If you asked someone to create NLP techniques for kids to deal with fear, you can truly let your creative juices flow. Kids have the wildest imaginations and are generally quite flexible.
Fear is a mentally healthy phenomenon among children. It doesn’t necessarily mean they are part of the growing trend of mental health issues among kids. About one-third of children have at least one fear, with the most common being animals, the dark, blood/injections/medical, and social situations. However, persistent fears can sometimes lead to phobias.
The most important thing when working with children is to use NLP techniques that are age-appropriate. This typically means taking basic NLP tools and redesigning them to be easy and interesting for kids.
Before we get started, it’s crucial to keep in mind that children being afraid is an entirely natural thing. It’s part of growing up in a world that’s new to them, and learning to navigate fears is an invaluable skill as an adult.
Kids quickly believe that things are scary, which is actually good news, as it means they can quickly step out of that fear and have a different response.
5 NLP Techniques for Kids to Deal with Fear
NLP Technique 1: An Invisible Bubble of Steel
What would happen if you had an invisible armor of Teflon, where everything harmful or dangerous bounced off you? Adults capable of imagining this shield vividly would most certainly benefit, as whatever the brain imagines, it experiences on some level as real. For kids it’s no different, but then with an even more vivid imagination.
1. Imagine an invisible bubble of steel.
2. Ask for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic details:
– What color would it be to those who can see it?
– Would it be large or small?
– Would it make a sound?
– Would it have a temperature?
– If touched, what would it feel like?
3. Imagine knocking on the bubble.
What would that sound like? Imagine taking a sledgehammer to it, and it still wouldn’t shatter.
4. Now, step into the bubble.
What would you see, hear, and feel inside?
5. Strengthen the bubble by imagining additional elements. Let your imagination run wild.
6. Incorporate these elements by describing what they would look like, sound like, and feel like.
7. Make it a secret bubble that can be activated whenever you wish.
8. Practice activating it.
NLP Technique 2: The Magnificent Wizard
Describe a drawbridge leading up to a magical castle, making sure to cover what is seen, heard, and felt (not just emotions, but also textures, temperatures, etc.). Think of things that sparkle, twinkle, or radiate. Create a phrase that allows the drawbridge to lower, and build a little bit of a story around it.
Say the phrase.
At the end of the drawbridge stands a magical wizard. Describe what the wizard looks like and sounds like. Walk up to the wizard and let him put the child at ease. Emphasize that the wizard will appear whenever the phrase is said.
You can see that Technique 1 and Technique 2 can easily be combined.
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NLP Technique 3: Fear Buster
Kids often respond well to anchoring, but take care to ensure that whatever is anchored cannot be lost.
1. Explore a context where the child feels brave and confident. If no such memory exists, create one (like an imaginary environment).
2. Identify a suitable anchor. This could be a piece of jewelry, a word spoken in a specific tone, pressing the thumb against the index finger, a fist behind the back, etc.
3. Elicit the emotional state of bravery and confidence. Pay attention to word choice, voice quality (tone, speed, volume), and body language.
4. Encourage the child to adopt a confident posture and activate the anchor when the feeling is strong.
5. Break the state by opening the eyes, making a joke, creating a quick distraction, or asking an unusual question.
6. Fire the anchor and check if the emotional state is still there.
NLP Technique 4: The Color of Fearlessness
This is a simple NLP technique for kids using the physiological sigh, which is one of the most effective ways to reduce stress and anxiety in the moment.
1. Discuss the desired feeling —calmness, confidence, bravery, or all of them.
2. Choose a color associated with these sensations and another color associated with fear.
3. Inhale the desired color quickly, adding an extra inhale at the end.
4. Exhale the color of fear slowly.
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NLP Technique 5: Submodalities & Dissociation
When the child is feeling afraid, ask them to imagine floating out of their body and seeing themselves on a movie screen.
1. Visualize all the fear being in the “movie screen version” of them while they remain neutral (or use the protective bubble, wizard, anchor, or the physiological sigh).
2. Make the image on the screen smaller and dimmer while pushing it into the distance until it disappears.
3. Now, add music that evokes a feeling of power or makes the child want to dance.
Conclusion: NLP Techniques for Kids to Deal with Fear
You can see how we’re using fairly basic concepts here and adapting them for more imaginative and flexible minds. It’s clear that the above NLP techniques for kids can be easily combined to create more powerful, positive interventions.
