Hypnosis Practitioner & Hypnotherapy Guide (CPD Accredited)

Learn more about this course and meet the instructors.

It will be helpful for you to start here, where I mention some of the story behind this course and a great explanation of what you will learn. Keep in mind that you have life-time access to the course. 

You will often hear the question "what is hypnotherapy?" This answer is long and ad lib, but if you listen to it a couple of times it may offer some additional insights into how to convey to the public what you do for a living and what you can do for them. I hope you take the knowledge you received from this course, combine it with what you get from an answer like this and come up with your own way of explaining your profession to those around you.

Learn the difference between hypnosis and hypnotherapy, as well as how hypnotherapy is both similar to and different from therapy and life coaching.

Important information about life coaching.

Here we learn about the definition of pre-induction and basic terminology used in hypnotherapy practice. The importance of practice and experience in the development of the hypnotherapist, and how that level of utility to the potential client may actually be a factor in attracting clients. The pre-induction is critically important because it literally determines the success of the induction and therefore the success of the therapy as a whole.

Three things must happen during the pre-induction in order to produce a successful induction and thus a successful therapeutic outcome. Rapport must be developed, the subject must develop an expectation of therapeutic success, and all objections must be eliminated. If the induction fails, the most probable cause is lack of one or more of the three elements described in this class. You can “test” the success of the pre-induction prior to the hypnotic induction through the “hypnotic contract”.

“Rapport” can be understood as a feeling of affinity between or among people that leads to some sort of desired outcome. Whether you life or dislike a subject (client), that may become a distraction. Neutral emotions allow you to be centered and be more effective as a hypnotherapist. But even when emotions are neutral, rapport is still necessary for the success of the process.

Important concepts to understand are “modelling” and “pacing”. Modelling is the process of adopting another person’s beliefs, behaviors, strategies, etc, in order to create rapport and enhance understanding. Pacing leads to “leading”, which can be a part of hypnotic induction process.

People tend to express themselves using one primary sense for the most part. Some people express themselves visually, others in an auditory fashion, yet others are kinesthetic. A “visual” person tends to say… “I see…” often. An auditory person tends to say… “I hear…”, and kinesthetic often use phrases like “I feel…, or a gut feeling…”.

Clients often unconsciously believe that they cannot achieve their own goals, even though they are at the hypnotherapist’s office. It is possible that this belief builds up gradually from years of frustration with a problem, or perhaps that belief had something to do with the formation of the problem in the first place. Either way, one objective that must be met during the pre-induction is the creation of a positive expectation; the client eventually believes that he can overcome the problem.

There is a certain amount of displeasure within the client’s unconscious when they come to the hypnotherapist. Clients come over to solve problems that, from the world’s point of view, do not exist. They have been told that “it is all in their heads”. Understanding this lecture is critical for the performance of a successful pre-induction.

Operators and subjects need to address all major objections prior to the hypnotic induction. Objections can be towards the operator, the subject himself, the process of therapy or hypnosis, or the objection may be relating to life after healing.

Objections can be quite simple and natural, such as the temperature in the room, need to visit the restroom, time restriction, or even thirst. Be sure to address all such natural objections since your client must be comfortable in order to go into hypnosis.

The notion of secondary gain is important in any therapeutic setting. Be sure to understand this concept and help your client ventilate such concerns.

The hypnotic contract allows you to test the success of the pre-induction prior to the induction. Make the promise to work with them professionally and in turn ask if they are willing to do as you ask without questioning you.

The importance of what we call “eye lock” in the hypnotic contract. Anything other than success requires a rework of the pre-induction without giving client the sense that something went wrong.

The true nature of dialogue is described and explained. Proper dialogue is important to the therapeutic process.

A dialogue is a fragile form of communication. If any party in the dialogue feels threatened the dialogue breaks down. The conversation may continue, but in the absence of a true dialogue, a therapeutic hypnotic induction may not be possible.

