Where did you guys go to school to get proficient at hypnotherapy?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Scott Sandland on August 31, 2009 at 6:07pm

Hey Charles-

I think it is very important that you cross train with multiple instructors from multiple schools of thought. In my opinion, one of the biggest problems a hypnotist has is thinking they know everything. This often happens when they learn everything one school of thought has to offer, and then assume it's the best or all there is.

I was very lucky to train with a few people over the years who openly disagree with each other. Because of this, I got to see different approaches and constructs than someone who just trained with one person or studied at a single school.

I could drop a lot of names right now, but the list would be very long and still leave some great people out. So rather than that, I will emphasize over and over how important it is, if you really want to be good at hypnosis, that you study at least 3 different schools or under 3 different instructors from different backgrounds.

Good luck with the rest of the list. I'm sure some people will be contributing great stuff.

-Scott Sandland

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Permalink Reply by Fable Goodman on August 31, 2009 at 6:22pm

Hi Charles,

Welcome to Hypnothoughts.

I agree entirely with Scott.

I am in England, and you are in Los Angeles, so no point in mentioning specific schools.

I had an excellent Initial training in hypnotherapy and psychotherapy with one british training organisation in the late seventies. I don't think that particular training has yet been bettered, but at some point towards the end of that training, I also attended courses from a different organisation, and got a much different (and slightly more esoteric) perspective, which was very useful. I followed this up by completing trainings with several other organisations and individuals over the next fifteen years or so, and attending workshops and seminars run by different people on different aspects of the work.

I found this very enlightening, and would thoroughly recommend that you get as broad an education as possible, read extensively, and integrate that into your own practice.

Best of luck.

Love and hugs,

Fable

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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Hanover on August 31, 2009 at 8:03pm

Hi Charles,

Welcome to HypnoThoughts.

Since you're new, you may not be aware that there's a big online training event coming up on Sept. 19-20 called the HypnoSummit. It is presented by Scott Sandland (the founder of HypnoThoughts) and Melissa Roth, an active member of HypnoThoughts.

There will be 60 hours of video training available that weekend, most of which is presented by nationally and internationally recognized hypnosis and NLP instructors (the rest is marketing and practice development).

The HypnoSummit might be a great place to start your education--for just $175 you can learn from a long list of people with a long list of viewpoints. Might help you to find an instructor or instructors whose work really resonates with you. And the event is all online, so there are no travel expenses.

I hope you get this message in time--you can get a $50 discount if you register before midnight PST tonight.

Good luck with your endeavors,

Kathleen
Client, HypnoFan, Hypnotic Marketer
@KathleenHanover on Twitter

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Permalink Reply by Roger Moore on August 31, 2009 at 8:13pm

Scott is right on with this

Scott Sandland, C.Ht. said:

Hey Charles-

I think it is very important that you cross train with multiple instructors from multiple schools of thought. In my opinion, one of the biggest problems a hypnotist has is thinking they know everything. This often happens when they learn everything one school of thought has to offer, and then assume it's the best or all there is.

I was very lucky to train with a few people over the years who openly disagree with each other. Because of this, I got to see different approaches and constructs than someone who just trained with one person or studied at a single school.

I could drop a lot of names right now, but the list would be very long and still leave some great people out. So rather than that, I will emphasize over and over how important it is, if you really want to be good at hypnosis, that you study at least 3 different schools or under 3 different instructors from different backgrounds.

Good luck with the rest of the list. I'm sure some people will be contributing great stuff.

-Scott Sandland

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Aino / Akpolarmom on August 31, 2009 at 9:54pm

Charles, I am in a special situation, where I am physically distanced from most any of the training classes offered, making it also financially impossible to attend. So, I started out taking the free class available at HMI, and then signed up for their C.HT course. This is all distance learning via streaming video. Doing this allowed me to get started. I am also taking an online course thru British Hypnosis Research, that is giving me a ton of knowledge. Now, this is in no way putting down or setting aside live training, but for starters this is some great stuff. Secondly, I have found all the information here on HypnoThoughts and the HypnoSumit invaluable.
So you have a chance to sample some of the folks on HT (there are a lot who have free course materials available) and participate in the Summit, and till you do that and find some trainer(s) that seems to click with your personal ideal, you can gater lots of wonderfull tools right here. And yes..I know... I would not be me without singing the praises of our SKYPE groups, where we get together and practice hypnosis in many different ways, using text, voice and even a camera.

So, do not jump into this with worries, but take time to look around... You have come to the right place!

Always Searching for more Tools,
Aino

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Permalink Reply by Charles Grinbaum on August 31, 2009 at 11:57pm

Wow, thank you all for taking the time out to respond! A place like Hypnothoughts is exactly what I was looking for.
I'm literally filled with joy at the moment that so many cared enough about my growth to respond to my post.
I will take it all in hand as I come to my conclusion on where I will gaining my certification.

