I would like to start a small relaxation meditation class in my local village. I wondered if I would have to be qualified in Hypnotherapy or any other in order to do this. I will use hypnotherapy scripts and re write or write my own for the purposed of de-stressing on a weekly basis.
My question is , do I have to be qualified in any area to be able to do this, I know and understand that for insurance purposed I probably would have to be. What are your views on this please.
Little voice
This depends on your country as different countries have different laws/rules and guidelines for who can practice what and whether they need specific qualifications.
Assuming you are in the UK...
1) For insurance purposes you will need to ensure you have Public Liability Insurance - this covers you in case anyone takes issue with anything you do, or has an accident during the class, and tries to sue you etc. The insurer may also require that you provide proof of qualification for the type of therapy you are insuring yourself for e.g. if you are doing hypnotherapy, they may want to see your hypnotherapy qualification - otherwise you may take out insurance and find you're not actually covered if something happens.
2) There's a difference between 'meditation' and 'hypnotherapy'. If you are just doing guided meditation with the class then you do not need any formal qualifications to be able to do that. If you are doing hypnotherapy then that also is not currently regulated in the UK (I'm not a hypnotherapist, but you can find details on the web e.g. ). In terms of such a therapy it would probably be wise to ensure you are qualified and registered with one of the major bodies out there. They may even offer the right insurance you need too. I would ask why you feel you can use hypnotherapy scripts if you are not trained/qualified in hypnotherapy?
One thing that IS important, is that you ensure any "clients" you have are informed as to what process you are using with them. It's no good telling them you are doing 'relaxing meditation' and then using hypnotherapy techniques. That could leave you open to being sued by people who are not receiving what they believed.
If you are not a qualified hypnotherapist, would it not be better that you start by using guided meditation scripts instead?
Are you hoping to use a public space for your class? I use our village hall for seated exercise - any 'hall user' who is using the space with adults (and children in Scouts/Guides etc) must provide not just public liability insurance, but proof of First Aid/CPR (our hall committee have installed a village defibrillator which we had to learn to use) and a DBS.
Without some form of formal qualification, I think you may find it difficult to initiate a group session. Perhaps you should simply invite people to your home and use a 'social' occasion to offer to lead a meditation session another time, if they would like to join you. Do you intend charging a fee for this? That would be a whole other discussion!
Hypnotherapy and meditation share some common things including the use of visualisation. But a hypnotherapy script that included a deepening step needs qualifications. But you cannot use a hypnotherapy script to lead meditation...although I do use hypnotherapy techniques when I lead mindfulness meditations...but I am qualified in both.
My concern about even a relaxation meditation session would be how you would cope if someone had a bad reaction..which can happen. Its rare but you have to think what you would do if one of people in your group became distressed as a result of the meditation.. Suppose you led your group through a visualisation of a walk in the woods if one of them has a tree phobia, or into a cave if they are claustrophobic. So there are risks, and thats why without qualifications you won't get insurance.
You don't say what experience you have of leading meditation. I assume you have some...but I agree with Jabba - meet in your house or other friends houses and keep it informal. I have 'led' groups where I have used a meditation recorded by others either from discs I purchased or found free online. But if you use those in a public place you could run foul of copyright if you don't have a PRS licence......but that would be OK in you home among your friends.
Good luck whatever you decide to do
As owner of a training school that trains up Relaxation Therapists, I think there is many myths around the complete safety of relaxation and guided meditations. As a counsellor and therapist I saw extensively mainly clients who were on the receiving end of unaware dangerous practice in this area. Many healers particularly use very unsafe scripts and dangerous trigger words that can bring previous stored traumatic memories up to the surface. When they are ill equipped to de-traumatise the client.
As owner of a training school that trains up Relaxation Therapists, I think there is many myths around the complete safety of relaxation and guided meditations. As a counsellor and therapist I saw extensively mainly clients who were on the receiving end of unaware dangerous practice in this area. Many healers particularly use very unsafe scripts and dangerous trigger words that can bring previous stored traumatic memories up to the surface. When they are ill equipped to de-traumatise the client.
Words are highly unlikely to be a trigger to a whole group - but you make a good point. I don't get intake questionnaires from people who turn up to a qigong/mindfulness class. But the class is advertised as gentle movement and some mindfulness. No-one is (or should be) coming with any expectation of specific therapy for an issue. But I agree knowing how to deal with people who for what ever reason get distressed is another reason why qualification of some sort is necessary.
However I would be interested to know what you regard as 'unsafe scripts' and what sort of words you have found to be triggers