Combining Clown Therapy and Hypnotherapy to Enhance Healing

Combining Clown Therapy and Hypnotherapy to Enhance Healing - Healing from the Inside Out

Medical clowns have a way of mesmerizing children with their performance. The magic, humor, and movements of the clown focus the child's attention. Might this be a window of opportunity for the medical clown to make a few healing hypnotic suggestions to the child?

 

Hypnosis has long been known to be a good healing aid. Even the American Medical Association has recognized this when applied by a qualified health professional. Currently, few, if any, medical clowns use hypnotherapeutic suggestions in their performance. The clown could even teach the child to hypnotize themselves for difficult medical procedures. Who better could describe flying away on a magic carpet than a clown or performer? 

The hypnotic suggestions could be embedded within the clown's performance. There are established hypnotic scripts available for children. The clown could then weave these suggestions within the performance. The child would be entertained, relaxed, and given healing suggestions all at the same time. 

On the other end of life, many senile adults are child-like. Therefore, these same techniques could be tried in geriatric settings. 

Below are listed some uses where hypnosis has helped children manage difficult situations, especially in a hospital environment.

1. Acute pain management, especially when the pain is known to be imminent, such as repeated treatment sessions. These types of treatments might include swallowing pills, injections, IV initiation, spinal taps, or bone marrow procedures.
2. Chronic pain can also be managed effectively.
3. Relaxation is known to promote healing, as well as to make medical procedures easier.
4. Anxiety might very well be impeding breathing, accelerating heart rate, and just making the child more uncomfortable than necessary.
5. Reduce cancer pain and perhaps even promote remission. Hypnosis has even been shown to improve the immune system, probably by reducing overall stress.
6. Nausea can be controlled, especially during chemotherapy.
7. Anxiety of being separated from parent and familiar surroundings can be reduced.
8. Assist getting to sleep, which of course is healing in itself.

Hypnosis is something that the Clown Doctor could learn. To ensure competent treatment, the Medical Clown could also be a licensed or certified Hypnotherapist. In addition, any hypnotic treatment should be reviewed and approved by the hospital medical team, parents, etc. 

TAKEAWAYS:

• Clown Therapy and Hypnosis are two separate agents to promote healing and relaxation.
• Hypnotherapeutic suggestions might be a good addition to a Medical Clown's performance.
• Combining Clown Therapy and Hypnotherapy might be another step toward total integrative mind-body healing.

For more information:

• Clown Care
• Hypnosis for treatment of pain in children by Alex L. Rogovik, MD PhD et al.
• Clinical Hypnosis With Children by William C. Wester et al., Brunner/Mazel Publishers, 1991
• Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy With Children by Daniel P. Kohen et al., Routledge, 2011
• Hypnosis, clowns, and video games may help relax children before a general anesthetic
• Clown Doctors Heal with Hope, Magic, and Humor

Disclaimer - Article is for information only and is not medical advice.

Clown Doctors Heal with Hope, Magic, and Humor

Clown Doctors Heal with Hope, Magic, and Humor

You might think it strange, but clowns help children, and even adults, heal. 

"Medical clowns", also known as "Clown Doctors", perform healing magic each day all around the world. 

Are Clown Doctors leading us into a new phase of Mind-Body Healing?

 

Clown Doctors do their healing work mostly in hospitals. They help patients and families by using humor, magic, antics, music, stories, and other fun stuff. Children are most receptive to Clown Doctors, but adult patients find them helpful too. Humor and laughter unleash the healing power that is within each of us. 

The movie "Patch Adams" was an example of Clown Therapy. In that movie, Patch changed the medical community around him one smile at a time. Children laughed in the pediatric ward. Some adult patients smiled, even when they were dying. Patch seems to be the father of Clown Therapy. 

Clown Doctors perform a wonderful service, but I think there are additional opportunities. 

The suggestions below could even provide even greater mind-body healing.

