Does Having Counselling Qualifications improve Hypnotherapy
This is a common question I get asked as both a trainer and practitioner. Counselling, is a distinct profession in it’s own right and therefore can certainly be practised without hypnotherapy being a part of that practice. But, can having such qualifications in counselling actually improve one’s hypnotherapy practice? The answer to that is a resounding YES, of course. Counsellors have skills that will certainly aid a hypnotherapist in their clinical work.
Counsellors will have been trained to a greater degree in the therapeutic alliance, the core conditions, and therapeutic process far more than most hypnotherapy trainings (I don’t include hypno-psychotherapy trainings in this, I will discuss that tomorrow). Counsellors will tend to focus far more on the relationship than technique. Unfortunately, in many cases, hypnotherapy trainings are mostly, if not totally focused on techniques rather than an understanding of the human condition.
Counsellors, who I have known who added hypnotherapy to their therapeutic tool box, have told me that they find that their skills with counselling marry very nicely indeed with the skills they took from hypnotherapy. This makes for a more effective therapeutic experience for the client. Perhaps if you are looking for a hypnotherapist, you might want to consider one with a counselling background as well as a hypnotherapeutic one.
