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Accreditation

Understanding accreditation is a critical consideration when choosing a training provider. There are many options but the most important thing is that your hypnotherapy training is certified and recognised by a national professional association. Everything else is secondary.

National Recognition for AICH Courses

• The Australian Hypnotherapist's Association will offer you membership upon completion of your studies (this is the most important thing when choosing a training course).
• You will be automatically granted access to malpractice insurance.
• After your internship you will be able to join an association (with a list of approved providers )that goes to the private health funds.

The hypnotherapy profession

There are three segments to the hypnotherapy training field and industry:

1. Industry-recognised courses
2. Those who operate outside the system
3. VETAB accredited courses

1. Industry-recognised courses

In between the two extremes of VETAB and Outside Operators, there are the courses that are recognised, but have not gone down the government accreditation line - this is where we sit. These courses adhere to the educational requirements of Australian professional associations and therefore all but guarantee you membership assuming that you satisfactorily complete and pass all of your studies. They are anywhere from 2-6 months long and require approximately 450 hours of study, with a minimum of 100 hours of face-to-face hypnosis training. The Australian Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy is a recognised but non-VETAB course.

Benefits:
• These courses can be cheaper and far more time-effective compared to VETAB courses.
• Acceptance to Australian associations with membership benefits included.
• Qualified for and access to health fund rebates and full insurance cover exactly the same as VETAB courses.
• Usually quite a thorough training conducted by people working in the field.

Disadvantages:
• You cannot apply for Austudy although many schools would offer payment plans.
• Can be challenging to fit your studies in to a 3-6 months period compared to a 12-18 month period with VETAB.
• Whilst the AICH admires the resolve of those who pursue the VETAB path, it has chosen not seek that extra accreditation whilst it is currently superfluous.

2. Those who operate outside the system

Many overseas associations, particularly those in the United States, are private companies, many of whom you can join online without proof of qualifications. These courses they offer are typically short (2-7 days), and will provide you with grand sounding qualifications such as "Master Hypnotherapist". Unfortunately many of these qualifications are simply not recognised in Australia, and you run the risk of spending a lot of money and have absolutely no recognition for your effort.

N.B. A number of these organisations are run by "Doctorates". It is worth asking them where they got their doctorate from, and in what? There are a number of people claiming to be "Doctors" who have received their qualifications through correspondence in the Bahamas. Some of these people have been exposed in the Australian media but have continued to call themselves "doctors" to this day.

These courses and associations lack depth, insight and professionalism and will not prepare you for a career as a therapist, nor will they provide you any security or industry support.

3. VETAB accredited courses

At the other end of the scale are the VETAB accredited courses. VETAB Accreditation is a bureaucratic process of government approval. In the public arena government approval sometimes appears to be more legitimate, but when you understand the process you realise that apart from the marketing advantage, there is very little upside for the school, and even less for the students.

Benefits:

• You can apply for Austudy through these courses
• Acceptance to Australian Associations and therefore health fund rebates and full insurance cover
• Usually quite a thorough training
• Marketing Advantages – people new to the industry often think that accreditation sounds more legitimate

Disadvantages:

• These courses must exceed 12 months duration to qualify as VETAB , even if they are only 20 days of actual face to face training. As a result depending on scheduling and when you come on board, you could spend 18 months getting qualified.

• Courses are generally quite expensive because the VETAB accreditation, whilst a useful marketing tool, is expensive to maintain.
VETAB does not necessarily suggest that the course is superior to an industry recognised course. Some associations who assess courses based on merit will prefer an industry-recognised course, seeing them as more relevant and directly associated with genuine practical approaches and effectiveness.
• Despite the added costs of training, graduates of a recognised but non VETAB course have exactly the same access to association memberships, full insurance coverage and other member privileges.

Myth:
There have been claims that unless you train in a VETAB accredited RTO you will not gain access to an Australian association. This is not true. You can gain entrance to the associations if you do an industry recognised course just as easily as a VETAB Accredited course. In fact, three of our faculty sit on boards where there is not a single VETAB trained member.