Listening with compassion and reverence means that we withhold all judgment and internal dialogue (within our own minds). That ability is essential for “total presence”, and the subject will absolutely perceive the power of your true presence.

Learn the most vital communication skill for anyone who works with clients--active listening!

Learn this vital skill for making sure your clients know you understand what they are telling you.

Learn how to listen to UNDERSTAND the other person at an emotional level (without projecting your own opinions and feelings onto them).

The ability to question a client to get to the truth of what they think and feel is a vital skill for both a life coach and a hypnotherapist.

These powerful life coaching questions are a great tool for opening dialog with you life coaching or hypnotherapy clients.

Some sort of “waiting room” may be a good idea as a buffer between the person’s life and the therapeutic process. It is a good idea to have a written financial “contract” signed if you expect payment for services. Then there is the presentation by the client, and your presentation.

The content for the suggestions comes from the subject. The person will tell you what they want to achieve, and when you are not clear you will ask for that content. One way to do that is to ask the person to fill in the blank within the following phrase: If only I could/would ___________ I would be happier (better off)…

The mind model as hypnotists typically describe it is a simple way to help subjects understand what hypnosis is, and why they will succeed. Basically between the conscious and unconscious we have the critical faculty, the bypass of which constitutes hypnosis.

Notions of philosophical monism and dualism and the relevance to the therapeutic process. Since we cannot claim to treat a subject’s brain directly, hypnotherapists are dualists

The four levels of the mind: objective, subjective, subconscious and supraconscious. Their characteristics and the importance of reaching the subconscious for the therapeutic process.

The functions of the subconscious involve autonomic functions and self-protection; from real or perceived danger. More on the critical faculty.

Selective short term memory, processing of sensory information and formulation of organized speech are examples of functions of the objective mind. Threats, real or imaginary, are stored as lessons learned in the subconscious portion of the mind. That “lesson learned” forms the basis of many later problems.

Introduction to hypnotic inductions. Understanding the meaning of critical faculty bypass in the hypnotherapeutic context is important for the formulation of any induction.

Verbal inductions can be built with combinations of relaxation, surprise and confusion. Thus, all practical verbal inductions are “mixed”.

The word “suggestion” may refer to the therapeutic process or the inductive process, hence the idea of hypnotic suggestion, post-hypnotic suggestion, and therapeutic suggestion.

All about progressive relaxation. Being still and using imagination effectively are important. Laying down is not necessary, just a comfortable sitting position.

Hypnotic inductions by confusion. Confusion is generated through sensory and mental overload, and by contradiction. Inductions by surprise are rapid inductions; although hypnosis is not “sleep”, the suggestion “sleep” is often used in rapid inductions.

The concept of depth of trance. The deeper in hypnosis a person is the more information flows between conscious and unconscious portions of the mind. Deepening happens by suggestion.

Testing hypnotic trance before proceeding into therapy is important. We offer a suggestion and “test” whether the subject accepted the suggestion completely, partially, or negatively. Physical and mental relaxation are typical ways to test for suggestion acceptance.

Learn about exductions and become motivated to keep learning about hypnosis. The exduction is sometimes called emergence, which is the process of guiding the subject out of the hypnotic state. This process gives the hypnotherapist an opportunity to boost success for their clients.

What do you suppose happens within the subject as he or she is coming out the hypnotic state? Proper attention to this phase of the process creates better outcomes therapeutically and more comfort for your clients.

A hypnotic suggestion is anything the subject perceives while in the hypnotic state. Thus your first suggestion should be one that limits the scope of what the subject will accept. While it is generally believed that if you keep the “laws of suggestions” in mind while working with your subject it is likely that your success rate will be higher, these are not meant to be taken as absolute rules, just concepts or ideas that tend to improve the acceptance of suggestions by the subject’s mind.

In order for a hypnotic suggestion to be effective two conditions must be met: the person must be in the hypnotic state, meaning that some degree of critical faculty bypass must prevail, and the suggestion has to be actively accepted by the subject.

