Choosing a Hypnotherapist This article assumes that you have decided to go for hypnotherapy to resolve some issue such as giving up smoking or losing weight, and seeks to answer
question, "How do you select an appropriate hypnotherapist?"You should check with prospective hypnotherapists that they belong to a reputable professional body with a code of conduct and a complaints procedure.
Unfortunately, there is a bewildering array of professional bodies and qualifications for hypnotherapy. In recognition of this, government set up General Hypnotherapy Standards Council (GHSC). This body has specified minimum qualifications, and has a code of conduct and a complaints procedure. If you are thinking of seeing a hypnotherapist, make sure that they have GHSC accreditation as a minimum: letters 'GHR' will appear on literature of a registered practitioner and 'GHSC' for a validated practitioner.
Having said all that, word of mouth is probably most effective way of selecting a hypnotherapist, as long as it is someone that a friend of yours has seen, rather than someone that you have heard of in media.
Beware of hypnotherapist with one-size-fits-all approach; rather, look for someone that treats you as an individual, with warmth and respect.
Qualifications and experience are important aspects to consider. However, crucial factor is quality of relationship you have with your hypnotherapist; improvement is much more likely to take place if therapeutic relationship is right.
In order for hypnotherapy to work, you need an approachable hypnotherapist that will hear what you have to say, identify with your concerns, provide insights, tools and techniques to help you move forward, and keep you safe from harm.
Of course, you can't tell whether you will have a good therapeutic relationship until you actually meet your hypnotherapist…
The Initial Appointment The first appointment is an opportunity for you and hypnotherapist to get to know enough about each other so that you both can make an initial feasibility assessment. The hypnotherapist needs to decide whether they have skills to deal with issues you are presenting, and you need to make a decision about quality of therapeutic relationship.
This doesn't mean that hypnotherapist is not working hard – sometimes one session is all that is required for fundamental improvements to happen, and, with all this in mind, hypnotherapist will often charge you for initial appointment. Hypnotherapists should be open and trustworthy. They should be able to put you at your ease within minutes of meeting them. The hypnotherapist should be sort of person to whom you might be prepared to confide anything. You should find hypnotherapist easy to talk to, even if you are a person of few words.
