How could the hypnotherapy profession improve?

[rawtothebone]

Hello. Thanks for all of the great replies on other posts. I was wondering how people feel about the hypnotherpy profession in general and what they think it is doing well and how it can improve.

I used to work at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. That industry has a very low success rate, one of the counselors there said that if we help 1 in a 100 people stay sober we were doing "better than average". That struck me as strange and I commented "Well maybe the medicine isn't working then." i.e. they need to change their strategy. The counselor replied "No it is just the nature of the disease."

In my experience, I have found that many people have a vested interest in their clients not getting "too much" better. Because of repeat business and profit motive. No I am not a conspiracy nut, but many businesses profit that way. I don't always get honest answers from hypnotherpay schools or therapists about the industry because they are selling me, so I wanted to give you all a chance to share how you really feel about the industry, the good bad and ugly.

I am looking forward to these replies!
raw

[rawtothebone]

Apologies for using the word "industry". I wrote this post before Don replied to me in the other one. I will use profession from now on. For some reason it won't let me edit the post.
raw

[Don]

Currently, in the U.S., there are two major certification organizations, the American Board of Hypnotherapy and the National Guild of Hypnotists. Each has its own requirements, and, quite frankly, they are rather loose. Each also has its own terminology when it comes to how hypnotists of different experience and training levels are described.

Personally, I would like to see a more stringent organization. I would like to see them work hand-in-hand with an insurer, so that membership includes liability insurance. This would mean that for a person to become a member and maintain membership, he or she would have to be insurable.

I would like to see a set list of titles that would only be granted to members after an investigation into their qualifications, rather than simple verbal or written "proofs" of such qualifications. I would also like to see such an organization have a "grievance" policy that could investigate complaints by clients against members. This organization would also lobby local, state, and federal governments on behalf of the profession (such as getting rules similar to the California Complementary and Alternative Medical law passed as a rule in all states). It could also develop a mentoring program, a program to help settle disputes between members, etc.

Right now, I am a member of both the NGH and ABH. IMO both do a little in these areas, but not as much as I'd like to see. To do so, in my estimation, would require at least a tripling of membership fees, and that would eliminate a large number of weekend wonder wannabes, something I don't think either organization currently is willing to do.

I do support both organizations and encourage membership, although neither is of the level I'd like to see (think AMA). The fact that someone is willing to give at least some evidence of proficiency and put some money into saying that they are professionals will hint at quality and professionalism to the community and to prospective clients (although it won't prove it), and this, I believe, is valuable.

[rawtothebone]

Thanks for the great reply Don. This was exactly what I was looking for. All of those things make sense to me and it matches the vibe that I have gotten from members on this message board. This board contains alot of hypnotherapists who truly care about their profession and have seen it help many people and do not want to be associated with those who lack training or professionalism. If someone who took a couple week hypnotherapy course can be given the title of hypnotherapist the same as a person who did residency and took a year long course, the I can see how it could be unfair.

Good info!
raw

[Poodle]

I second everything you wrote. And, as you well know, I want the terminology to change from the 1800's to NOW! It seems as if many, many students take what their instructors told them and do not bother to engage brain. To me it makes about as much sense to use antiquated words as it would to drive on an Interstate in a Model A or Model T.

Just one of my very most pet peeves as you well know. Pood

[Terry]

I second everything you wrote. And, as you well know, I want the terminology to change from the 1800's to NOW! It seems as if many, many students take what their instructors told them and do not bother to engage brain. To me it makes about as much sense to use antiquated words as it would to drive on an Interstate in a Model A or Model T.

Just one of my very most pet peeves as you well know. Pood
Oh you'll never get to heaven, in an old Ford car,
"Cus an old Ford car won't get that far.
Hmm, we use to sing that song at camp. They probably still do I imagine.:)

[Jack]

Apart from being in agreement with most of Don's post, the important thing to remember is that hypnotherapy is a 'brief' therapy, as is NLP. Neither are psychotherapy, psychology, psychiatry or counselling, all of which may take many years to achieve any effect whatsoever, if at all.

Any hypnotherapist worth his or her salt would expect to have solved a client's problem in less than (around) six sessions, but would have given the client an indication of how many sessions were necessary after the first session. Occasionally, I have done one session and referred a client on to another practitioner for a wide variety of reasons. It would be useful if every hypnotherapist were peer revued perhaps once a year to ensure that treatment remains brief and focussed on the client rather than the longevity of the fee.

In order to achieve that ideal it would require the amalgamation of professional hypnotherapy organisation into one, perhaps per country, so that in the US the ABH and the NGH joined and had a similar constitution, rules and links to the NCH and other amalgamated organisations in the UK and Europe, with a world governing body dealing with the overall policy of hypnotherapy as a therapeutic treatment for the general public.

