Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy is a growing area of research in current scientific journals, and Hypno-CBT® is our own proprietary model within it. A growing body of evidence shows that adding hypnosis to cognitive behavioural therapy improves outcomes compared with CBT alone: the combined elements of relaxation, focused attention, increased suggestibility, vivid imagery and emotional intensity available in hypnosis can help create change more quickly, and at a deeper level, than talking therapy alone. It might be slick to say that adding hypnosis “turbocharges” CBT – but in many ways, this is true.

Vocationally focused hypnotherapy training

This is a vocational training and qualification, so our teaching focuses on practical, face-to-face classroom exercises and group learning, with written assessment following completion of the classroom training.

Far too many courses fill you up with theories and knowledge which have no relevance to the skills you need, or the choices you’ll need to make in the therapy room with a client. Other courses make a whistle-stop tour through every psychological theory in a dozen weekends.

Our “spiral learning” approach takes you step by step through a key piece of theory, practical application of that concept (in therapist-client pairs), debrief and discussion – then another chunk of theory, experiential practice, debrief and discussion. As you spiral around the same core concepts and themes, you naturally develop a clear, deep, well-integrated way of thinking about therapy and client problems.

By the end of the course, you’ll have conducted over 30 therapist-client sessions – and received about as many too – so you leave the training experienced, knowledgeable, skilled, and clear about the key concepts and tasks in hypnotherapy.

The Diploma covers the domains of hypnosis, cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness. These aren’t presented as separate topics, but as an integrated view of human experience: we see hypnosis and mindfulness as opposite ends of a single spectrum, with focused, hypnotic attention to a thought at one end, and detached, mindful observation of a thought at the other.

The course covers a substantial amount of core CBT theory, knowledge and skill, then shows you how to enhance it through the addition of hypnosis and/or mindfulness.

The 3 stages of the Diploma

Depth over “paint by numbers”

The course teaches a deep, nearly seamless integration of hypnosis with cognitive behavioural therapy, including mindfulness. It isn’t simply “CBT plus hypnosis.” Trance-based models of hypnosis aren’t very compatible with CBT, but non-state models – the kind we teach – are very well aligned with it.

Students learn the theory and skills to build genuine case conceptualisation and treatment design. Instead of delivering Script A for issue A and Script B for issue B (paint-by-numbers hypnotherapy), or “shot-gunning” – using the most powerful technique you know, then switching to another if that doesn’t work – our approach has you thinking like a therapist: gathering information, understanding what’s maintaining the problem, and then, collaboratively and shoulder to shoulder with the client, designing and agreeing a treatment plan.

The scientific grounding behind all of this – how the model draws on cognitive, affective and motor neuroscience – is covered in full on The Science page.