Abstract
While pediatric integrative medicine (PIM) emphasizes an “evidence-based practice using multiple therapeutic modalities”; paradoxically, literature reviews examining the prevalence and/or efficacy of such mind–body approaches often address PIM modalities separately. Such contributions are relevant, yet documentation of how to deliver combined complementary approaches in children and youth are scarce. Nevertheless, integrative practitioners in clinical practice routinely mix approaches to meet the individual needs of each patient. Best practices are flexible, and include blending and augmenting services within the same session, and/or connecting modalities sequentially for an incremental effect, and/or referring to outside resources for additional interventions. Resonating with integrative medicine’s definition, this article’s goal is to demonstrate paradigms that “bring together complementary approaches in a coordinated way within clinical practice” by linking clinical hypnosis, the trail-blazer modality in PIM’s history, with mindfulness, biofeedback, acupuncture, and yoga. Following the consideration of the overlap of guided imagery with hypnosis and an abridged literature report, this clinical perspective considers the selection of modalities within a collaborative relationship with the child/teen and parents, emphasizing goodness-of-fit with patients’ contexts, e.g., symptoms, resources, interests, goals, and developmental stage. Case vignettes illustrate practical strategies for mixing approaches.
Highlights
For children who are very imaginative, imagery-oriented, and/or have average-to-high executive function or attention spans, hypnosis and mindfulness can be seamlessly woven together from the outset for sessions of 5–20 min in length—some children will make their preferences for various approaches known over time, so longitudinal dialogue and debriefing with each individual patient and family about how they do their ongoing practice is essential for the clinician to learn how and when to blend approaches or lean more heavily on one approach
Rapport with F. and knowledge of his facility and interest in videogames were identified as key resources that made this easy to accomplish, in part because the heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback system selected has games that appeal to various ages and interests in childhood and adolescence
Just as we emphasize the importance of tailoring hypnotic approaches to the developmental level and capacity of the young [9,102], so it is essential that biofeedback approaches be selected that appeal to the interests and developmental capacity of the patient
Summary
The cornerstone of pediatric mind–body approaches is clinical hypnosis—i.e., positive, mastery-oriented suggestions coupled with imagery to optimize individualized goals related to health, well-being, self-regulation, and resilience [1,2]—which supports a family [3] and preventative [4]. Like GI, combining imagery while tapping the child’s senses is routinely used in pediatric hypnosis [78] and both often incorporate relaxation Further support for this hypothesis is the literature’s repeated recognition of these overlapping elements. Because it is our opinion that a personalized approach optimizes the potential for a meaningful therapeutic outcome, hopefully, future studies will contrast the individually designed intervention of pediatric hypnosis with these two different modes of script delivery
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
