When I was coming back from Atlanta this week, I received an interesting text message from someone who wanted to shadow me in my practice and allow me to let him get more hands-on experience. He claimed to have attended an accredited hypnotherapy training program and was a certified in Ericksonian hypnotherapy from a location that I could not place but seemed familiar. When I came home and had access to a computer, a very quick search on google confirmed my suspicions.
The course was a $12 course on Udemy lasting a total of 7.5 hours of material. This is less than the 10 hours of material you can get for free from Hypnosis Motivation Institute, which is an accredited college of hypnotherapy. And certainly far less than is required to allow yourself to proclaim to be a certified hypnotherapist.
Now I have absolutely nothing against Udemy, I have been known to take quite a few classes there myself in a variety of things. Along with Groupon, I love Udemy so much someone should probably stage an intervention.However, while I applaud those who take courses, I feel it is important for people to not deceive themselves or their clients about their qualifications. Many instructors of hypnotherapy even in the best of circumstances also have questionable qualifications. It might be for the best if one researches the person’s background and even ask some professionals in the area. One of the reasons I do not offer Udemy courses at this time, as well as am very careful about the people I teach is because I am concerned people will claim they are more qualified then they are and I would be responsible for their errors. Several times when I have seen on their ads on Facebook comments by professionals (not just hypnotherapy professionals but other psychologists).
It is important to know when something is a legitimate certification or not especially when one is working in the healthcare fields, which hypnotherapy is. While I cannot say distance education is an automatic disqualifier by any stretch of the imagination, I would recommend doing basic research to see where the hypnotist in question obtained their certifications and if you are looking into certifications yourself, see if they are accepted by the professionals.
Melvin S. Marsh is a certified hypnotherapist serving Atlanta GA, Aiken SC, Augusta GA, Blairsville GA, and Cary NC where he is one of the most highly rated and most reviewed hypnotists in the world. He performs hypnotherapy appointments both in person and worldwide virtually. He can be reached at www.afterhourshypnotherapy.com .
