Hypnotherapy provides an incredibly complex, powerful way of working with clients and one of its beauties is that it can both incorporate other therapeutic modalities, and be incorporated into other ways of working. My courses attract students from a wide range of backgrounds, from those who have no experience of hypnotherapy, to fully qualified counsellors and clinical psychologists. At the end of the course, you’ll have a wide range of skills and an understanding of the dominant modalities out there. You may find that some resonate more with your core values and experience, and others less. What you essentially emerge with is a palette of therapeutic skills; through time, you’ll learn how to mix your colours in a way which is right for you, and there will undoubtedly be some areas you wish to study in far more detail.
One of the reasons I love an integrated approach is because no single modality offers all the answers. Indeed, it’s important for me to outline the “pros” and “cons” of every approach, so that you can consider how to use them sensitively and appropriately with your clients, and so that you’re aware of their limitations. It’s also useful to know a little about how and why an approach developed and how it is viewed beyond the confines of your own practice.
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is one modality which is covered on the course and which marries beautifully with hypnosis (and is commonly an essential part of a hypnotherapist’s toolbox). I would go as far as to say that I can't understand, in this day and age, why a hypnotherapy training course wouldn't include NLP.
Hypnotherapy Diploma with NLP: Here are 5 Reasons Your Hypnotherapy Training Course Should Include NLP
1. NLP can help the right client achieve rapid change
Approaches which focus solely on “rapid change” are not right for every client, particularly when it comes to some deep rooted issues which require a longer-term, more sensitive approach. But there are times when having tools to help your client let go of old beliefs and experience deep transformation in as little as one or two sessions is absolutely the right direction to go in. NLP is often at the root of deep-rooted, rapid, powerful change and NLP tools are renowned for creating a quick shift in people’s perspectives and experiences.
2. NLP provides you with practical therapeutic tools
As therapists, we often know the “theory” behind what our client is experiencing and how we want to help them. But certain types of therapy lack the practical tools to help them create change. Certain forms of talking therapy can lack direction, as far as the client is concerned. Hypnotherapy is a very practical approach to helping clients create change and NLP has a set of extremely powerful tools which you can learn and incorporate into your hypnotherapy practice.
3. NLP and hypnotherapy work perfectly together
Pairing hypnotherapy and NLP on a training course seems so natural and obvious to me that I struggle to understand how or why some courses wouldn’t include NLP. Although not all NLP practitioners are hypnotherapists, NLP and hypnotherapy share so much in common. They both utilise the imagination in a way that relies on our memories of experiences and senses. They are both tasked with helping people create positive change. They both encourage us to access our creative minds in a way that is often new, challenging and revealing. I use NLP techniques every day with my clients, and can’t imagine not doing so. NLP is part of every competent hypnotherapist’s toolkit and it’s important to have a grounding in NLP so that you can work effectively with your clients.
4. Potential clients are looking for NLP
NLP is an approach that many of your potential clients will have heard of. If you are a hypnotherapist who also offers NLP – and the Diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy provided by the Academy of the Inner Mind provides you with a separate Certificate in NLP, which is included in your course fee – you have a greater chance of attracting clients than hypnotherapists who lack NLP training.
5. Rewind technique, future pacing and anchoring
NLP includes some well known techniques, including future-facing, which is a technique to help people remove themselves from their current experience and imagine their lives at a point in the future where transformation has happened. The rewind technique is one of the quickest and most effective way to help people overcome phobias and difficult past experiences. And NLP anchoring remains one of my favourite tools of all times: I rarely work with a client without setting up an anchor with them. The techniques tend to be simple to learn and apply, but can help people with a range of complex issues. These, and other, NLP techniques should form a fundamental part of your practice.
Before training as a hypnotherapist, I was slightly sceptical about NLP and whilst I love the approach, some of the marketing aspects and founders of NLP itself are less than desirable. But, used ethically and sensitively, NLP is a wonderful addition to your hypnotherapeutic practice and one you should certainly ensure is a part of your hypnotherapy training course.
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