These are some so-called laws of suggestions. Understand the idea behind it, don’t worry too much about possible slips during a session.

State suggestion positively, what to do instead of what not to do.
Repeat the idea, not necessarily the words, several times.
Speak in simple terms, as though you were talking to a child.
Emotion, color, and rhythmicity enhances the power of suggestions.

In essence hypnotic suggestion make and break associations between and among ideas. Most automatic behavior (habits) occurs as a result of associating ideas. With hypnotic suggestions we can reset those associations in order to change behavior in a direction that is consistent with the subject’s best interest.

As a hypnotherapist, the only tool you work with is the spoken word, called suggestion. Words are so powerful that often the subject comes in to solve a problem created by them. Remember that the mind is in constant activity; that activity is sometimes called “inner dialogue” and it constitutes the basis for the person’s life.

Final words about suggestions. Deep dive.

Here we look for a common denominator among all sorts of problems for which people seek hypnotherapy. Experience shows that some sort of philosophical framework within which to work helps the operator be more effective.

The principle of duality is useful to understand because we can then remove blame from all parties involved in any conflict, and thus set ourselves up for true forgiveness.

If in fact we are spiritual beings who temporarily adopt a human form, what would be the purpose of that adoption? In some ways, a person’s understanding of the answer to that question is important to their healing through hypnotherapy.

Are there true passive victims in life? Does the idea of victimhood suggest the idea of a consequence without a cause? Think deeply about these questions, because a working understanding of these issues will help you become a more effective hypnotherapist.

The law of scarcity is important because a person’s suffering may stem from their conflict with success. Under the false belief of scarcity, one’s success can only come at the expense of another’s. Thus the shame and guilt sometimes associated with a better quality of life.

One common use of hypnotherapy is for weight adjustment, mostly weight loss. Here we consider something called “self image” and the law of image matching. It is common to claim, perhaps metaphorically, that we all have an image of ourselves stored within at the level of the sub-conscious mind. The law of image matching says that, given enough time, we will always look like that inner image, whatever it is.

Impressing the sub-conscious mind with a “better” self-image causes the effective self-image to change, and therefore, in time, the body changes. Helping a person change their self-image is done through what is called end-result-imagery.

End result imagery is a powerful way to help subjects achieve their objectives. The operator elicits from the subject images and ideas, but most importantly, feelings that represent his or her objectives in seeking hypnotherapy. Then, with the subject in deep hypnosis, impresses those feelings upon him.

The weight loss process presented here is comprised of three phases, not necessarily three sessions or meetings. First help the subject identify the primary problem, food or situation, responsible for the excess weight. Second, use end result imagery to help the subject correct that situation. Third, ask the subject whether there is anything else that may be contributing to the problem. Finish with what we call the thanks but no thanks suggestion therapy.

About half of the people seeking professional hypnotherapy do so in order to adjust weight and quit smoking. Besides providing you with a steady supply of clients, mastering smoke cessation work will make you a better hypnotist.

The method presented here is primarily a hypnotic method, not a therapeutic one. You need to find what the subject associates with smoking and disrupt that association with the appropriate hypnotic suggestions. In addition to temporal and situational associations, such as “in the morning” and “when I drink coffee”, look for feelings, such as “when I get upset”.

Once the person recognizes the association between some form of rage and smoking, you can use hypnotic suggestion to “install” an association between the sane emotion and deep breathing, for instance. The second step in the process is to help the subject build a new identity, that of a non-smoker.

The third phase of the process has to do with what we call a “recovery mechanism” (RM). The RM is a post-hypnotic suggestion designed to be elicited if all else fails and the person “feels” like smoking. This step is really important for the subject’s long-term success.

Think of the smoke-cessation process as having three parts, regardless of how any meetings or sessions you decide to schedule with the subject. The entire process uses only hypnotic suggestion, the client does not need to regress or recall past experiences.

We start off with a bit more on the importance of limiting the scope of your practice during the first six months of professional practice to certain issues. Some nomenclature: self-hypnosis and meditation.