1. The Clown Doctor could use hypnotic suggestions to augment the medicine or treatment. Of course, all this would go on under the supervision of the medical staff at the hospital. The Clown Doctor could even be a Medical Doctor. Who says they cannot be both? Patch Adams was. In addition, the Clown Doctor could be a trained Hypnotherapist. Hypnosis is a healing aid, recognized by even the American Medical Association. A large component of hypnosis is mind focusing. When a Clown Doctor performs, the child is mesmerized. As long as the child's focus is off the illness or pain, perhaps the Clown Doctor could introduce healing suggestions. The clown's mesmerizing actions could be analogous to the hypnotist's pendulum. To implement this, Clown Doctors, Medical Professionals, and Hypnotherapists could collaborate on an acceptable method of operation. By using hypnosis, at least the patient could be more relaxed during an unpleasant medical procedure.
2. The Clown Doctor could use Stage Props to instill even further healing. We could learn techniques from the history of Traveling Medical Shows. Examples of these stage props might be Healing Machines, Potions, Elixirs, Magic Healing Wands, and the like. Of course, all these would be inert devices and compounds, but would trigger the Placebo Response within the child or adult. The Placebo Response is a large part of healing and is yet unexplained. A mother's kiss on a child's injury is an example of the Placebo Effect. To relate this concept to Medical Clowns, imagine the Wizard in the "Wizard of Oz" with all the knobs, dials, smoke, etc. By using props, like the Wizard's Machine, the Medical Clown-Doctor-Wizard could ignite the healing power within the child, relieve pain, suppress autoimmune responses, etc. Examples of good props might be Healing Machines, Pill Potency Increasers, Pain Zapping Spray, etc. Modifying Quack Medical Devices from the past could provide stage props for Clown Therapy. Of course, these props would not work medically, but they sure would "look" like they would work, thus triggering the Placebo Response. Healing Machines work in Pokémon, Magic Healers are imagined in Harry Potter, "Monster Spray" works for some children, and Tricorders work in Star Trek. Perhaps, Clown Doctors and Clown Nurses could spread around some of this healing magic in an actual Children's Hospital.
3. Children's Hospitals could morph into Magic Healing Centers. Taking the concepts above, adding more, and merging them into known healing modalities, i.e. medicine or treatment could provide even greater mind-body healing. In the foreground of this new and improved Children's Hospital would be magic, fantasy, etc. The clinical aspects, such as diagnosis and treatment, would be in the background. Healing Magic would be emphasized and Medical Science would be minimized. This concept is entirely different from traditional Western Medicine, but I think it might be worth a try. I think this approach would be greater tolerated by children and even some adults. Senile patients might find benefit in this concept too.

Takeaways:

• Medical Clowns or Clown Doctors have proven to aid healing.
• Hypnosis is a recognized healing modality, which a Clown Doctor might consider using.
• Stage Props could amplify the Healing Magic of the Placebo Effect.
• Healing Magic might be the future of the more successful Children's Hospitals.
• The main goal is to heal the patient, even if we do not quite understand how it works. Scientists can figure that out later.

For more information:

• Clown Care
• Clown Doctors!
• The Clown Doctor Chronicles (At the Interface/Probing the Boundaries) by Caroline Simonds et al., Rodopi, 2004
• Hypnotherapy Of Pain In Children With Cancer by Josephine Rohrs Hilgard et al., Kaufmann, 1984
• Museum of Quackery
• "The great American medicine show: being an illustrated history of hucksters, healers, health evangelists, and heroes from Plymouth Rock to the present" by David Armstrong et al.al, Prentice Hall, 1991
• Combining Clown Therapy and Hypnotherapy to Enhance Healing
• Clown Therapy Using Biofeedback for Non-Responsive Patients

Disclaimer - Article is for information only and is not medical advice.

Children’s Drawings Can Help Doctors Diagnose and Treat Illness

Children’s Drawings Can Help Doctors Diagnose and Treat Illness

Recently, researchers found that some children could sketch their chronic headache symptoms. The sketches illustrate their headache pain. This helps the doctors determine how to treat the young child. 

Could sketches, sculptures, musings of our sick children be a way of communicating what they need to heal themselves? 

It seems so, based on this new headache research. 

Children seem to have a way of expressing themselves in various ways that often go unnoticed by many busy parents or medical staff. 

Art Therapy has been around a long time and is has been used mostly for mental and emotional applications. Since Art Therapy works for headache diagnosis, I think it could be used for other health maladies. Perhaps this is an untapped tool for you and your child's doctor. 

When the doctors can offer no more hope, perhaps your child's artwork or crafts might help. The approach could be patterned after the headache diagnosis research. 

Here are some suggestions for you and healthcare professionals: 

1. Learn about how arts and crafts might help you and your child communicate with the doctor. Some references are below. More is on the Internet or your local library. If possible, find an Art Professional to work with you and your child. This might be an Art Therapist or maybe even an understanding Art Teacher at a local school.

2. Encourage your child to sketch out their illness. Ask your child to show what the health condition is like. The health symptom might be pain, autoimmune activity, or the like. Maybe even ask them to draw or paint what they need to fix their health. Be patient. At this point, do not try to diagnose the sketches yourself.

3. Find a willing healthcare professional to review the artwork and your child's medical history. Make sure the healthcare professional takes you seriously. Show them this article or other information about children helping to diagnose their headaches. Perhaps the Art Therapist or Teacher can help establish the bridge between you and the doctor.

4. You and the healthcare person might be surprised at the results. The artwork might reveal something that was overlooked by the medical team.

5. Watch your expectations. Using art to help diagnose illness is a new science. Actually, it is not even a traditional science. It is the merging of science and art.

6. In all this, know that you, your child, and others are all doing your best. At least you might know more what it is like going through what your child is going through. 

TAKEWAYS:

1. Children are now helping their doctors diagnose and treat their conditions by using art.

2. Art Therapy has been around for years. Art Therapists are now working with Physicians to help diagnose and treat physical conditions.

3. In using Art to help diagnose and treat illness, what do you have to lose? 

For more information:

• The Usefulness of Children's Drawings in the Diagnosis of Headache
• Understanding Children's Drawings by Cathy A. Malchiodi, Guilford Press, 2012
• Changes in understanding of illness as the child grows
• Art Therapy

Disclaimer - Article is for information only and is not medical advice.