What RIDICULOUS messages are your kids receiving?

I was reading "The Incredibles 2" to my almost-5 year old son the other day. I had barely stared the book, when I reached this part: "Suddenly a Hypnotic pattern appeared on every screen". There was then a description of how pilots were under a trance and trying to crash their helicopter, with an ambassador in it. The paragraph that followed described six hypnotized supers attacking the kids, and how Elastigirl attacked her own husband while under hypnosis. The whole scene ended only when all the "hypnosis goggles" were removed from the eyes of all the attackers. I was extremely annoyed. Sure, this was fiction; But what message are we exposing our kids to, regarding a healing modality which they might need in the future?

It's not just the Incredibles. A few days prior I was reading "The little Mermaid" to my son, and in that story, the sea-witch hypnotizes a prince into wanting to marry her. A week prior to that, I read to him Aladdin (if you haven't guessed by now, he was gifted a Disney book collection for Christmas ;0). In Aladdin, the evil Jafar hypnotized the Sultan so that he allows him to marry princess Jasmine. My son knows that I"m a Hypnotherapist, so as I read, I edited the story and got rid of all the verbs surrounding Hypnosis, and exchanged them for "cast a spell". 

But what about all the other kids that LOVE these Disney books and movies? After hearing and reading over and over how Hypnosis is used for evil, how will they one day be open to it helping them? I treat kids ages 5 and up using Hypnosis, and see wonderful results. The kids brains are wired in such a way that they are easily Hypnotized, and the progress they make in just a few short sessions is astounding. I have helped kids get rid of phobias, heal anxiety, depression, manage their behaviors, work through grief, rebuild their self-esteem following bullying, and much more. 

As parents and as educators, we have to do a good job explaining to them the difference between the fictitious use of the term "Hypnosis", and its real applications. Still, the subconscious mind is absorbing those messages, so in a way the damage is not completely erased even after explaining this to them. But we have to try.

If you ask my son what mommy's does, he will say "Mommy helps grown-ups and kids feel better". If you ask 100 adults what Hypnosis is, a great percent of them will probably say that it's "mind control" or that it's scary. Books like the ones I mentioned sure aren't helping the reputation of Hypnosis. What DOES help its reputation, are articles such as this one, which was published in the American Journal of Medicine:  https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(20)30946-3/fulltext..Spoiler alert, the article is titled: "Hypnosis: The most effective treatment you have yet to prescribe". As always, I suggest people EDUCATE themselves, and keep an open mind regarding that which they are unfamiliar with. 

Wishing you and your loved ones much inner-peace and joy,

​Sharon