Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about hypnotherapy training
How do I become a hypnotherapist?
If you want to become a hypnotherapist and have a career as a professional clinical hypnotherapist, you’ll want to do your research. There are a LOT of different training options and hypnotherapy courses, offering many different types of hypnotherapy. You can learn over a single weekend or train for over a year. Courses are delivered in online, distance or face to face learning. The choice can be overwhelming.
If you only want to learn a little bit about hypnosis, then a weekend course, even a taster day delivered online will be enough. However, would you really be happy offering hypnotherapy for anxiety, depression, weight management, OCD and many other clinical issues if you didn’t have in depth learning and experience?
Clinical hypnotherapy is a complimentary therapy, much like counselling, so to become a hypnotherapist you need thorough, evidence-based training that gives you a recognised qualification. Your training and qualification should be of a standard where you are eligible to join the respected hypnotherapy organisations and you can be insured for professional indemnity insurance.
You will want your training to give you enough practical experience so that you are competent, safe and confident enough to start practicing as a professional hypnotherapist when you qualify. Your training should give you the basics in how to start and run a hypnotherapy practice as currently (2022) there are no employed positions as hypnotherapists.
If you want to become a hypnotherapist don’t just pick what look quick, cheap and easy – pick what gives people the best and safest results and seems respected by the industry as a whole.
If you want to become a hypnotherapist and have a career as a professional clinical hypnotherapist, you’ll want to do your research. There are a LOT of different training courses, offering many different types of hypnotherapy. You can learn over a single weekend or train for over a year. Courses are delivered online, distance or face to face learning. The choice can be overwhelming.
If you only want to learn a little bit about hypnosis, then a weekend course, even a taster day delivered online will be enough. However, would you really be happy offering hypnotherapy for anxiety, depression, weight management, OCD and many other clinical issues if you didn’t have in-depth learning and experience?
Clinical hypnotherapy is a complementary therapy, much like counselling, so to become a hypnotherapist you need thorough, evidence-based training that gives you a recognised qualification. Your training and qualification should be of a standard where you are eligible to join the respected hypnotherapy organisations and you can be insured for professional indemnity insurance.
You will want your training to give you enough practical experience so that you are competent, safe and confident enough to start practising as a professional hypnotherapist when you qualify. Your training should give you the basics in how to start and run a hypnotherapy practice as currently (2023) there are no employed positions as hypnotherapists.
If you want to become a hypnotherapist don’t just pick what looks quick, cheap and easy – pick what gives people the best and safest results and seems respected by the industry as a whole.
Can anyone become a hypnotherapist?
- They are the person people tell their problems to.
- They like helping make things better.
- They are curious as to why people do the things they do and are fascinated with how brains work.
- Sometimes they get frustrated with the things they struggle to change.
- Many of our students have had their own health struggles that made them curious.
- We get students who were treated by one of our graduates and decided they wanted to do the same thing.
- Their current career no longer fulfils them, and they want a new challenge.
Being a really successful hypnotherapist is about a desire to help people. The best, and most successful hypnotherapists all said something along these lines when we first spoke to them about training they are the person people tell their problems to. They like helping make things better. They are curious as to why people do the things they do and are fascinated with how brains work. Sometimes they get frustrated with the things they struggle to change.
Many of our students have had their own health struggles that made them curious. We get students who were treated by one of our graduates and decided they wanted to do the same thing. Their current career no longer fulfils them, and they want a new challenge. If any of these sound like you, chances are you’ll make a great hypnotherapist.
How long does it take to become a hypnotherapist?
The Hypnotherapy in Practice Diploma (HPD) qualification is a complete training, which means you can go from novice to level 4 professional hypnotherapist in 10 months.
Each month you’ll learn a new aspect of how to be a hypnotherapist. In the time between modules, we expect you to practice what you have learnt. At the beginning of the following module, you have time to ask questions and get feedback on your practical work. In this way, you build up your skills and confidence at a pace to suits you.
Whilst some hypnotherapy courses are delivered over even just a weekend, or self-led learning online, you’ll find this doesn’t give you the depth of learning or experience needed to make a living as a professional hypnotherapist. Experience shows us that to be a confident, competent, effective and safe hypnotherapist takes more than just a weekend or a condensed week or two of training.
