Hypnotherapy is something that can be polarizing for a lot of people.

Many people disregard the potential benefits of hypnosis and its relationship with the unconscious mind. Others find it to be a spiritually rewarding practice that provides healing and understanding to people in need. 

When you look closely, the practice of hypnotherapy is rooted in entirely real ideas that can’t be disregarded. The suspicion that many people feel toward hypnosis is likely rooted in the inaccurate depictions it gets in the media. 

These depictions bar people from experiencing the healing that a session can provide. Further, individuals aren’t as open to the idea of becoming a certified hypnotherapist. 

If you’re asking yourself, “Should I take hypnotherapy training to become a certified hypnotherapist,” we’re going to help you out in this article.

Should I Take Hypnotherapy Training to Become a Certified Hypnotherapist?

Becoming a certified hypnotherapist is different than becoming, say, an electrician. While some of the same steps are taken to get there (practice, certification, study, etc.), the profession requires a particularly open mind and willingness to be empathetic.

Hypnotherapy is a process that deals with understanding human beings and trying to help them access essential elements of their consciousness. Its application is wide and substantial, overlapping with other career paths that you might not have imagined.

Fields that Overlap With Hypnotherapy

When you think of hypnotherapy, it’s likely that you conjure up images of swinging stopwatches, people half-asleep in chairs, or other wonky tricks that are portrayed on television. 

While those methods are used in some cases, they’re more akin to an entry level, showman’s versions of hypnotherapy. In reality, the practice has applications in medical professions.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, many traditional medicine practices, and psychotherapy are all areas where hypnotherapy is used on a regular basis. Generally, efforts to treat a person’s psyche, sense of well-being, or behavioral patterns can benefit from the use of hypnosis. 

You may find yourself working in psychiatric care, substance abuse counseling, relationship counseling, social work, or even dentistry.

So, entering into the profession of hypnotherapy is by no means limiting. Once established, you have the ability to open your own practice, find work at a clinic or hospital, or move forward and create your own path. 

What is Hypnotherapy, Really?

In order to grasp hypnotherapy, you need to touch on a few ideas. Many people take alternative medicine and holistic practices to be ineffective, as they aren’t heavily pushed by big business or big medicine. 

Taking a step back from what is traditionally seen as valuable, let’s think about a few things. The first idea to chew on is that our minds are more complicated and delicate than our immediate experience would suggest.

The Subconscious

The idea of the unconscious and subconscious mind is that there are processes unfolding in our psyche that aren’t perceptible by our normal states of consciousness.

It’s a complicated idea that’s been debated and grasped at by psychologists and philosophers for over one hundred years. Things like subliminal attitudes and perceptions towards others, suppressed feelings, reactions, behaviors, even desires are thought to operate in an unconscious manner.

In some ways, these processes are thought to be more accurate representations of what’s happening in a person’s mind. Another way of looking at it is thinking of your mind as a tree. 

The unconscious and subconscious could be likened to the trunk and branches of the tree that is your mind. The leaves could be considered your conscious awareness. The leaves of the tree will only manifest as a direct result of the branches, the nutrients they get, and the health of the trunk.

In the same vein, your behaviors might be damaged and altered by the foundations laid in your subconscious mind. 

Whether or not you want to use the terms “subconscious” or “unconscious” doesn’t matter. What matters is that you acknowledge the reality that our minds are layered, and that it’s possible to interact with different layers of the mind to achieve healing.

The Benefit of Relaxation

The second idea that you should accept before considering hypnotherapy is that relaxation has profound effects on the body and mind. 

Hypnotherapy involves inducing a state of deep relaxation in order for the individual to get better access to the things lying under the conscious mind. Whatever method you use to relax a client, it must set them at ease and allow them to enter into the state of hypnosis.

Once hypnotized, the individual is allowed a heightened state of focus and concentration. Similar to meditation, hypnosis turns the volume down on the chitter chatter of the conscious mind and opens space for other, deeper parts of the mind to float to the surface. 

This is the state which allows hypnotherapists to do their work. 

Hypnotherapy in Practice

Methods vary within the field, but most involve an introductory element of something called induction. Induction is the process of easing the client into the relaxed state described above.

Some methods entail a simple back and forth conversation that eventually leads to the client closing their eyes and entering into a state of deep relaxation. Sometimes this means having the client perform a few conflicting ideas in their minds at one time. 

These activities are meant to be confusing and counterintuitive to the conscious mind. They could even be things like Zen Koans, which are meant to confuse and still the mind so that the unconscious can have a bigger effect.

The point of this piece is to ease the client’s mind into a state where conscious awareness is submerged into a lower space in the mind, clearing the path for focus on ideas that you’ll be suggesting.

Suggestion Hypnosis

Suggestion hypnosis is the practice used for individuals who are trying to quit smoking, lose weight, or change a particular behavior. 

When it comes to specific behaviors that we know to be wrong or bad for our health, we need something profound to change. Think about it, why would a person continuously do something that they know could kill them or lower their standard of living?

Usually, it’s an addiction, layered ideas about themselves and others that prevent healing from taking place, or other cognitive errors. If you’re someone who’s experienced something like, say, an addiction to cigarettes, you know what this is like. 

