receive the mail with her photo!

For more information (with no pressure), please contact Lynda.hudson@firstwayforward.com

I am author of ‘Scripts and Strategies in Hypnotherapy for Children’ and an experienced hypnotherapist who specialises in working with children.