Thank you all again,
Charles

Aino / Akpolarmom said:

Charles, I am in a special situation, where I am physically distanced from most any of the training classes offered, making it also financially impossible to attend. So, I started out taking the free class available at HMI, and then signed up for their C.HT course. This is all distance learning via streaming video. Doing this allowed me to get started. I am also taking an online course thru British Hypnosis Research, that is giving me a ton of knowledge. Now, this is in no way putting down or setting aside live training, but for starters this is some great stuff. Secondly, I have found all the information here on HypnoThoughts and the HypnoSumit invaluable.
So you have a chance to sample some of the folks on HT (there are a lot who have free course materials available) and participate in the Summit, and till you do that and find some trainer(s) that seems to click with your personal ideal, you can gater lots of wonderfull tools right here. And yes..I know... I would not be me without singing the praises of our SKYPE groups, where we get together and practice hypnosis in many different ways, using text, voice and even a camera.

So, do not jump into this with worries, but take time to look around... You have come to the right place!

Always Searching for more Tools,
Aino

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Charles Grinbaum on August 31, 2009 at 11:58pm

Wow, thank you all for taking the time out to respond! A place like Hypnothoughts is exactly what I was looking for.
I'm literally filled with joy at the moment that so many cared enough about my growth to respond to my post.
I will take it all in hand as I come to my conclusion on where I will gaining my certification.

Thank you again,

Charles

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Brian David Phillips on September 1, 2009 at 12:34am

Re-read Scott's post . . . he is not an idjit . . . seriously, he's dead on. I tell students at the university the same thing when they decide to move forward from their BA and go on for the MA on to the PhD, I tell 'em not to stick with the same instructor or even the same university. Cross-training is very important. Go read Erickson and Bandler and Elman and Andreas and more. Conrad's right on about Kein's approach being popular as well with Banyan's version gaining ground. Actually, Kein's approach pretty much comes from Gil Boyne so go get Transformational Therapy as well. Boyne's work is based on Elman with some gestalt thrown in (thrown in rather well, in my opinion). Honestly, get anything and everything and play with it all and USE it and let your personal experience help you evolve into the sort of person you want to be. See, Scott's right . . . name dropping only means you'll get a few folks and leave a whole bunch out . . . which I'm sure I have. Of course, I would never leave my own name out . . . whatever it is.

Personally, I started reading books when I was a kid and then when I got old enough to really make sense out of it all, my school for becoming truly effective was actual personal experience. Honestly, after a lifetime of reading everything I could get my hands on (back in the days before that new fangled internet thingie) I was in graduate school before I took any formal training in hypnosis and the experience was absolutely awful. Terrible techniques coupled with hardcore back-of-room-sales at every turn. Luckily I had enough basics to recognize what worked and didn't through experience.

It isn't the school itself that will make you effective and excellent, it's YOU and your gumption to go out and actually use and test. Classrooms are great for getting guidance and having classmates to practice with at the get-go but you actually have to go out and do the work in the field with actual humans to find true mastery.

Honestly, a LOT of the so-called greats never even took formal training. They got a book and just gave it a go. Today, things are a bit more well organized so you can get DVDs (I have tons of 'em I'm always happy to sell to folks), books, audio CDs, as well as the live classes. I don't fault live classes - I love 'em and am a professional educator and have been for a couple decades - but, your proficiency comes from the fieldwork. In my opinion.

Of course, despite all the webpage selling "ultra powerful secret techniques" . . . this stuff ain't rocket science. If you've a reasonably intelligent mind, an open imagination, and a willingness to give it a go and fail and succeed and fail and succeed to learn to succeed some more . . . then you'll be fine.

In my opinion.

All the best,
BRIAN DAVID PHILLIPS (see, didn't forget to drop my name)
http://www.briandavidphillips.com

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Permalink Reply by Charles Grinbaum on September 1, 2009 at 2:30am

Brian, thanks for your response. I noticed earlier you had a seminar close to me here in Los Angeles on the 15th and 16th. I read about it, and wanted to take part until I noticed that the dates had past. Will you be coming back to LA to do anything like this again in the near future?

