Childhood can be a time of magic. Can you remember jumping on sofa boats with cushions as stepping stones to save you from the circling sharks? A blanket over a table as a makeshift tent or fairy castle, a cardboard rocket or ship with toilet roll telescopes? We could dream and imagine we were anything we wanted, there were no rules and we ‘acted as if’.
When children using their imaginations they are developing crucial psychologies to help them navigate their world around them and their relationship to it. This imaginative play gives them the opportunity to solve problems, create new possibilities which help develop creative thinking. They can use speech and play to practise parts of their day they may be unsure about. Whether that may be playing “doctors and nurses” to replay a trip to the doctors or scolding their dolls or teddies to rein-act how it feels to be told off.
This pretend play or “acting as if” is a crucial part of child development and really useful to work with in therapy. We can practise through play and role-play, situations they are worried about or use arts and crafts to really understand how they are feeling. Often this is when the conscious mind is most relaxed and already in a semi hypnotic state, it is during this time we can use positive suggestions. Research shows children aged 8-12 are most receptive to hypnotherapy and this we can utilise. For any parent who has already kissed their child’s cut, bump or bruise better they will already have witnessed the power of suggestion with children. Similarly just as a child is about to fall asleep is a perfect time to listen with your child to relaxation and gentle hypnotherapy scripts targeted to each child’s interests and goals. Your child’s conscious mind is relaxed, positive and powerful affirmations enter your child’s mind more easily.
‘Acting as if’ is a great tool for your child to use when they are scared, anxious or in a situation they don’t feel comfortable in. We can ask, what do they think their favourite superhero might do in the same situation or how do they think their favourite singer or footballer may act?
This works for adults too, we all get nervous in some social situations so why not act like someone you admire, or you think has lots of confidence? You’ll be surprised how much it does work. By ‘acting as if’ we can be free to be anything we want just imagine that… and as William Arthur Ward said:
“If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.”