Despite waves of suggestions from your family, friends, doctors, and literally any available source of information, you keep finding yourself at the gas station buying cigarettes. While deep in the back of your mind you know what you should do, you continue to do otherwise.

Focusing in on an Idea

Suggestion hypnosis allows us to clear through whatever it is that is preventing the individual from listening to the voice in their head telling them to change their behavior. 

The job of the hypnotherapist is to suggest the client’s mind into that realization. It isn’t as simple as hypnotizing someone then saying “you should stop smoking,” however. 

Suggestion can be thought of more as guidance. In a sense, you’re guiding this person through their mind toward the realization that their subconscious wants to provide. People can be guided in millions of different directions, but it’s your job to facilitate the experience in a way that brings them healing. 

Regression Hypnosis

Regression hypnosis is the other side of hypnotherapy. Instead of working on particular behaviors linked to addiction and poor health, regression focuses more on emotional states, deep-seated ideas of the self, fears, self-esteem, and thinking patterns. 

Where suggestion allows the hypnotherapist to input guidance, regression requires the therapist to tease out emotional roadblocks that are holding a person back.

People are often extremely limited by past traumas, difficult memories, images of themselves, and other cognitive limitations. 

If you’ve ever met someone who constantly refers to themselves as “stupid” or “incapable,” you may have noticed that some of those terms ring true when it comes to their behavior. Even if this person is the brightest person you’ve ever met, they continuously do things that run counter to their personality. 

Thinking that we are a particular way often leads us to act in that way. This is especially true when we employ negative thoughts about ourselves. The more you call yourself stupid, the more it will feel and seem true. 

Tapping into these deep-rooted subconscious ideas is the role of the hypnotherapist. As you can imagine, this is difficult and requires some training on the part of the practitioner. 

How to Become a Certified Hypnotherapist

The information above just skims the foundational ideas of hypnotherapy. You’re certification and requirements will vary depending on the field that you’re looking to go into. 

In order to become a hypnotherapist, though, you may have to have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in the field that you will be practicing hypnotherapy in. For example, you will need to have an academic background in psychiatry in order for you to practice hypnotherapy in that discipline.

It’s a wide field, though. There are different opportunities that can arise without the individual having a master’s degree. With that said, most people trying to earn a job in hypnotherapy will start by getting a bachelor’s degree in psychology, nursing, dentistry, social work, or whatever else their desired field may be.

Another thing to keep in mind at this point is the importance of graduating from an institution that is accredited by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation. Certification comes from the National Board for Hypnotherapists.

The board states that all applicants must have attained a master’s degree before starting certification, while a doctorate is required in some cases. More education is required in situations where the therapist will be working in the medical professions.

Hypnotherapy Training and Certification

Certification involves the completion of over 50 hours of classroom learning.  Additionally, students will engage in supervised practice for just under 20 hours. 

Those are qualifications that you must take care of before you apply to the Board of Hypnotherapists. You will submit an application to the board and hear what they have to say. 

In addition to acceptance from the board, you’ll need to gain the requisite certifications and licenses for the position you’ll be working in. For example, mental health work has its own set of rules and regulations, and you may be required to get specific credentials that you don’t already have. 

These requirements will be relative to your state and you should factor them all in as you begin your journey toward becoming a hypnotherapist. It’s important to have a full-scope idea of what you’re up against before you begin.

Is Hypnotherapy the Right Career for You?

Hypnotherapy is a very broad and interesting discipline. Not to mention, professional hypnotists can make somewhere around 75,000 dollars a year. 

As you probably noticed, though, the path to becoming a hypnotherapist is a relatively long one. A lot of schooling and time are needed to get to the point of even being able to get certified to be a hypnotist.

With that said, you might have already begun your higher education or might have an established career that would benefit from hypnotherapy training. If that’s the case, there’s very little stopping you from learning a little more and adding a hypnotherapy certification to your list of achievements. 

Your clients will greatly benefit, too. There’s a good reason for hypnotherapists to be active in such a broad range of professional disciplines. It’s an effective way to treat the client without intervening with medications or intrusive methodologies. 

It’s an organic way to heal that plays on very real, very human qualities. So, if you think that you’d like to help people move forward in your life and enter into a spiritually rewarding career, hypnotherapy might be the right fit for you. 

Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique

Before we finish, we should mention the Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique. It’s a method that was developed and refined by a woman named Dolores Cannon. 

It operates primarily by accessing the Theta state of consciousness, which occurs when you are just about to fall asleep or wake up in the morning. It’s that sort of in-between space where your mind is free to make associations, realizations, and even relive past lives if the practitioner is skilled.

Hypnotherapists who wish to learn this practice develop skills that help themselves and others attain access to some of the highest levels of consciousness. There are three tiers of certification, each one leading to a deeper understanding.

Additionally, the more certification you get in Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique, the more money you can earn. Practitioners in the highest tier often earn something in the ballpark of $100,000 dollars per year.

Want to Learn More?

 There’s a lot more to learn about hypnosis if you’re still considering the question, “should I take hypnotherapy training to become a certified hypnotherapist?” There are different methodologies, different ways to become a practitioner, and a number of personal benefits of practicing hypnosis that we couldn’t get to in this article. 

Contact us to learn more about moving forward with your career as a hypnotherapist.