What Counts as Hypnotherapy CPD? Courses, Training and CPD Requirements Explained

What counts as hypnotherapy CPD? The answer is broader than simply completing another hypnotherapy course. Depending on your professional body, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) can include courses and workshops, conferences, supervision, professional reading and research, reflective practice, peer discussion, teaching and other activities that contribute to your development as a hypnotherapist.

There is also no single set of CPD requirements that applies to every hypnotherapist in the UK. Professional bodies including the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR) and National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) have their own requirements, including differences in the number of CPD hours members are expected to complete.

I've been practicing hypnotherapy for nearly 20 years and have spent many of those years training other hypnotherapists. One of the biggest changes I've seen is how much broader post-qualification training has become.

When I first trained, areas such as smoking cessation and weight loss were very strongly associated with hypnotherapy. Those areas haven't disappeared, but today's practitioners are also looking to develop specialist knowledge in areas such as IBS, chronic pain, menopause, neurodivergence and working integratively with approaches such as CBT.

Good hypnotherapy CPD allows us to keep developing as the profession, the evidence base and the needs of our clients change.

What Is Hypnotherapy CPD?

Hypnotherapy CPD is the ongoing learning and professional development you undertake after your initial practitioner qualification.

At its best, CPD isn't simply about accumulating enough hours to maintain professional membership. It's an opportunity to keep existing knowledge up to date, deepen your therapeutic skills, develop specialist areas of practice and respond to what you're actually encountering in the therapy room.

Your initial hypnotherapy qualification gives you the foundations for practice. It can't realistically make you a specialist in every client group, therapeutic approach or presenting issue you may encounter during your career.

That's where continuing professional development becomes particularly valuable.

What Counts as CPD for Hypnotherapists?

A wide range of professional development activities can potentially count as hypnotherapy CPD, depending on the requirements of your professional body.

The National Council for Hypnotherapy, for example, recognizes a broad range of activities. These include courses, seminars, workshops and conferences, online and distance learning, professional reading and research, supervision and reflection on practice, peer discussion, mentoring, teaching and presenting.

This means your CPD could include completing specialist training in IBS or menopause, attending a workshop, researching an issue that is becoming increasingly relevant to your clients or using supervision to develop an aspect of your clinical practice.

So the question isn't simply whether you received a certificate.

A more useful question is whether the activity contributes meaningfully to your professional development and meets the requirements of the organization with which you're registered.

How Many CPD Hours Does a Hypnotherapist Need?

There is no single annual CPD requirement for all UK hypnotherapists. Your required number of hours depends on the professional organization you belong to.

This is particularly important because two of the UK's major hypnotherapy organizations, the NCH and GHR, have different requirements.

The NCH currently requires members to complete at least 15 hours of CPD each year. At least 10 hours should relate directly to hypnotherapy, while up to five hours can involve broader learning that supports professional practice.

The GHR requires registered practitioners to undertake 25 hours of relevant CPD activity annually.

That's why searching for a simple answer to "How many CPD hours does a hypnotherapist need?" can produce apparently conflicting information.

Both answers can be correct.

The important thing is to check the current requirements of your own professional body.

GHR vs NCH: What Are the Differences in Hypnotherapy CPD?

The GHR and NCH both require practitioners to continue their professional development, but their CPD requirements aren't identical.

The most obvious difference is the annual number of hours. NCH members currently complete a minimum of 15 hours, while GHR registrants undertake 25 hours of relevant CPD activity annually.

The NCH also provides guidance around the balance of activities undertaken, including the proportion that should be directly relevant to hypnotherapy.

Both organizations recognize that professional development can extend beyond simply completing formal training courses.

If you want a more detailed comparison of the requirements of the main UK professional organizations, I've covered this separately in my guide to GHR, NCH and CNHC hypnotherapy training and CPD requirements.

Requirements can change, so always check the latest guidance from your own professional organization rather than relying on an article — including this one — as a permanent statement of its rules.

Does Hypnotherapy CPD Have to Be Accredited?

No. Not all hypnotherapy CPD has to take the form of an accredited training course.

This is an area where practitioners can understandably become confused because "accredited training" and "CPD" are sometimes used almost interchangeably.

An accredited or professionally recognized course can certainly be valuable. It may demonstrate that a course has gone through a particular approval process, and accreditation may be important when you're seeking a specific specialist qualification or professional recognition.

But that doesn't mean every hour of your annual CPD needs to come from an accredited course.

Activities such as professional reading, research, supervision and peer development may potentially contribute to CPD without carrying a course accreditation at all.

The NCH, for example, states that members can choose CPD from any source and places responsibility on the practitioner to consider whether an activity is appropriate for their professional development.

So these are actually two different questions:

Is this course accredited?

And:

Will this activity count toward my CPD requirements?

The answer to one doesn't automatically determine the answer to the other.

Does Online Hypnotherapy Training Count as CPD?

Yes, online hypnotherapy training can count as CPD where it meets the requirements of your professional body.

The NCH explicitly recognizes online and distance learning among the activities that can contribute to Continuing Professional Development.

