ABSTRACT

Clinicians are generally motivated to alleviate human suffering. It’s “the calling” we receive from somewhere deep inside that compels us to devote huge portions of our lives to striving to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others. It leads us to spend many years going through formal academic training and countless hours of studying and practicing so that when our skills are put to the test with someone in distress asking for our help, we can say and do something substantive to help. There is something even more urgent about alleviating someone’s suffering when that someone happens to be a child. Children seem to inspire a sense of protectiveness in most people, probably because of their seemingly greater vulnerability and innocence. Their suffering especially drives many health-care professionals to want to help. For many pediatric specialists, hypnosis has become a principal tool in that worthy endeavor.