Hypnotherapy training - frequently asked questions and general information

We have noted here some of the more common concerns that potential hypnotherapy and NLP students have. If you want to know more about what hypnotherapy is please see our hypnotherapy FAQs. Please contact us if you want to know more.

Contents

What does 'accreditation' mean?
Why does group size & trainer/student ratio matter?
Theoretical or practical training - which is best?
What are the pros & cons of various course structures?
What should I look for in course content?
Teaching style and learning materials
What is 'clinical' hypnosis & 'medical' hypnosis?

What does 'accreditation' mean?

A course that is accredited has been examined by a professional body to see if it meets their minimum standards. Variously, training will be assessed in terms of content, learning outcomes, the qualifications and experience of the trainers, commitment to supervision and continuing professional development of the students and trainers, clear communication of fees and refund policy, whether the trainers permit the accrediting body to inspect their training, whether the training meets a minimum number of contact and homework hours, and whether the trainers abide by a code of ethics. top

Why does group size & trainer/student ratio matter?

A small group will ensure more individual attention, including more opportunities to ask questions and have group discussions. Large groups can also provide individual attention if there are a number of trainers. We use 2 trainers and a maximum of 15 people in a class. Some schools have a lead trainer who is highly qualified and/or experienced and a second person for support who may not be as experienced or qualified. We have two highly qualified and experienced trainers. top

Theoretical or practical training - which is best?

This depends whether you want to know about hypnotherapy and NLP or be able to actually do hypnotherapy and NLP. All courses will have a mixture of theoretical work and practical work but they vary widely in where they place the emphasis. The Academy of Advanced Changework decided to have their cake and eat it. We wanted the course to be very practical as we were concerned about the numbers of hypnotherapy graduates who feel they are not prepared and confident enough to practice upon graduation.

Yet the principal trainers, Paul Peace and Karen Bartle come from academic psychology backgrounds and recognise the value of knowing why hypnotherapists and NLP practitioners do what they do. It can really enrich your practice to know the theory behind your practice.

So we decided to use contact time in class for lots of practical work and we needed a way to deliver theory without it being all-consuming. We decided to create home learning materials that can be viewed outside of class time. We teach essential theory on the course but try to constantly relate it to practice. The home learning materials include video demonstrations.

Our course is therefore one of the most comprehensive around and neither compromises on theory or practice. top

What are the pros & cons of various course structures?

A very common hypnotherapy/NLP course structure is a 20 day course run over 10 weekends. This has the benefits of providing ample time to learn, read, practice and complete homework between modules. The main disadvantage is it being a long, drawn out course for just 20 days total learning. Many students are eager to start practising.

Some schools offer week-long modules delivered in three installments. These offer rapid progress on each installment but the course as a whole still needs to be held over a period of time to allow students chance to absorb what they have learned, and to practice, read and complete homework between modules. This format has the disadvantage for employed students of requiring a commitment of large blocks of annual leave from work. For some students it means staying in hotels for long periods at a time and being away from home.

Uniquely, we offer a structure that offers a more rapid advancement, while still leaving ample time for reading, homework and practice, and yet requiring minimal time off work for students continuing in employment. To balance all of these factors, our course is a total of 20 days in length and runs over 6 months. Each month you will intend for 3 days over a weekend (usually Sat, Sun and Mon). The final month is run on a Sat and Sun. top

What should I look for in course content?

Clearly, any good hypnotherapy course will teach you how to induce, deepen and terminate a trance and to develop competence in a number of techniques e.g. glove anaesthesia, suggestibility tests, depth of trance testing, association and dissociation, double binds, regression, ideomotor response, etc. You should also graduate being able to confidently explain to clients and interested members of the public what hypnotherapy is.

Any good NLP course, or combined hypnotherapy and NLP course, aimed at therapists really must include the essential NLP techniques: anchoring, fast phobia, swish, reframing and timeline techniques.

Some schools will teach you only using scripts. Others will force you to make up your own trance inductions and suggestions in real time. The main disadvantages of hypnotherapy scripts are 1. they are generic - made to apply to almost anyone with that problem. People are complex and it can be better to work with individual needs. 2. You could look unprofessional if a client sees you reading and you might 'sound like you are reading' rather than investing in the client. 3. If you are looking at a script you are potentially missing important physiological changes and emotional responses. We will provide lots of scripts for you to learn from, yet, without pressuring anyone, we encourage you to break away from them more and more as you become more proficient.

You must be taught how to handle abreactions (emotional outbursts) sensitively, safely and effectively, and how to adopt a professional, caring and empathic approach that recognises personal and professional boundaries.

A good hypnotherapy course must also cover ethics, professional standards and codes of conduct, how to build rapport and communicate effectively with clients, and to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses and recognise the importance of continuing professional development. The course must teach you when to not take on a client, and build your confidence in therapy planning.

In addition to these essential topics, we believe it is important that a hypnotherapy course shows you how hypnotherapy fits in amongst the other therapies and healthcare available. We believe it is important that hypnotherapists respect difference and see people as 'people' rather than 'labels', and that they understand power relations in the therapy room and society at large. We also think it helps therapists enormously if they are able to make full use of sensory awareness and utilise this e.g. noticing changes in a client's skin colour, breathing, pulse, posture, etc.

