Choosing a Therapist: What you need to know (8 Questions to ask)

A skilled therapist will be highly empathetic and will begin by listening more than talking. This should be the case for Hypnotherapy or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

He will be asking you questions that will help him learn about your condition, whether it’s weight loss or anxiety; help with smoking cessation or pain control; and then find the best solution for you.

Your therapist should be working hard to develop a trusting relationship with you so that whatever comes up during the sessions can be understood and handled in a manner that keeps you feeling safe and secure. He will continually seek to explain all that he is doing so as to fully involve you in your own well-being.

It is, unfortunately, possible for anyone to simply buy a book, read it, and call themselves a therapist without actually ever having received formal training or any recognised qualifications.

At the very least, any Hypnotherapist that you see should belong to an accredited body (for example, the National Council for Hypnotherapy or the General Hypnotherapy Register), which will prove that the required training standards have been met.

Then look a little further—have they had any original articles published? Do they have an understanding of other related and relevant disciplines, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)? Have they undertaken training in other specialised fields like Stress Management, or Weight Loss?

You should be able to speak with a therapist before making a commitment, so they can explain their approach and you can decide whether they feel right for you. This may take place by telephone and should be without charge or obligation.

Only when you are happy with everything you have learned should you decide to go ahead. This might be at the same time as the initial consultation if this is practical for all concerned; otherwise, you should feel free to decide at a later date without feeling pressured in any way to make a decision.

The very best training will take years to complete. A skilled and dedicated therapist will also undertake further training constantly throughout his career.

He will regularly attend seminars and knowledge exchange programmes with peer groups and other therapists from allied disciplines. Finally, it would also be a great advantage for him to be involved in the training of other therapists.

This helps to gain a deeper and more meaningful understanding of all aspects of therapy in his field. All this will have to be privately funded. Meeting these standards is a good indication that a therapist takes their work and professional development seriously.

Everything and everybody is subject to a review or feedback today, and therapists are no different in this regard. There are of course many different platforms, Google of course being the most obvious.

Many therapists, myself included, now choose to be visible on an independently verified site such as “Trusted Practitioner” (by Trust Vega.com) which was founded by a highly regarded therapist and ensures that only genuine reviews are published.

When looking for a particular therapist for Hypnotherapy & CBT, it can be helpful to ask the therapist where the bulk of his clients come from? If most come from personal recommendations, or from referrals from medical professionals, then this is a very good indication of his standing.

Your initial consultation will enable this very important question to be addressed. The information gleaned during this time will enable your therapist to give an opinion as to the length of therapy likely to be required. We are all different, and though we may often have similar issues, there should be no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to therapy.

It would be counter-productive, for example, to promise a result in three sessions and find that we actually need five; and conversely, should the therapist guess that five sessions might suffice, then find that the work has been satisfactorily completed within three, what then? Might he be tempted to keep the client coming back regardless? Whenever I begin any programme of Hypnotherapy & CBT, my own view is to discuss this fully and openly with the client and gauge between us exactly how we feel about the progress that is being made.

A professional and experienced hypnotherapist is by definition, a specialist. The conditions listed on my website like phobia and fear elimination; or self-esteem and confidence issues, for example, may all have common root causes. The approach would be similar, however – through addressing the subconscious and by learning to change habits and behaviour.

So many of the conditions that I deal with are stress and/or anxiety-based though, and in these cases helping my clients to develop a sound and reliable relaxation strategy would always be part of my approach.

Though of course, as I mention elsewhere in this list, all clients are individuals with issues completely unique to themselves, and all therapy must be developed on a wholly individual basis.

Many doctors and health professionals recognise the importance of relaxation and stress management when supporting people experiencing anxiety and related difficulties.

Hypnotherapy can be used to promote relaxation and help people manage stress. Where appropriate, I also teach clients self-hypnosis so they can continue practising these techniques independently after their sessions with me.