 Hypnotherapy or Psychotherapy?
Clinical Hypnotherapy or Analytical Hypnotherapy?
NLP or EFT? Counselling or
Life Coaching? Banbury or Banburyshire? How do I choose a therapist?
So many questions, so little space!
The Paloma Centre, a UKCP regulated practice, has been practising in Banbury, here in the Cherwell Valley in Oxfordshire since 2001, originally in
Parson’s Street and now in larger premises in Marlborough Road, Banbury. At
the Paloma Centre in Banbury we practise all of the above therapies and life
enhancing techniques, for more details of which go to our "Therapies Overview" page; what follows here may explain some of the important
differences within the practise of hypno-psychotherapy.
Hypnotherapy (or therapy based upon the use of hypnosis) is a much misused
term. For every ten people that contact The Paloma Centre here in Banbury
requesting hypnotherapy we estimate that it is the most appropriate therapy
for only three or four, rather than a more suitable therapy, such as CBT for
example or other forms of psychotherapy. So why this difference?
Hypnotherapy tends to attract popular attention in the press as a “quick
fix” as do some of the more modern techniques such as NLP and EFT and the
whole family of Meridian Energy Therapies e.g TFT, EmoTrance etc.
Psychotherapy on the other hand is generally regarded by the public as
having more serious connotations and probably wrongly linked to mental
illness of some kind and therefore has a more negative image. It comes down
to popular perception.
Hypnosis (or
Hypnotherapy) tends to deal with low level worries and anxiety,
fears and phobia, fear of flying, self confidence and self esteem issues,
ego strengthening and habits such as stop smoking, weight loss, nail biting,
hair pulling etc.
Clinical Hypnotherapy is a further development requiring specific training
and is focused upon such issues as IBS, eating disorders, sleep disorders,
trauma, addictive behaviour, addictions, panic attacks, pain management etc
which may have a psychosomatic component in them. Be sure that your
therapist has undertaken appropriate training before you begin any therapy.
Not all hypnotherapists have this training and you should ask about this
when first making contact.
Analytical Hypnotherapy requires different specialised training and can
include regression techniques to deal with emotional disorders that may have
their roots in childhood e.g. physical, mental or sexual abuse. Great care
is necessary in any use of such powerful applications as this-life
regression, and particularly past-life regression, and needs to be fully
discussed with a therapist before being undertaken. Any discussion should
include an explanation of what training and experience the therapist has in
the use of such techniques.
DO NOT AGREE TO UNDERGO REGRESSION UNTIL YOU ARE
SURE
THAT THE THERAPIST IS PROPERLY TRAINED IN THIS TECHNIQUE!
Not all hypnotherapists have been trained in this or other analytical procedures,
again, ask when first making contact with a therapist. Other issues that
respond to analytical hypnotherapy are PTSD, sexual dysfunction, bed wetting
in children.
Psychotherapy does not use hypnosis other than to relax people and as a
vehicle to deliver suggestions which may be helpful to other aspects of
therapy. Psychotherapy falls into various different categories, which are
explained on our "Therapies Overview" page, and are used in the here-and–now
with the conscious mind and are aimed at changing behaviour or beliefs which
are causing concern to the client. The combination of psychology and
hypnotherapy (hypno-psychotherapy) can be very powerful as both the
conscious and unconscious mind can be brought to bear on any particular
concern.
From this you will see that a basic training just in hypnosis does not equip
a therapist to deal with a wide variety of issues. Here at The Paloma Centre
in Banbury we practise what is called a holistic or “eclectic” approach
which means that we take aspects of those therapies we believe are the most
appropriate for any individual and blend them into a personalised programme
for self development and healing. If all we had was Hypnosis, or
Hypnotherapy, we would only have one tool in our toolkit. By using
psychotherapy and clinical and analytical hypnotherapy, along with NLP, EFT
and Life Coaching techniques we have many more tools in our tool kit to fix
a much wider variety of people’s concerns. The Paloma Centre also adheres
strictly to the guidelines of the regulatory body, the UKCP (United Kingdom
Council for Psychotherapy).
Hypnotherapy in general is an unregulated practise and is likely to remain
so (other than some self regulation which may appear). Psychotherapy is regulated by a number of bodies
including the UKCP and Hypno-Psychotherapy is planned to be regulated by that same body shortly (Counselling is regulated by the
BACP) and as such provide you, the user, with stronger certainties on the
depth of training that your therapist has undertaken, and recourse in the
event of an unsatisfactory experience. Always ask your therapist the
following questions:
-
Where did you do your training?
-
How long did it take?
-
Is it post-graduate training or, if not, what level is it – NVQ?
-
Which regulatory body do you comply with, if any?
-
Are you insured to practise?
-
Can I see your insurance certificate please?
-
Do you receive regular supervision/mentoring of your case load?
-
Do you undertake regular CPD (Continuous Professional Development)?
Any reputable therapist will be pleased to satisfy you on these points.
Always ring around and get a comparison and choose whoever you feel most
comfortable with. Most therapists will belong to one or more of the
following reputable bodies which expect minimum standards from their members
– please note, these are membership organisations NOT regulatory bodies, for
Regulatory bodies please see our Useful Links page, and nor is this intended
to be a complete listing:
UKCP - United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy
MNRHP – Member of the National Register of Hypnotherapists and Psychotherapists
MBSCH – Member of the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis
MNCH – Member of the National Council for Hypnotherapy
MGHR – Member of the General Hypnotherapy Register
Look around, ask questions, compare training and
experience (not just prices), check and then choose whoever you feel most comfortable with. If
you have any questions by all means call us to gain understanding of any
issue that you are not clear on – then enjoy your therapy and create a
better life for yourself.
|
