About Us
About Hypno-CBT® College
We are a London-based college that trains therapists in Hypno-CBT®, an integrative model of therapy that brings together modern hypnosis, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and mindfulness. Since 2013 the College has been owned and led by Mark R. Davis, who developed the Hypno-CBT® model. Its roots go back to 2003 and HypnoSynthesis®, a self-hypnosis training founded by Donald Robertson.
Formerly The UK College of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy · A division of Mindease Limited
2006
Teaching cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy since
3,000+
People trained on our courses
1,000+
Qualified through our Diploma
75+
Countries our students come from
Who we are
Hypno-CBT® College is a professional training college for therapists. Our main course is the Level 5 Higher Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy, a 600-hour programme that most students complete in six to twelve months alongside work.
You can study online with your own tutor, join live webcast classes on set dates, or mix the two. Every route leads to the same qualification. The Diploma prepares you for self-employed private practice, so alongside the therapy skills it covers how to set up and run a practice.
The College is run by Mark R. Davis FRSM, Principal and developer of the Hypno-CBT® model, and Fabienne Davis, Director. It is a division of Mindease Limited, the company they founded together.
Our story in brief
The College has changed a great deal since it opened, from a course in self-hypnosis to a college built around one model of therapy.
- 2003: Donald Robertson founds HypnoSynthesis®, a training in self-hypnosis and personal development and the forerunner of the College.
- 2005–06: The College becomes The UK College of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy, registers the name Hypno-CBT® and begins teaching cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy.
- 2007: The awarding organisation NCFE approves the College as a centre, and together they create an externally verified Diploma.
- 2008: Mark Davis, who started training at the College in 2006 and qualified in 2007, joins as Vice-Principal.
- 2013: Mark takes over the College and the Hypno-CBT® trademark through Mindease Limited, the company he founded with Fabienne Davis. He begins rebuilding the training into the Hypno-CBT® model taught today.
- 2015–19: The model goes international, with conference talks and Diploma courses in Beijing. In 2019 the Chinese Psychological Society certifies the Diploma, one of the first eight private psychotherapy training programmes in China to receive this.
- 2019–20: The Diploma moves online and to live webcast. In 2020 we train 25 psychologists at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
- 2021–23: Professor Donald Meichenbaum, one of the founders of CBT, teaches for the College and records his legacy course with us. The Level 5 Higher Diploma launches in 2022 and our Senior Advisory Board forms in 2023.
- 2026: The 1,000th practitioner qualifies through the Diploma. The College becomes Hypno-CBT® College, moves to hypno-cbt.com and opens the Hypno-CBT® Directory, where the public can find therapists trained in the model.
What we teach
Hypno-CBT® is an integrative model of therapy developed by Mark R. Davis. It combines cognitive behavioural therapy, modern hypnosis, mindfulness and stress inoculation training.
The model rests on one central idea: that people change mainly through imagination, the ability to experience a possible future before acting on it. This is a proposition we are actively testing, and our Research Unit is reviewing the evidence for it.
In Hypno-CBT®, hypnosis means using imagination, attention, suggestion and expectation with skill and purpose. It does not rely on trance or control, and it is not CBT with a few hypnosis scripts added on. Clients learn self-hypnosis as a skill they can use for themselves between sessions.
The training is practical. Nearly half of Diploma time is spent practising in pairs, in groups or on your own, and supervised practice sessions run four times a week.
A note on names
Cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy (CBH) is the broad name for a whole field. Hypno-CBT® is one specific model within it, with its own methods and training, and the name is a registered trademark in the UK and the US.
The people behind the College
A small staff team runs the College day to day. Teaching is shared between senior trainers, online tutors and supervisors, many of whom trained with us and run their own practices.
Leadership
- Mark R. Davis FRSM, Principal and Lead Trainer, developer of Hypno-CBT®
- Fabienne Davis, Director
- Shelley Cushway, Head of Training and Operations
Senior Advisory Board
- Professor Donald Meichenbaum PhD, Head of the Board. Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo, and one of the founders of CBT
- Dr Krissie Ivings, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, BABCP accredited
- Daniel Mirea MSc, Senior CBT therapist and supervisor, BABCP and UKCP accredited
- Professor David Attard PhD, Logotherapist and former President of the Viktor Frankl Institute
Trainers
Experienced Hypno-CBT® therapists who lead the live webcast classes and specialist workshops. Several also work in the NHS, in universities or in medicine.
Tutors and supervisors
Online students have up to 18 hours of one-to-one tutoring. Every tutor has completed the Diploma and our Hypno-CBT® supervision training, and runs their own practice.
What we stand for
Keep improving the training. We review the course against new research and rewrite it when the evidence moves. The manuals have been rewritten in stages since 2013, most recently in 2023.
Teach skills you can use with clients. Training should be effective and enjoyable, with plenty of supervised practice.
Treat students fairly. We are honest about what the qualification is and is not, and we support each student to develop as a therapist.
About the qualification
The Level 5 Higher Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy is accredited by NCFE as a Customised Qualification, and NCFE issues the certificate. NCFE is an awarding organisation recognised by the qualification regulators for England (Ofqual), Wales (Qualifications Wales) and Northern Ireland (CCEA Regulation). This is an unregulated qualification and is not a nationally recognised qualification.
The Diploma does not lead to HCPC registration and is not a substitute for clinical psychology training.
Thinking about training with us?
A Discovery Call is a 30-minute conversation with a Course Advisor about formats, intake dates and whether the Diploma suits you.
Hypno-CBT® College, a division of Mindease Limited. Hypno-CBT® is a registered trademark of Mindease Limited.