Registering with a self-governing body to me is vital. I want to discuss with you why I believe it’s the best thing for you to do as a hypnotherapist/hypnotist.
Why should you register with a self-governing body?
Over the last two years, people’s anxiety has increased, and as hypnotherapists, we are excellent at helping people overcome their fears and worries.
However, as a self-regulating therapy, some hypnotherapists/hypnotists attend a weekend course or do some online training and set themselves up as hypnotherapists/hypnotist. I know that being a hypnotherapist is not hard. But, good training is essential.
On the last day of the HSOH Hypnotherapy diploma, we do a day on marketing, and the thing is, you could be the best hypnotherapist in the country and have no clients. The reverse is also true; you could be the worst and have a full diary.
There are two primary keys to being a good hypnotherapist
- Marketing your business
- Being confident at hypnosis and hypnotherapy.
Social Media and our perception
Here is an article about a therapist (I am pleased to say not a hypnotherapist) who is unqualified and exploiting vulnerable people. I don’t know how people can sleep at night using already vulnerable people.
But it does show how social media can give the particular perception of how effective therapy can be, solely because someone is good at marketing and has a supposedly large following on social media.
We have several self-governing bodies that you can join when you have completed training to the standards of each of the self-governing bodies.
I often see in forums criticism of our self-governing bodies and what they do for their fees. Well, besides marketing and helping your website rank higher in Google, they have standards of practice. They make us accountable. Are they perfect no. Could they do more to make the public aware that some therapists are not adequately trained? Yes, of course.
I am glad that we have self-governing bodies to put down specific guidelines for us. They are not perfect and do not necessarily guarantee good training that is for another debate.
How can you increase awareness of self-governing bodies?
We can all play our part when we are marketing our business and inform the public that we are a member of a self-governing body. The more of us that did it, the more the public would realise that they should go to hypnotherapists who are members of a governing body.
There are several governing bodies that we can join, and I am a member of three governing bodies that I have chosen to associate the HSOH with and my hypnotherapy business with as the three that I have chosen suit my style of working and my ethics.
Accredited training schools associate themselves with a self-governing body. The HSOH are associated with the GHR, The National Hypnotherapy Society and The International National Hypnotherapy Association. Making it easier for our delegates to choose who they would like to affiliate themselves with.
