There is a Difference Between Being a Hypnotherapist and Psychotherapist
A few days ago, I wrote a post called a clear delineation where I showed the differences between psychotherapy, counselling, hypnotherapy and coaching. I wrote this because I believe that it is important for the profession and public alike to understand the differences in these discrete disciplines.
I have noticed, however, that there are some hypnotherapists who seem to think being a hypnotherapist is the same thing as being a psychotherapist. This traces its roots back to the 1970’s where there was a far more lax definition of being a psychotherapist and hypnotherapists who fancied the title simply adopted it as their own. This fortunately died out in the late 1980’s.
I have noticed a proliferation of hypnotherapists of late adopting the title psychotherapist. Now, this could be due to their trainers encouraging it, and their professional bodies looking the other way at this practise. In my view, unless you have undertaken a psychotherapy training recognised by the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and/or the Britsh Psychoanalytic Council you do not have the moral or ethical right to call yourself a psychotherapist full stop.
Now I know there are those who will disagree with me, but no one can realistically argue that the training undertaken by therapists recognised by the above organisations far exceed what is required to be a hypnotherapist. If you are a client in doubt, please verify your therapist’s qualifications if you are a therapist, please look into your conscience and ask yourself if it is ethical for you to call yourself a psychotherapist.