Our students often say it is the fastest 10 months of their lives and that the support of professional and practising hypnotherapists, together with so much practical experience, is what gave them the confidence to start their practices on graduation.
How much does hypnotherapy training cost?
You’ll see hypnotherapy training costs ranging from under £100 to many, many thousands of pounds. This can make it difficult to know how much you should be paying for your hypnotherapy training. However, if you want to gain the qualifications and experience to go on into practice, to add to or change your career, you need training designed to do so.
The fees to gain both your Hypnotherapy in Practice Diploma (HPD) and Diploma in Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (DSFH) are £3490, which includes training, assessment and external verification. You’ll graduate an accredited hypnotherapist with training and experience that makes you business ready and is fit-for-purpose.
If you’d like to learn more about your earning potential as a hypnotherapist, we’ve broken this down more to show part/full time salarys, along with running costs for the practice too.
In delivering well over 150 successful Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma (HPD) courses, for two decades across the UK and beyond, we know what is important to our students. You can confidently invest in your training and qualification with CPHT. Look for the hashtag #solutionfocusedhypnotherapy and you’ll find our graduates all over the world, successfully helping people regain control and freedom.
What do hypnotherapy courses consist of?
However, to be truly effective, you’ll need your practical experience to be backed up by a thorough understanding of the model of hypnotherapy. You’ll need to be able to recognise and understand how to help with the common issues experienced by people seeking support from a hypnotherapist. And you’ll want to have the knowledge and understanding of how the brain, hypnosis and the psychotherapeutic element of your model of hypnotherapy works.
Not all hypnotherapy courses are set up like this, with many being taught very quickly with little or no practical work, sometimes online or even through self-directed distance learning. When you are just curious, but don’t want to become an accredited professional hypnotherapist, this kind of training is a great way to enjoy learning about the theory of hypnosis.
If however you want to become a professional hypnotherapist, you will need a broader understanding of both practical and theoretical knowledge, and the experience to back it up. This kind of training will give you the best grounding for your future career and is how the Hypnotherapy In Practice Diploma designed.
Where can I study hypnotherapy?
What is Solution Focused Hypnotherapy?
As a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist, you’ll support your clients to focus on what the outcome they want, rather than the issues that prompted them to seek seek therapy. This approach focuses on the present and future, without the need to relive the past and is underpinned by up to date research in the fields of neuroscience and brain-based therapies. The Hypnotherapist asks the client to consider their preferred future, for instance:
- What would be better if the problem had improved?
- What would have changed?
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Panic Attacks
- Low confidence and self esteem
- Phobias
- Weight management
- Chronic Pain and other chronic health issues
- OCD
Can I practice as a hypnotherapist before I'm qualified?
You’ll start by helping your volunteers relax and reduce stress, using guided visualisation. During the first three months, you’ll build up to full therapy sessions. Each month you’ll learn about new issues which means, with a variety of volunteer clients, you’ll complete your training with successful cases and happy clients.
Your lecturer acts like your supervisor, making sure you and your clients remain safe throughout the process and, after module 7, you’ll be able to charge a half-price student rate. Some students even regain their entire tuition fee before qualification.
What are clinical hypnotherapy courses?
This differs from more holistic or recreational hypnotherapy in that we do not work in things like past life regression, recreational hypnosis or hypnosis for entertainment purposes. Clinical hypnotherapy is hypnotherapy based on a recognised model of psychotherapy blended with hypnosis and relaxation.
Solution focused hypnotherapy, taught at CPHT, is a clinical hypnotherapy based on the best of the best of modern therapy and trance relaxation. solution focused brief therapy, together with elements of CBT and NLP. It is evidence based, proven, effective and backed up by an understanding of neuroscience – how the brain works.
How to become a certified/licensed hypnotherapist?
In order to be accredited this way, as a hypnotherapist, you’ll need to gain a certain level of education, training and experience. You’ll need to commit to a number of hours of professional supervision, training and adherence to a code of conduct.
