NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HANDS-ON HYPNOSIS TRAINING!
By: Patricia V. Scott, Ph.D. – President, UP Hypnosis Institute
In the age of interactive on-line video training, why do I still believe there is “No substitute for hands-on hypnosis training”? My most credible evidence is what I hear from people in this field and those who come to my classes who have only had on-line training. They instinctively know that there is something missing and they don’t seem to have the confidence level in working with their clients that people who attend “Live” trainings have.
I remember that it took me a long time to develop confidence working with clients in the beginning. First, I had only hypnotized a few other students during my initial training. Then, it took a while to build up my practice and I wasn’t seeing enough clients right away to build my confidence and keep my skills sharp. I did sign up for every hypnosis & NLP class I could find, but I was still working primarily with other students.
The six-weekend Hypnosis Certification training that I have developed over my 25+ years in this field includes not only one-on-one practice sessions between students, but also private practice sessions with the public. Shortly after I became a Certified Master Trainer, I decided to do an experiment with my hypnosis students. On the third, fourth and fifth weekends of the training, I put out a call to my contact list asking for volunteers to work with the hypnosis students. By the third weekend, the students had learned the basics and knew how to do the pre-talk, so I thought this would be a good way for them to practice. The experiment payed off in ways I hadn’t anticipated. Both the confidence level and competence level of each student went through the roof. Even those in the training with prior counseling experience showed accelerated growth compared to past students. And even though these were scripted practice sessions, the positive feedback from the practice clients was invaluable.
The other element about “live” training that I believe is irreplaceable is the personal interaction and comradery that happens during the course. There is usually an interesting mix of professionals and people looking for self-development, which opens UP a wide array of conversational and educational Possibilities. I know that some of my most valuable lessons in this field came about through personal interactions at trainings and conferences that were beyond the scope of the practical training.
We are more and more living a world of “virtual reality”. There are even some new mental disorders in the DSM based on people lacking personal contact with others, and we can help these people with hypnosis. I think it’s fantastic that we now have a plethora of on-line resources to supplement our knowledge and education; however, I believe now, more than ever before, there is “NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HANDS-ON HYPNOSIS TRAINING”.
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