Hypnotherapy CPD training

Hi,

I haven't trained in hypnotherapy yet but I hope to do so this year. However I did go on a taster evening with John. I found him really enthusiastic, helpful and informative. However, he was a little more expensive than other training providers so to be sure, I contacted a few hypnotherapists that have done courses with him for their feedback. It was a little mixed and it put me off parting with my savings for the time being. If you would like me to email you some of the replies I received, please let me know your email address.

I wouldn't necessarily have let this put me off training with John - he is a really nice man, it is just I wasn't 100% sure it was right for me at that time.

Jo x

Hi Jo,

Thanks for the reply that's exactly what I would need, some independent information. Please do email me leicstherapy@gmail.com I'll look forward to hearing from you.

You're right he is more expensive and having been stung before I don't want it to happen again.

It's very difficult choosing the right course/trainer and recommendation is the only way to go I think. If I can assist you in any way please do let me know. Meanwhile i'll look forward to your email.

Shelly

Disclosure: I am a trainer.

I've thought long and hard about this dilemma because so many previous students of mine have asked who they should train with. So, in my Advanced Diploma in Hypnotherapy manual I wrote the following, which I can share with anyone wondering about CPD.

'As supervisors and trainers, the authors are regularly asked to provide guidance on courses. It is something we find quite awkward to do because we are ethically obliged to avoid passing direct comment on other trainer's courses. Were we to say something negative it can seem unprofessional, especially if they are competitors. And if we say something positive towards one course, our neutrality or silence when asked about another course would probably imply our disdain. Another reason for our difficulties in answering these questions is that we often simply do not know whether a course is high quality unless we have attended it ourselves; our views would rely on secondary sources. What we can do, however, is provide some helpful general guidelines:

Just because a fellow therapist says a course is 'fabulous' does not necessarily make it so. Each therapist has different needs, beliefs, etc. If you go down this route, we encourage you to ask for details to ascertain exactly what was so good to help you make your own mind up.

Just because a fellow therapist says a course is ’rubbish' does not necessarily make it so. Perhaps they didn't like the trainer? Or it was too scientific and they prefer something more spiritual? Or it satisfied CPD requirements at the cheapest price but wasn't a course the person was interested in. Again, ask lots of questions.

Speak to the trainer in person. In particular, do they have the necessary credentials? What qualifies them to teach the subject? Trainer's training? University lecturing experience? Years of experience? Qualifications? Specialist knowledge?

Read through the hype. Trainers have a right to promote their training and it can be a competitive marketplace. However, please keep their marketing antics in perspective... 'Fastest ever inductions' (like that matters), 'What every good therapist must know' (like you're a poor therapist if you don't know), or 'Train with the world's best hypnotist' (who decides that?).

Watch out for claims to expertise, such as 'I trained with the world's leading authority on anxiety'. This is helpful, of course, but it does not necessarily mean that the trainer or training is any good. Anyone can train with experts – even if they are poor hypnotherapists. They just pay a fee and sit in on a course.

Are you getting pulled along by the latest fashion accessory? Sometimes a fashion emerges because it is good. Others gather pace through other phenomena. For example, the more you hear a word the more it gets embedded as a must-have (advertisers and brand marketing companies know this works and that's why they bombard us). We feel CBT is currently in this class (and we just gave it 'voice' yet again). There is plenty of evidence it fairs no better than other approaches. But if you hear about something all the time, there is an illogical tendency to think 'it must be good, everyone's talking about it'. Its day will pass and it will become an important but more humble part of the rich tapestry of therapies – just as history has shown with previous fads.

Is the CPD useful? That is, will it improve your practice? If it focuses on a particular presenting issue, do you, or would you, see clients with the presenting issue in question?

Will the CPD be recognised by your professional body? Consult them if in doubt. How many hours of live training and home study will be provided in total and how does this relate to your CPD commitments for the year?

If the trainer promises you a certificate, does it have value to you or the public? Will the public have greater confidence in you as a result? Some therapists adorn themselves with numerous designatory letters after their name that the public do not understand. That said, they can be explained on your marketing materials, of course.

Amongst some good schools, there are some unscrupulous unaccredited organisations offering 'degrees' in hypnotherapy, including Masters and Doctorates. Where these organisations are not recognised, their awards are often close to worthless. Some things to watch out for are: highly individually-tailored courses with overly generous recognition of prior learning, an ability to skip years of the degree or even study for a doctorate without a degree, very low prices, university names you have never heard of, scant course or university information, distance learning with no support from, or contact with, the tutors, low entry requirements and few questions asked, offices that are not attended in person, e.g., only a postal address is available because they don't like to be 'put on the spot' with awkward questions. Many of these things can have completely innocent explanations but, especially in combination, they are to be treated with caution.

Personal growth should be a secondary attraction unless the growth is in a direction that will benefit clients by making you a better therapist, or the course is surplus to your minimum CPD requirements.

The final bit of advice we can offer is to do a course on a subject matter you feel genuinely interested in; not because everyone else is doing it, or it will satisfy CPD requirements without travelling too far, or it is cheap, or just because you have trained with a school before and it feels safe and convenient. You will get far more from a course you feel passionate about and where you feel you could make good use of it in your practice.'

A very authoritative post!! And I agree with the advice. But in regard to CBT the important thing is it is recognised OUTSIDE the world of hypnotherapy as being effective compared with drugs.

Thanks Tashanie. A great deal of scientific research comparing therapies (outside of hypnotherapy) finds that they come out about the same in terms of successful outcome.

Some have proposed that the reason for this is due to 'extratherapeutic factors' - things that are not anything to do with the modality being used. These include: the personal qualities of the therapist - rapport, empathy, warmth, etc., family support, life events such as being made redundant versus finding a happy new relationship during the course of therapy, motivation levels beyond the reach of the therapy itself, and so on. Escape from Babel: Toward a Unifying Language for Psychotherapy Practice by Barry Duncan and Mark Hubble is an easy read on this subject.

CBT is a great therapy (and I use it) but it fairs no better than others. It attracts a lot of research funding and this makes it appear more scientifically validated. And as more research shows it is effective, so it attracts ever more research funding (often at the expense of hypnotherapy). Imagine a market stall where people are starting to gather. Now other people want to know what all the fuss is about. But when they get there, they find it's just another market stall selling quite ordinary things!

CBT won't help EVERY client because not every client will buy into the idea. Sadly there are some people who are happier taking drugs - which do have a place in therapy.

But my point is there is evidence of the effectiveness of CBT which is NOT there for other things like hypnotherapy, EFT etc. So a doctor can legitimately refer a patient for CBT because the evidence that it is effective is there. NICE approve CBT as being as effective as drugs.

That evidence is not there for other therapies......

Tashanie, NICE approve hypnotherapy for refractory IBS. So where more research has been conducted, unsurprisingly to those of us who use hypnotherapy, it is found to be effective.

If we want more evidence, we need more research. If we want more research, we need more money and research time. If we want more money and research time, we need a bigger piece of the cake. Currently CBT get an unfair slice of the cake. Because it gets more money and research time, it gathers more evidence. Because it has more evidence, it attracts more funding, and becomes the treatment of choice for some issues. It's self-perpetuating.

Furthermore CBT is more formulaic and lends itself to the kinds of research that NICE prefer. To compare groups receiving different therapies scientifically, you have to control everything and the therapist is given precise instruction about treatment. But most hypnotherapists are not so formulaic and manualised, drawing on multiple resources (including CBT). We discuss all this in our Advanced Diploma in Hypnotherapy because there's a lot going on and it is wise to look holistically at the bigger picture to see how all these things interplay.