To The Professionals
 

I'm interested in doing a course to learn hypnotherapy, the one I was looking at does 100 hours at home theory and three full days at the end of the theory, does this sound like it would be good enough to learn what I need to know? What should I look for specifically in a course?

You ask, "...does this sound good enough for what I need to know?" Well, that begs the question, "What do you need to know?"

Are you looking to become a full time professional hypnotherapist? Or is it just out of interest, to understand what is involved? Or is it (like me) to learn to hypnotise in order to help friends and relatives for free? You have only written that "I'm interested in doing a course to learn hypnotherapy".

Different courses also have a different stress; some are Ericksonian, some include elements of NLP, some are very traditional (induction, deepener, therapy, exit with/without amnesia). Again, it all depends on your interests and plans for the future.

To what level do you want to train - basic qualification or advanced?

Sorry for all the questions, but knowing what you are looking for will help people to answer your query properly.

Because I have an elderly mother whom I cannot leave alone for more than a few hours, I opted for the Steve Jones course (advanced hypnotherapist). It can be done all online. It lacks the practical sessions of other courses, but it is well written and explains everything from the very beginning.

Residential courses (even three days) can be very expensive, but of course if that is not a problem for you, then choosing a course with some practical days is a bonus.

In most countries of the world (including the USA and UK), hypnotherapy has no compulsory course, national qualification or compulsory professional body to join in order to practice. So it is a matter of choosing the best course to suit your needs.

Every best wish to you!

PS The course you mention, who is providing it?

LPC made very good suggestions. It got me thinking, do they have qualifications. That is very important. Have they been in business for long. I think anyone can start a hypnotherapist course without having any experience or qualifications. Usually there are ratings that you can look at. People say if they are happy with the course or not.

Thank you for the reply, sorry it took me so long to get back to you.
I would like to have it as a career but my main goal is to treat mental illness for free which would imply I should join an advanced course, the course I mentioned is Tad James Co. Which seems more geared toward NLP than Hypnotherapy. This is the website:http://www.nlpcoaching.com/modern-hy...certification/

This is the course I am considering: http://www.nlpcoaching.com/modern-hy...certification/

I know very little about both topics, and as far as I know the effects on mental illnesses using hypnotherapy haven't been extensively studied, so I am concerned about what could go wrong. Something that also worries me is the legality of treating things like mental illnesses, particularly for free.

On the Steve Jones course, he actively recommends that any person with a mental illness should not be treated by a newly qualified hypnotist. Such a person should be referred to a medical professional. It is one of the very few exceptions to the long list of people who can be helped by a hypnotist. See http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/g...h-hypnotherapy

Mentally ill people are best treated by a psychotherapist. There are risks involved with mentally ill people. For example, if a person with clinical depression committed suicide after a session with you, despite your best efforts, you could be legally liable. Or if you tried regression techniques with a mentally ill patient, repressed memories could be unlocked, with unpredictable consequences. It is a very specialised area, and certainly not one for a beginner (and not one I would care to risk, either, with an advanced certificate). I personally believe that hypnosis could benefit a mentally ill person, but only in the hands of someone who has intimate knowledge of mental illnesses as well as hypnosis training.

In the case of physical pain, hypnosis can indeed be beneficial, but caution is still needed. For example, if a client comes to you with a terrible headache, you could hypnotise him/her and give suggestions that the pain has gone - and it would work. But what if that person has brain cancer? You could be masking symptoms which need attention. So in such cases, I only help people where the physical symptoms have been investigated and the is cause known. For example, I know a lady who has been diagnosed with a deformed spine and has severe pain - and all the doctors can do is give her more morphine - which clogs her brain and she complains of memory loss as a result. So in such a case, hypnosis can help with pain relief and make her life bearable, without excessive strong painkillers.

I hope these two examples help you to see what you can and can't (shouldn't) do.

Regarding your course, it seems expensive to me, but if you have the funds I suppose it does offer the benefit of three days' practical experience.

I looked at the brief video on the page you mentioned, and I wasn't very impressed with the rapid induction used. It looked fake to me. Rapid inductions can work - but this somehow looked contrived. In modern hypnosis, this sort of showy, dramatic induction is rarely used, except with clients who are over analytical. It is sometimes used for stage hypnosis - but you don't need that!

The orthodox type of hypnosis is normally by the relaxation method, gentle and calming. There are lots of other inductions, but they are all fairly gentle. This is important, as it helps a client to settle into hypnosis in a calm state, not one of shock.

I would think carefully before committing yourself to this particular course. I would also recommend extreme caution about seeing mentally ill people for hypnosis sessions, even if for free.

I send you my very best wishes in your desire to learn hypnotism. It can be a power for good. It can help people in so many areas of their life.

Why not try Steve Jones' course online? It is inexpensive, and although it does not have any hands-on practical sessions, it will show you the basics and then you can decide if you want to go further. You can read about it at http://www.hypnosiscertified.com