We believe that because hypnotherapy deals routinely with the mind, it is important to have a good working knowledge of psychology, such as the un/conscious mind, psychodynamic theory, behaviourism, cognitive psychology, humanistic psychology and social constructionism, and therapeutic approaches, such as humanistic, psychodynamic, NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), EFT (emotional freedom techniques), CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), Gestalt therapy, transactional analysis, coaching and SFBT (Solution Focused Brief Therapy). Although you could not learn these in-depth, enough detail should be provided so that you can refer to appropriate therapist and choose approaches you might want more training in. You can also use techniques from these approaches that dovetail with hypnotherapy.

We also believe in providing all students who want to set up a part- or full-time therapy practice with the necessary business skills to do this confidently and to avoid the pitfalls.

As well as covering the essential hypnotherapy theory and techniques, some courses offer additional specialist certificates in particular issues e.g. weight loss, smoking or stress. Although such certificates certainly have their merit for therapists wanting to specialise, we are not convinced that this is the best approach for a number of reasons:

1. Although they are useful for therapists, in our experience, sadly, the public show no interest in these extra qualifications so they rarely have market value. Again, in the corporate world, expertise, showing what you can do for an organisation, and word-of-mouth reputation is more valuable.

2. Most students do not know what they want to specialise in before they start a course.

3. Student's interests usually change during a course and they may resent all the extra work aimed at achieving the specialist certificate in an area/issue they no longer wish to specialise in.

4. Most graduates need to deal with a wide range of client issues to build their practice before specialising and possibly restricting their income.

5. Specialisms can be developed after training and developing your practice through 'continuing professional development' days - something you will have to attend to satisfy professional membership criteria anyway.

For these reasons, we have decided to offer an extra certificate in a topic that is useful with ANY client problem/issue - Discursive Empowerment, rather than specialising in a particular problem. This unique approach has been developed by the trainers, Paul Peace, Ph.D and Karen Bartle and is not yet licensed to be taught anywhere else in the world. As well as having a philosophical and theoretical foundation, Discursive Empowerment is a practical tool box that can be used whether you are seeing a client for weight loss, smoking, stress, anxiety, depression or any other issue because it centres on language use - and every therapist and every client has to communicate! top

Teaching style & learning materials

Teaching is done very differently on different courses. Like any training, one hypnotherapy training school will provide engaging lectures, another will make you want to nod off. Some courses will have lots of interactivity, exercises and discussions, others will be led from the front while everyone sits and listens like empty vessels being filled with knowledge. Some hypnotherapy training courses are furnished with lots of practical work, other courses are more theoretical. Some will be mystical and magical others will be down to earth and practical.

Most hypnotherapy courses will involve some class-based learning and some homework, including reading, practice and answering set questions. Course materials may include a paper or electronic manual, and, more rarely, include video footage of techniques.

Content and learning is most important but the personality of trainers can be important when you spend so much time together, especially in an intimate subject. At very least (in our opinion) hypnotherapy trainers should be approachable, sensitive yet in control of the group, student-oriented rather than boasting their prowess, calm under pressure, confident and not defensive when asked challenging questions, positive towards feedback and suggestions, open communicators, welcoming, treat students equally whilst nurturing their strengths and helping them overcome weaknesses, honest, punctual and reliable. Within reason, they should be willing to invest time on the phone when you have questions or troubles without sounding like they want to cut the call short. A phone call asking to speak with a potential trainer is a good idea and will test some of the above.

Some courses teach you business skills as they relate to setting up in practice, some do not. Some schools charge for a separate course on this.

Some training schools run a certificate, diploma and then advanced diploma. This has the benefit of students being able to do the course in parts but a certificate will not qualify you to practice and, unless it is an intensive psychotherapy course as well, an advanced diploma is not usually any more substantial than a standard diploma at an accredited hypnotherapy school. You may wish to compare overall course content. These 2 or 3 part hypnotherapy courses can work out expensive in terms of time and money too.

The Academy of Advanced Changework provides down to earth, practical, engaging, classroom tuition. We teach theory as it relates to hypnotherapy practice and we do lots of practical demonstrations. Students do lots of interesting practical work. Additionally, we give you home learning materials for use in your own time. This supplements and extends the course as well as acting as a library of information and demonstrations that can be referred back to long after qualification. Our course is straightforward in structure, offering you everything you need to start in practice or add to your existing skill set. We will prepare you for setting up a hypnotherapy practice if that is your desire. top

What is 'clinical hypnosis' & 'medical hypnosis'?

'Clinical hypnosis' is a term most often used to put distance between hypnosis used in therapy (probably best called 'hypnotherapy') and that used for entertainment. Medical hypnosis', similarly, distances itself from entertainment/stage hypnosis and focuses on medical issues, such as weight, skin disorders, irritable bowel syndrome and pain. A course labelled 'clinical hypnosis' or 'medical hypnosis' would not necessarily have any different content to one simply labelled as 'hypnosis' or 'hypnotherapy'. Most courses cover a mixture of psychological, medical and emotional issues. Course content and accreditation is what really matters rather than course titles.
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We hope to have answered some of your questions here. Please call us for more information about our hypnotherapy and NLP training in Sheffield, London or Birmingham on the following numbers:
0800 4587813 or 0114 2351985