Whilst there are many self-accrediting or unaccredited courses, the HPD is a nationally recognised award that is benchmarked against the Ofqual standards and accredited through the NCFE. This gives you the reassurance that you are training for a worthwhile qualification that is growing in acceptance, in recent years, with traditional medicine and health insurance companies.
Can you learn hypnosis online?
CPHT courses are face to face classroom-based learning, offering you a mix of learning methods and experiences to support everyone’s different learning styles and capabilities. Our students prefer this style of learning and wit two decades of experience we find this delivers the best results for you.
In recent times, when the Covid 19 pandemic forced us to deliver training online, we made adaptions to delivery and utilised technology so we could continue teaching our students. To do this we had to gain permission from our governing bodies and the accrediting bodies, who allowed us to do so only whilst strictly necessary. Our training is assessed as a face to face course and your accreditation is in part based on that method of delivery.
Unless we are forced to go into another lockdown, we do not plan to offer the Hypnotherapy in Practice (HPD) online at any time in the future.
Many people ask us about career progression as a hypnotherapist and it is useful to know post graduate training, such as continued professional development (CPD), workshops, the Advanced Hypnotherapy Diploma (AHD) and the Supervisor Training are delivered online via live interactive feed.
How is hypnotherapy regulated?
In order to be accredited this way, as a hypnotherapist, you’ll need to gain a certain level of education, training and experience. You’ll need to commit to a number of hours of professional supervision, training and adherence to a code of conduct.
Whilst there are many self-accrediting or unaccredited courses, the HPD is a nationally recognised award that is benchmarked against the Ofqual standards and accredited through the NCFE. This gives you the reassurance that you are training for a worthwhile qualification that is growing in acceptance, in recent years, with traditional medicine and health insurance companies.
How accessible are your sites for physically disabled or challenged people?
Venues are generally chosen with accessibility in mind, looking at wheelchair access to the building as well as to training rooms, toilets and refreshments facilities.
Information on the venue used by each individual CPHT school and accessibility considerations can be found on the school’s website page. You can also find information by contacting the venue directly or by emailing the course Senior Lecturers. Contact information can again be found on the school’s website page.
Is it safe to practice on people as a student?
To begin with, this involves working with friends and family but as the course progresses, students begin to work more and more with people they don’t know personally. This builds confidence and competence as the course progresses.
Each course weekend involves a mixture of formal teaching as well as practical exercises. These practical exercises allow the Lecturers to observe and support students in applying the techniques taught so that both they and the student is happy that they know what they are going to be practising with clients over the next month.
Throughout the course, your lecturers will be available to provide supervision for students. This involves feedback sessions within course weekends as well as being available to answer any client-related questions that occur between course weekends. In addition to this, students are required to have insurance in place to cover their clinical work by module three. Information on how to arrange this is provided on the course.
What happens if I miss a lesson?
Attendance at another school for a missed module involves no additional cost for the teaching time. Accommodation and travel costs however must be covered personally by the student.
CPHT training is delivered face to face in the classroom unless exceptional circumstances require a module to be delivered online. It may be possible to access a module elsewhere via video conferencing, but this is at the discretion of the lecturers involved and may not always be possible.
Is there a final exam or assessment?
A video presentation of your initial consultation, which you have 2-4 months to prepare for A written portfolio of work, which you have several months to complete 8 written case histories and one case history presentation.
We support you to complete these elements including supporting those with additional needs e.g. written portfolio can be sent in as audio or video records. If you would like to discuss this further do make contact with the lecturer at the school you wish to train at, to have your questions answered.
Is there any post graduate training available?
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Courses of varying lengths. These are led by working therapists and experts in the field and provide further in-depth knowledge on topics such as Fertility, Working with children, Book-keeping, Mindfulness, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to name but a few. Courses are delivered via live video conferencing or face to face sessions.
- The Advanced Hypnotherapy Diploma (AHD). This qualification is provided only by CPHT and has been accredited by the NCFE as having measurable learning outcomes that have been benchmarked at Level 5 (using Ofqual’s Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) level descriptors). It is currently the highest Hypnotherapy qualification available in the UK.
- The Hypnotherapy Supervisor’s Course. This is also a level 5 diploma and trains experienced therapists to the level of being able to supervise others, helping them to grow as both therapists and business owners.