This means live online workshops, self-paced hypnotherapy training and other forms of remote professional learning can potentially contribute to your annual CPD.

For many practitioners, this has made professional development considerably more accessible. Instead of needing to travel to a training venue for every course, practitioners can access specialist training from home and spread their professional development throughout the year.

Again, check your own professional body's current rules if you're unsure whether a particular activity will meet its requirements.

Choosing Hypnotherapy CPD That Actually Develops Your Practice

Meeting your professional body's requirements matters, but CPD is far more valuable when it isn't approached purely as a box-ticking exercise.

I've trained hypnotherapists at very different stages of their careers, and the most useful CPD is usually connected in some way to the practitioner they are becoming.

Perhaps you're increasingly receiving enquiries from neurodivergent clients and recognize that your original training didn't cover autism or ADHD in sufficient depth.

Perhaps you've become interested in women's health and want to develop your understanding of menopause or fertility.

Perhaps you regularly work with anxiety but want to become more confident working with IBS, chronic pain, phobias or children.

Or perhaps what you need isn't another clinical specialization at all. You might need to develop your understanding of research, ethical marketing, boundaries, running a practice or another aspect of professional life.

Your CPD can respond both to the practice you already have and the practice you want to develop.

Specialist Hypnotherapy CPD Courses

Specialist hypnotherapy CPD courses allow qualified practitioners to develop areas of knowledge and practice that couldn't realistically be covered in depth during their initial hypnotherapy qualification.

This is an important distinction.

I don't think the aim of CPD should be to collect as many certificates as possible. A course should give you something meaningful to bring back into your work.

At the Academy of the Inner Mind, our hypnotherapy CPD training covers specialist areas including IBS, women's health and menopause, neurodivergence, chronic pain, working with children, fertility and birth, trauma and nature-based approaches. We also offer integrative training that brings hypnosis together with therapeutic approaches including CBT, NLP and mindfulness.

For some practitioners, CPD becomes the route to developing a particular specialization. For others, it is about gradually building a broader therapeutic toolkit.

There isn't one correct path.

The important thing is that your professional development has relevance to you, your clients and the kind of practice you want to build.

Do Hypnotherapists Need to Keep a CPD Record?

Yes. Hypnotherapists should maintain an ongoing record of their CPD in accordance with the requirements of their professional body.

For example, the NCH requires members to maintain an up-to-date record of their CPD activities and to be prepared to provide that record if requested.

Rather than trying to remember everything you've done when membership renewal comes around, keep a simple ongoing record.

Record the activity, the date, the number of hours and, where appropriate, what you learned or how it relates to your professional practice. Keep certificates or other supporting evidence when they're provided.

Reflecting briefly on what you've taken from an activity can also turn CPD from a record of hours into something much more useful.

Hypnotherapy CPD Should Develop With You

The hypnotherapist you are five or ten years after qualifying shouldn't necessarily be exactly the same practitioner you were when you received your diploma.

Your interests develop. Your clients teach you things. Research changes. New areas of practice emerge. And sometimes you discover a particular type of work that you hadn't even considered when you first trained.

I've certainly seen the profession change enormously during my own time in practice.

Continuing Professional Development gives us a structure for developing alongside those changes.

So yes, keep track of your hours. Make sure you're meeting the requirements of your professional body and choose appropriate hypnotherapy CPD courses and activities.

But don't make completing the hours the only goal.

A much more useful question to ask yourself is: what would I like to understand, explore or become better at next? You can explore AIM's range of hypnotherapy CPD courses here.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hypnotherapy CPD

What does CPD mean in hypnotherapy?

CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development. Hypnotherapy CPD is the ongoing learning and professional development undertaken by a hypnotherapist after their initial practitioner qualification.

What counts as hypnotherapy CPD?

Depending on your professional body's requirements, hypnotherapy CPD can include courses and workshops, conferences, supervision, reflective practice, professional reading and research, peer activities, mentoring, teaching and online learning.

How many CPD hours does a hypnotherapist need each year?

There is no single requirement for every UK hypnotherapist. The NCH currently requires a minimum of 15 hours annually, while GHR registered practitioners are required to undertake 25 hours of relevant CPD activity. Always check the current policy of your own professional body.

Does hypnotherapy CPD need to be accredited?

No. Not every CPD activity needs to be an accredited course. Depending on your professional body's rules, activities such as supervision, research, professional reading and peer development may also contribute to CPD. Accreditation may, however, be important for particular courses, qualifications or forms of professional recognition.

Does online hypnotherapy training count as CPD?

Yes, online hypnotherapy training can potentially count toward your CPD. The NCH explicitly recognizes online and distance learning as possible CPD activities. Check your own professional body's requirements if you're unsure about a particular course or activity.

What's the difference between GHR and NCH CPD requirements?

One of the main differences is the number of annual CPD hours. The NCH currently requires at least 15 hours, while GHR registered practitioners undertake 25 hours of relevant CPD annually. The organizations also have their own policies about acceptable activities and recording CPD, so practitioners should follow the requirements of the organization they belong to.