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Overview of Training in Australia

Understanding the field you wish to enter is an important step towards choosing the right training provider. The government does not currently regulate Hypnotherapy or the training companies that feed the profession. As a result of this lack of regulation, there are a great many providers who will claim legitimacy, but are simply not recognised by local associations, health funds, or the insurance providers.

May we say from the outset that practicing as a hypnotherapist without the appropriate insurances is ill advised.

How Can You Tell if Your Training Provider is Recognised?

The key to recognition in this industry is recognition by an established Australian Association. If your training allows you to join an Australian association like the Australian Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists on completion of your studies, then you will be automatically be granted access to Malpractice Insurance, and be able to put yourself on an association approved list that goes to the health funds so your clients can claim back a proportion of your fees.

As we see it there are basically three segments to the hypnotherapy training field:

1. Those who operate outside the system.

Many overseas associations, particularly American associations, are private companies, many of whom you can join over the net without proof of qualifications. These courses are typically short (2-7 days), and will provide you with grand sounding qualifications like "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.

I would like to say that the courses are not necessarily bad. They do however, in the estimation of virtually every expert in the field, lack the necessary depth to prepare you for a career as a therapist.

2. VETAB Accreditation

At the other end of the scale is VETAB Accredited courses. VETAB Accreditation is a bureaucratic process of government approval.
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 tend to by 12 months long, even if they are only 20 days of actual face to face.
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 industry recognised course , seeing them as more relevant)
Despite the added costs of training, graduates of a recognised but unaccredited 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.

3. Industry Recognised Courses

In between these two extremes there are the courses that are recognised, but have not gone down the government accreditation line. These courses adhere to the educational requirements of Australian Associations and therefore all but guarantee you membership assuming that you satisfactorily complete of your studies. They are anywhere from 2-6 months long and will 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 unaccredited course.

Benefits:
These courses can be much cheaper and time effective compared to VETAB courses.
Acceptance to Australian Associations and therefore 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
Can be challenging to fit your studies in to a 3-6 months period compared to a 12-18 month period with VETAB