I have just become a full licenciate member of the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH). The NCH represents over 1800 hypnotherapy professionals within the United Kingdom, of which I am now one of them!
There are many Hypnotherapy Associations that a qualified Hypnotherapist can join but I decided to join the NCH as it is a very respected and well known association and only practitioners with a Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma (HPD) can be a member. The HPD is an externally verified qualification, bringing it in line with other health care professions.
To ensure high professional standards, the NCH devised a Code of Conduct which all its members must abide to.
The NCH encourages all its members to continue to improve their skills and grow their knowledge. Each year, I am required to practice Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in order for me to stay a member of the association. I regularly attend group supervision sessions, workshops and talks on various aspects of Hypnotherapy, NLP and Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). I also regularly read books, journals, magazines and websites on various aspects of Hypnotherapy, Mental Health, Psychotherapy, How the Brain Works and any other subject that might relate to and enhance my Hypnotherapy practice. All these activities help to enhance my skills and knowledge in hypnotherapy and keeps me in touch with current practices.
Although not part of the CPD program, I regularly practice self hypnosis and regularly have hypnotherapy sessions with another hypnotherapist. I feel that this is an important part of being a therapist as it allows me to experience what it is like to be a client, to see how other therapists work, and it also looks after my own wellbeing.
The NCH holds a register of all of its members so you can find a Hypnotherapist near you and be sure that they are trained to the highest standards, are fully insured and work to a strict professional code of conduct. Check out the NCH Therapist Finder.
View my NCH practitioner profile.