A Need for Clarity

I was looking for some inspiration for a blog and fortunately I was then tagged in to a Facebook post advertising a 'hypnosis' event being held by two of the most recognisable names in hypnosis and NLP and it started me thinking for the rest of the week.
I have a lot of respect for what the pair have achieved professionally and I am sure the event will be a good spectacle for all those in attendance and it certainly seems reasonably priced for a two day event.
One of them in particular has contributed a huge amount to and been complicit in, the evolution of therapy, coaching and change work by being responsible for co-developing an approach that has been embraced across a broad spectrum of disciplines and methods. I myself have trained in it and offer training in it, but not under their tutorship or organisation. I am of course, talking about NLP and two of its most famous proponents - Paul McKenna and NLP co-founder, Richard Bandler.
My friend who tagged me in the post asked me if I would be interested in going to their workshop and I declined, but as mentioned before it wasn't due to a lack of acknowledgement of either of their reputations. I simply have reached the point now where, if a workshop or training programme doesn't compliment my knowledge and skill set, I am quite sure there's a danger it can undermine it, even if just temporarily.

It did however,make me think about their motivations for doing a hypnosis workshop and what that particular workshop in hypnosis could offer therapists and change workers that their Practitioner, Master Practitioner or PM's Havening trainings were not covering already.
Their combined NLP workshops effectively last an entire month and in promoting Havening McKenna claimed 'I can now do in minutes what use to take months'* Months of what? The NLP and Hypnosis being taught, are they not quick or as effective on emotional issues? Are they obsolete? Is it worth learning hypnosis if enrolling on NLP or vice versa, is it worth learning hypnosis at all if havening is the answer to emotional problems and issues of compulsion? You do begin to wonder, so brilliantly and dramatically packaged are their products, as what is what.

Worryingly, it then got me thinking whether I am clear enough myself in differentiating what my own certification classes offer people and why mine weren't mutually exclusive when others appear to be so. As I was thinking about this, I then watched an interview with another established therapist who purports to have many guises; a psychotherapist, a hypnotherapist and more besides and offers certification in all of them. I wondered how the person in question could confidently and honestly differentiate between them all and justify them all individually as equally effective approaches in dealing with exactly the same issues in order to sell their separate and distinct certification classes in 'all of the above'.

At what point does it purely become a money making enterprise, a case of money for old rope and credibility goes out of the window? The helping profession is rife with people who perpetually are reinventing the wheel and packaging up the same stuff under a different name.
Or equally as bad, there are those trying to sell techniques that they have stated they don't even believe in, just because they think theres a few quid to be made in it (a couple of established hypnotherapists immediately spring to mind).
Humans are a cynical species and when someones credibility is lost, to many of us it will remain almost irretrievable. Unfortunately the paradox is that we are also bloody gullible that many will keep going back for more of the same.

I would never dissuade anyone from continuing to learn, and from adding to and developing their own techniques. I've been guilty of being a course junky myself in the past. I would ask people however, to question the merit of contrasting courses being offered by the same source when they seem to be sending confusing and conflicting messages as to what is best and preferable.

I thought it was therefore important to explain the classes I offer, where I think they are distinct from each other and all things being equal and doing away with the bullshit tell you what I think is ultimately best.

So, in reverse order, if I could recommend anything it would be the OMNI Certification class that I teach - it is the best course I have personally done ( I have done more than one hypnotherapy certification and instructor training - like I said I was junky myself!) and I believe it is the best available anywhere. I make no bones about it, if you want to learn how to help people and grow on a personal level of all the training programmes I offer this will give you the greater impact on working with others. If you want to be a therapist it is enough. Certainly go and get other training to add tools and coaching snippets and takeaways for your clients, but you can and will get by with just this qualification. This makes for confident and competent hypnotists and ultimately it is those that will have the most positive effect on their clients.

So why the foundation course? In the UK the professional organisations adhere to occupational standards and you cannot register with them if the training does not meet the learning outcomes and principles of those standards. OMNI was a short course (there is a follow up blog coming about short training programmes and why the work so well), so short despite its quality it couldn't have been accredited. So, needing to add additional classroom hours and extra curricular study to it I wrote a five day foundation course that; a) barely overlapped b) didn't compromise any OMNI material c) was affordable to anyone still on the fence as to whether to commit to a change in career or did not have the resources at that time to invest in OMNI .. and d) gave the attendees the tools and appetite to use and love hypnosis. The foundation course gives them a step towards OMNI accreditation if they want it, or enough in itself to help with issues such as smoking, weight loss and stress. I'll be honest though - I hope its the former.

The NLP classes I offer are designed to give individuals a number of tools to help in their personal and professional lives and, as we see in the hypnotherapy foundation course, a number of usable applications of it to help in change work if needed. When I learnt NLP, I was inspired by and learnt from NLP trainers who simplified it, not over analysed it and I was keen to do the same. But I don't offer it as an alternative to the hypnosis training because the foundation has NLP elements in it and the OMNI training quite frankly is my clear, unreserved change work therapy of choice.

If you want to become a hypnotherapist, do the hypnotherapy training, if you want to become a therapist, do the hypnotherapy training also. If you get in your groove as an OMNI grad between using regression to cause and universal therapy you will have most bases covered. I went back and studied OMNI and subsequently became a trainer, after already being a certified hypnotherapist and trainer because the stuff I was teaching wasn't enough and I couldn't teach what I wanted to. This is and now I can.

That said, if you want to learn how to communicate better and potentially add another string to your bow as a therapist, by all means do the NLP - it goes beyond the waking hypnosis training in the OMNI course. It is a really useful professional tool and the practitioner and master practitioner trainings we offer are five and four days respectively, so you don't get bogged down in an overload of info, you just get the tools you need. Take them and develop them yourself - its the only way you are going to be able to use them in the end!

If you want self empowering tools I do an amazing one day event as well (www.mypersonalgrowth.uk) that everyone can take something from, but it's not a qualification it is a day long workshop that will help you in your life.

The separate workshops are generally speaking, sections of the above one day programme.

In conclusion, I hope I have made it clear and been honest in what I teach and why I teach it. My ambition is to graduate thousands upon thousands of OMNI students, because I not only will I know I have a successful business model, everyday I will have the pleasure of teaching something that I really believe in and know will create real hypnotherapists (rather than just make me the money).
If I can use my experiences, training and NLP to further peoples personal and professional relationships and successes then that is going to be one fantastic bonus.

N.B. Please do read the follow up blog about the training programmes that work so well as it continues much of what was being discussed here.

In light of the tragic events that unfolded a few days ago, I hope you all keep well and safe and are making every day count.

* Psychology Today - click here