Why should I take a year long hypnotherapy program when I can be trained by another school in a week

Short answer- you get what you pay for

I had an interesting conversation with a group of my hypnotherapy's students this last weekend. One of the students has a friend who has taken a hypnotherapy training that was a week long and “certified” her as a hypnotherapist.

As somebody who teaches a yearlong program, I often get asked “why do I need to study for a year when I can become a hypnotherapist in one week?”

Great question.

And there are a lot of great answers.

1) One of the most important reasons why training should not be short term is that hypnotherapists need to have confidence with the protocols that they're using. This requires a lot of practice. It requires feedback from the instructor so the student can learn and correct their mistakes. Quantum physics has taught us that the person observing the experiment affects the outcome of the experiment. What does this mean in terms of hypnotherapy? When a hypnotherapist is not confident with the techniques that they're using, that affects the results that the clients get. A week long training is not enough time for a hypnotherapist to know how to use the techniques confidently. It is not enough time for the students to practice. It is not enough time for the instructor to provide meaningful feedback.

2) There is a big difference between reading a script to somebody when they're in hypnosis, which I suppose you could learn to do in a week, and actually knowing how to do client centered hypnotherapy. My students are not reading a script to a passive client. Unfortunately, this is what a lot of short-term hypnotherapy training is teaching people to do. They are teaching the student to simply pick a script from a script book and read it to a client. This makes me want to pull out my hair.

Let me repeat-- good and effective hypnotherapy does not involve reading a script to a passive client.

My students are doing a thorough consultation to find out the relevant history that is responsible for the client’s symptoms. My students are being taught to understand the psychology of the client, and what causes the clients symptoms to manifest. My students are taught how the subconscious mind works both in creating the symptoms the client has and in resolving them. My students are taught how to get answers from the client’s subconscious mind and to work with the subconscious in a partnership. My students are taught how to speak to the client and hypnosis, ask good questions to get insight into where the symptoms have come from and then to follow up on the answers the subconscious gives to resolve those symptoms.

3) Legitimate governing bodies do not certify students who have taken condensed training. And this is for good reason. Legitimate government bodies understand that students need time, experience, feedback and confidence in order to know how to work effectively and safely with clients.

It is interesting to read the small print on the “certificate” that my student shared her friend had posted. The writing was something to the effect of “this student has completed the requirements necessary to be considered a certified hypnotherapist “. This is very clever, and deceptive, language. This is a certificate of completion of a training. This is not an actual certificate certifying a student in hypnotherapy. A legitimate certificate says you ARE a certified hypnotherapist, not that you have completed requirements to be considered one.

Unfortunately, most people don't know the difference and don't bother to read this fine print.

I remember once making a post about my training and having somebody comment on it “scammer” because my program was a year long.

This is mind boggling to me. Another school can put a student through a week worth of training and call them a hypnotherapist.

But I'm the scammer because I'm requiring my students to complete a year long training. I'M the scammer.

My students have over 400 pages of theory to read, another 450 pages of scripts and techniques to learn, 28 units of videos to watch, 160 hours of classes to attend, 30 + hours of practice sessions to complete, a practicum they need to do to graduate, an exam to take. My students are invited to attend monthly supervision meetings to round out their understanding of the material. My students can take additional courses and workshops that dive deeper into topics such as different goals a client will come into work for, communication skills, advanced interventions etc. My students join legitimate associations that actually register them as hypnotherapists and who require my students to do continuing education, supervision and to have insurance coverage.

Another school can train you in a week. But I'M the scammer.

I take the education of my students very seriously. My reputation is attached to every student that I train. I expect my students to receive 80% or above in my course in order to pass. And if my students do not receive that, I am sending them back into the material and telling them how to upgrade their knowledge.

Not only do I take the education of my students seriously, I want my students to know what they're doing because I take the health and well-being of their potential clients seriously as well. I want my students to be able to go out into the world with confidence and be able to help other people with a variety of different challenges. There is absolutely no way I would send a student who's had one week worth of training out into the world to help somebody. A student with only one week of training is more likely to do harm than to do good.

A student who is serious about Hypnotherapy will take the time to do a thorough training that will set them up for success in this field.

A serious student does not take a week long training.

A student who takes a week long training is ill informed as to what exactly is involved in doing hypnotherapy, is short changing themselves and their potential clients and is contributing to the image of hypnotherapy not being a legitimate form of therapy.

Shame on anyone who provides such shoddy training.