Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Most accrediting bodies accredit courses which are developed by individual schools after ensuring that they meet the requirements of the voluntary regulations. We feel this is the best option because a course is reviewed, assessed, and accredited by someone who wasn't responsible for writing it. These certificates/awards will all have different names because there might be a copyright issue if one school chose a name that was already in use by another.

A few accrediting bodies write a course themselves and authorise certain schools to run it on a sort of franchise arrangement. All these schools will issue certificates showing the same qualification/award because they are all teaching the same course. That doesn't make the course better than those taught by just one school.

I hope you can see from this that the exact name of your qualification doesn't matter as much as whether the course is designed around the Voluntary Regulations. For more on this topic and others, please send for our free ebook 'How to become a hypnotherapist'.

As a hypnotherapist, you are responsible for your clients' emotional and psychological well-being. A weekend course and a book of hypnotherapy scripts do not mean you can do this safely, effectively or professionally.

The therapists that brief courses turn out may sometimes help people, just as a 'cowboy' plumber might occasionally fix a tap. But would you knowingly call one in? Or, more to the point, would you want to become one?

If you were the client, would you want to see a therapist who had trained as quickly and cheaply as possible or one who had invested time, money and effort in a thorough understanding of the field?

Many hypnotherapists find a lot of their clients come by word of mouth, and that means being good at what you do. If you want a therapy business that will grow, become successful and genuinely help the people you work with you need to provide a top-class, professional service. And that means investing in top-class, professional training with no shortcuts.

For more on this topic and others, please send for our free ebook 'How to become a hypnotherapist'.

If you have already undertaken some similarly accredited hypnotherapy training elsewhere and wish to transfer to us, it might be possible to offset what you have already covered. These decisions are taken on a case-by-case basis.

Please contact us with full details of the course you took (when, where, who with, areas covered, accreditation) and we will let you know. You will need to provide proof of your prior training (e.g. certificates or a letter from the previous trainer) at the time of enrolling with us.

We recognise that for many of our students, their training represents a significant investment. Fees include 20 full days of face-to-face training, unlimited telephone and email support throughout the course, a textbook and entry into an externally validated specialist qualification worth up to £100.

We also offer continued support when you are qualified in terms of supervision and advice, and discounts on CPD training. We feel we offer pretty good value for money.

You need to invest in any type of business before it can be launched but hypnotherapy is not a particularly expensive business to set up compared with others where you need equipment and/or stock. But it's not free. You need at least insurance, professional memberships/registration, and advertising. We're happy to answer questions about these.

As with all self-employment, your hypnotherapy practice will be what you make it, and no one can promise you a particular level of success. But we feel our graduates are well suited for setting up in practice at the end of the course.

Unfortunately, the grants, loans and incentives offered for private training vary all the time and they often depend on your circumstances, how old you are, if and for how long you’ve been out of work, and where you live. It’s simply not possible for us to keep up with them all. https://www.gov.uk/moving-from-benefits-to-work/starting-your-own-business tells you about one scheme, https://www.gov.uk/business-finance-support has links to a few other options, though not all apply to hypnotherapy. If you already work in healthcare, ask if some or all of your fees might be covered as part of your professional development. This isn't always possible, but it is worth asking your employer.

Otherwise, we suggest contacting your local Job Centre which may have more up-to-date information about what support is available, and/or your local council, to see if they offer any incentives to those setting up businesses in your area.

Don't rush into the first / cheapest / nearest course you find. This training is going to form the bedrock of your new career and it's worth making sure you have the best one for you.

Make a wishlist and don't be afraid to ask questions. Look for the same information about each course you consider so you can compare them like for like. Have a spreadsheet! And send for our free ebook 'How to become a hypnotherapist' which will give you a (reasonably) disinterested list of factors to consider.

Because we're the best!
Well, OK, we have to believe that. But we do feel our course is special.

• It is accredited by a variety of professional bodies and based on the most up-to-date version of the voluntary regulations. It offers the added bonus of being able to advertise yourself as a specialist, with an additional qualification of your choice as well as your basic practitioner's diploma, from day one of your new career.
• Our tutor is an experienced and well-respected therapist, running a successful practice as well as teaching, a published author, a conference speaker, and a past editor of the Hypnotherapy Journal.
• We believe the quality of the therapists we train is more important than quantity. We don't have numerous classes churning out huge numbers of therapists as quickly as possible, we have a limited number of small classes with lots of individual attention. The maximum number of students in a class is six.
• Our curriculum is based on the practicalities of running a therapy business. It starts by making you a good hypnotist and a good communicator, then goes on to cover the most common reasons people seek out hypnotherapy, and finally offers an introduction to some specialist areas. In other words, it teaches you what you need to know to be a successful professional therapist.

Convinced? Please contact us if you still have questions, or apply to join one of our classes.