Continuation of the discussion on self-hypnosis and meditation. How to help your client achieve true self-hypnosis.

Here is a good way for you to make sure you got the material. We suggest you stop the video periodically and repeat the main ideas in your words in your mind. This way retention seems to improve.

If the review makes good sense to you, particularly if you can explain these ideas to yourself or a friend, then you mastered the material. Congratulations!

Between both parts of the exam you have a total of 65 questions, 55 regular question plus 10 bonus questions. They are read aloud fairly quickly intentionally in order to help you train your ears to catch more of what is said. Good luck!

Between both parts of the exam you have a total of 65 questions, 55 regular question plus 10 bonus questions. They are read aloud fairly quickly intentionally in order to help you train your ears to catch more of what is said. Good luck!

The test you just heard is included here in writing for your reference, but I do not suggest you use the written test to assess your understanding of the material. It is preferable that you assess your understanding as you hear the questions because you will be hearing clients and not reading notes. At the end of the questions you will find sheets that you print and use as answer sheets, and then you will find what we consider to be the correct answer to each question. But again, I suggest you take the audio test as many times as you need as a way of training your ears to hear nuances in the conversation.

In this section we will discuss some of the most basic ideas that you may wish to consider when it comes to building a professional practice. There is a big advantage in making enough money with hypnotherapy in order to make this profession your full time occupation. When you think of hypnotherapy as your only full time occupation you dedicate yourself to learning the secrets of the profession and you end up acquiring sufficient experience that only comes from helping lots of paying clients. This is a very important section of the course.

We use the brochure in a very special way, which has a lot more to do with you than actually getting business. We started our practice back when the Internet was not a factor in people’s lives. Some hypnotherapists bypass the “brochure exercise” because they think of the brochure only as a client acquisition device, and given that most people nowadays use the Internet for that purpose, they deem the exercise as unnecessary. I suggest differently, I suggest you use the brochure as described here, and for the purpose described here. If some clients come to you by reading a brochure, that would be a bonus.

For the most part the telephone continues to be the primary mean of establishing the first contact between clients and hypnotherapists. At our office, although we get many inquiries through emails and other messages, we still speak on the telephone with just about everyone that comes in. The telephone is more than just a mean of communication; the telephone is a great way to begin to set up positive expectation for your prospective client.

If you want to build a thriving full time practice your appointment book must be entirely filled from day one, regardless of how clients you have initially. When you are not in session with clients, you should be prospecting, building your practice, or educating yourself further. If you do it this way consistently, soon your appointment book will be filled with paying clients.

There are several choices available to you in terms of where to meet clients. Some of these choices are clearly discouraged, and perhaps in violation of local codes or ordnances. Among these you have your own residence, most public places and clearly other businesses, such as coffee shops, without consent from owners. Beyond that you have the client’s residence or place of business, although convenient for the client, not ideal for different reasons. Then you have the opportunity to shares space at another office or open your own office. The last option seems very attractive, but we discourage you from that option in the first six months to one year in order to avoid the distractions from the professional practice than come with the building of a business.

Here we encourage you to pay attention to details such as personal appearance, dress, and hygiene… that’s the outside. On the inside, we encourage you to practice self-hypnosis in order to enhance your ability to serve your client the best way possible.

Occasional pro bono work is good for the heart and ultimately for business as well. However, routinely not charging for your services ultimately decreases the quality of your work. The notion that you can give of yourself consistently for nothing in return is at best questionable.

Explore the key elements to a life coaching program.

This powerful life coaching tool will help your client identify what areas of their life they need to address in order to have a well-rounded life.

A vital skill for any life coach is to be able to help their clients set meaningful, achievable goals based on their true desires and dreams.

Once a life coach helps their client identify their goals, they can work together to create an action plan, breaking that long-term goal into milestones and bite-sized chunks, all the way down to what needs to be accomplished this week, today, and that first step to take RIGHT NOW!