Brian David Phillips said:

Re-read Scott's post . . . he is not an idjit . . . seriously, he's dead on. I tell students at the university the same thing when they decide to move forward from their BA and go on for the MA on to the PhD, I tell 'em not to stick with the same instructor or even the same university. Cross-training is very important. Go read Erickson and Bandler and Elman and Andreas and more. Conrad's right on about Kein's approach being popular as well with Banyan's version gaining ground. Actually, Kein's approach pretty much comes from Gil Boyne so go get Transformational Therapy as well. Boyne's work is based on Elman with some gestalt thrown in (thrown in rather well, in my opinion). Honestly, get anything and everything and play with it all and USE it and let your personal experience help you evolve into the sort of person you want to be. See, Scott's right . . . name dropping only means you'll get a few folks and leave a whole bunch out . . . which I'm sure I have. Of course, I would never leave my own name out . . . whatever it is.

Personally, I started reading books when I was a kid and then when I got old enough to really make sense out of it all, my school for becoming truly effective was actual personal experience. Honestly, after a lifetime of reading everything I could get my hands on (back in the days before that new fangled internet thingie) I was in graduate school before I took any formal training in hypnosis and the experience was absolutely awful. Terrible techniques coupled with hardcore back-of-room-sales at every turn. Luckily I had enough basics to recognize what worked and didn't through experience.

It isn't the school itself that will make you effective and excellent, it's YOU and your gumption to go out and actually use and test. Classrooms are great for getting guidance and having classmates to practice with at the get-go but you actually have to go out and do the work in the field with actual humans to find true mastery.

Honestly, a LOT of the so-called greats never even took formal training. They got a book and just gave it a go. Today, things are a bit more well organized so you can get DVDs (I have tons of 'em I'm always happy to sell to folks), books, audio CDs, as well as the live classes. I don't fault live classes - I love 'em and am a professional educator and have been for a couple decades - but, your proficiency comes from the fieldwork. In my opinion.

Of course, despite all the webpage selling "ultra powerful secret techniques" . . . this stuff ain't rocket science. If you've a reasonably intelligent mind, an open imagination, and a willingness to give it a go and fail and succeed and fail and succeed to learn to succeed some more . . . then you'll be fine.

In my opinion.

All the best,
BRIAN DAVID PHILLIPS (see, didn't forget to drop my name)
http://www.briandavidphillips.com

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Brian David Phillips on September 1, 2009 at 2:45am

Charles Grinbaum said:

Brian, thanks for your response. I noticed earlier you had a seminar close to me here in Los Angeles on the 15th and 16th. I read about it, and wanted to take part until I noticed that the dates had past. Will you be coming back to LA to do anything like this again in the near future?

The near future? Not likely. We are still decompressing over the last whirlwind experience while flailing at a hundred and eleventy projects that need finishing while getting back into the swing of things as our daughter begins a new high school and I prepare to teach a new semester at the university with a few new courses to handle in the mix.

Taking it easy? Not. But, decompressing while wildly flailing about.

However . . . we will most definitely be back. Each time we have gone to LA, we've had absolutely wonderful experiences with great folks. If I didn't live in Taipei, Los Angeles is on my very very short list of other places I would want to be and it's right above the top of the list.

Sorry we missed you. The two courses went wonderfully and we had a great experience with a whole slew of folks happily running about hypnotizin' folks.

If you are in the general Los Angeles area, be sure to hook up with the good folks at the LA Hypnosis Network, a free practice group. Their yahoogroup is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LA-Hypnosis-Network and there are very good and very helpful folks involved. There are similar groups in San Diego and San Francisco as well.

All the best,
BRIAN DAVID PHILLIPS (once more, didn't forget to drop my name)
http://www.briandavidphillips.com

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Permalink Reply by Marjorie Cameron (Poodle) on September 4, 2009 at 9:15am

Brian David Phillips may be the answer to the future of hypnosis. One does not get a Cert. for attending. One gets a Cert. for demonstrating that one has learned the material presented and can do it all when called upon. Seriously doubt if any of our domestic pets get a Cert. there. :-)

Be well~Pood

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Permalink Reply by Brian David Phillips on September 4, 2009 at 5:01pm

You never know . . . it is entirely possible for someone to still commit fraud by providing false information either via a live or online program. Certainly, someone could send in a video of themselves performing all the skillsets and then giving their puppy's name. However, while Dr. Katz "might" get certified in that case, it would be based upon obvious fraud . . . actually, with those groups that did certify the famous Dr. Katz, whether or not you believe they have valuable programs or that their standards are worth the paper they are printed on, they were still defrauded. The psychologist who certified his cat was specifically looking to defraud the system and took advantage of programs that operated upon an assumption of good faith, regardless of whether or not they have worthwhile programs.

All the best,
Brian
http://www.briandavidphillips.com

Marjorie Cameron (Poodle) said:

Brian David Phillips may be the answer to the future of hypnosis. One does not get a Cert. for attending. One gets a Cert. for demonstrating that one has learned the material presented and can do it all when called upon. Seriously doubt if any of our domestic pets get a Cert. there. :-)

Be well~Pood

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