That is currently a long way off.

Training is also rather poor in both the USA and the UK and perhaps needs to be incorporated in a genuine degree course covering both hypnotherapy and NLP and accepted by other professionals in the healthcare field. At the moment hypnotherapists are still considered 'fringe' or 'alternative'.

A few years ago I went to a seminar for medical doctors and gave a talk on the benefits of hypnotherapy to general practitioners. After the talk several GPs surrounded me and proceeded to attack hypnotherapy as quackery. I demolished each argument they offered since they were based on nothing more than prejudice and scant knowledge.

Grudgingly, they accepted that I might possibly, just possibly, be telling the truth, but I could see that several of them were not fully convinced. At that moment the chap who had invited me to the seminar, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, came to me and addressed me as 'Doctor'.

Now I do have PhD, but never use it in connection with hypnotherapy since it is in a mostly unrelated subject, but the effect upon my medical colleagues was instant. All mistrust vanished. Every word I said was obviously true since I was a Doctor. I could have been a doctor of embroidery, it would not have mattered. I was one of them and therefore believable.

Now one can say that they were foolish, but until hypnotherapy is accepted fully by the medical establishment as a genuine treatment modality on a par with other accepted therapies we will not progress, and I think we owe it to all the people were are currently not treating to at least try to progress.

That may involve playing the game by the rules of others.

Jack

[Jakey]

Interesting discussion.

I haven't been around for a while and interesting to catch up on past events.

Apologies for keeping this short: I want to go back to raw's word 'industry'. I would like to throw in the question: Is there a part( or parts) of this profession we have no control over andslowly becomming an industry?

My brief overview:

We have had plenty of discussions regarding standard hypnosis recordings that can be bought on the net, but it's a one record fits all, and there's not many it actually helps. Just disallusions.

There are stories, a couple here in our forum, of people visiting a brief therapist and getting nothing out of the session except a lighter wallet. More disalusionment (at best)

There are people out there worrying others saying they can manipulate, influence, more so to scare the brown out and increase their own ego. Gives this field a bad name.

I'm sure there's more examples to include in this list.

Should we allow this Hypnosis//NLP information to be accessible to all, when we have people who could be doing more harm than good? Should this training, like Psychology, be learned only in specific education establishments, where a qualified person is really qualified to a more proficient standard? It has often been said that knowledge is good, but a little knowledge is dangerous.

But then, what about those people who have learnt from their own accord, for example, a particular field of psychology and have aptitude to give something great back to the people they meet daily, but can't take this career opportunity further bacause they don't have a formal qualification, except for, maybe, branching into hypnosis/NLP and making a great impact on the lives of those who need something different and there are many people out there, including yourselves, are doing that, right now.

Which has the more positive impact? Accepting that there are loose canons in this profession that are slowly turning it into an industry so we can enhance and develop this knowledge, or nip this in the bud, get the whole system regulated internationally (much stricter than it is currently), thus eliminating most (can never get rid of all) 'poor' practitioners, but also stop the possibility of those who want to give back to the community through their own self learning, where enhancement is done in a sterile invironment?

Mavbe I haven't covered everything, I'm wanting to keep this as black and white as possible. Do you disagree there are areas slowly becoming industrialised?

Jakey

[Terry]

We don;t teach for the reasons you gave. As for those who skill is limited to what they have read, it's a buyer beware situation that we have no control over. Governements could control who was licensed and who was not, but only by electing a body of skilled persons to regulate the market place, more red tape usually. Complaining gets us nowere however, so we plod along and do what we can to alert the publicIn my Province of Alberta, our Governement insists on any nurse or other persons employed by the Province and wishing to practise hypnosis, must be a member of the Hypnosis Society of Alberta... They cannot contol private practise however.

[Don]

Should we allow this Hypnosis//NLP information to be accessible to all, when we have people who could be doing more harm than good?

Jakey, the genii is out of the bottle. Wishing won't put it back.

[Jack]

It is an industry in the same way that private medicine is an industry. The word 'industry' is not necessarily a perjorative word since it usually means that a number of people are engaged in providing a service or goods to other people for money on a large scale. Perhaps cottage industry would be a better term.

There is nothing wrong with making money from hypnotherapy.

What is wrong is when someone who is not qualified or dangerous or not providing the service makes money from hypnotherapy. To help avoid, but not entirely eliminate this situation a more stringent assessment of candidates will be necessary in the future. But only if that is what 'society' and the hypnotherapists involved want.

As for the genie, well, the plans to make a nuclear device are freely available on the net so someone out there is trying to make one right now.

Jack