Children are undergoing hypnosis to cope with the stress of NAPLAN tests.

Courier Mail News

DESPERATE parents are taking children to hypnotists to wipe out NAPLAN stress.

“Children are making themselves physically ill with worry over these tests and I have found I can make a big difference in bringing peace to their young lives,” said the Gold Coast’s Wayne Donnelly, who calls himself a hypnotist rather than a hypnotherapist.

Would you hypnotise your kids? Tell us here

Using techniques once reserved for stage shows, Mr Donnelly works with children using neuro linguistic programming (NLP).

“At first I thought there may be other underlying fears and didn’t understand that a school test could cause such anxiety,” he said. “But that’s exactly what it has been doing – these children are making themselves physically sick over whether they pass or fail NAPLAN.”

He worked previously as an ­accountant and business coach but reinvented himself after the GFC.

Tanya Targett said her daughter Olivia, 9, started worrying about NAPLAN in Grade 2.

“As soon as we got through the Grade 3 testing, she started stressing about the Grade 5 test. It was constant. This damn thing was constantly on her mind, almost in a sense stealing her childhood and the stress was manifesting physically, with tummy pains and tears – she just didn’t want to go to school,” Ms Targett, 39, said.

Despite her fears, the nine-year-old excelled in the Grade 3 tests.

“We had discussed the test issues with the GP and child psychologist but Olivia kept sinking back into the anxiety. I had heard about hypnotism and was desperate for a solution. It was instant success. From that one $160 session, she transformed back into a happy, healthy child and has not looked back,” she said.

“There was nothing weird about the session and I was there with her. It was not a hypnotic trance but like a very laid-back conversation between them.

“He changed the meaning of NAPLAN in her mind and linked the word to the music from her favourite My Little Pony show. She tells me that is what she hears now every time the dreaded word NAPLAN comes up and there is no bad reaction.”

Brisbane child psychologist Judith Locke believes the pressures on children about NAPLAN tests are causing problems for parents.

“There is a ridiculous pressure put on schools and students about NAPLAN and it has not been at all beneficial. I will say the student who needs hypnotherapy about such a test, I would suspect, has issues to do with worry and anxiety that need to be addressed with the aid of a clinical psychologist using proven treatments and working with the whole family,” she said.

DEPRESSION, ANXIETY PLAGUE TEENAGE GIRLS

INCREASING numbers of teenage girls are turning up at the Mater Children’s Hospital in Brisbane with depression and anxiety, mirroring a worldwide trend.

Child and adolescent psychiatrist William Bor said studies indicated teenage girls were experiencing significantly higher rates of depression and anxiety this century compared to the latter part of the 1900s.

“More young women are presenting to the Mater Children’s casualty department and that’s increased over five years,” Dr Bor said. “Typically, it’s 14-year-old girls who have experience of depression and … stress.”

While the causes are not clear, he said more stress in schools was a contributing factor.

“At the Mater, the referrals vary depending on the time of the school year. It’s quiet in school holidays,”

Dr Bor said. “It’s worst during the school term, particularly at exam times. Kids are facing more pressure to complete Year 12. There’s limited capacity to get good jobs if they leave school early.”

As Queensland Year 12s prepare to sit the core skills test next month, Dr Bor called for more programs in schools to help instil resilience in students and to educate them about identifying depressive feelings.

Hypnosis to Cope with Exams and Test Stress

Martin Kiely Hypnosis Centre Cork will provide you with professional specialized hypnosis services to help you improve your learning skills to maximize your study time. Martin will teach you simple, effective and easy to use self-hypnosis exercises that many clients have successfully used to take back control over this area of their life.

Contact Martin Kiely Hypnosis Centre Cork, Ireland, for more information.

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 021-4870870