Is it Legal to Practice Hypnotherapy Without a License or a Degree?
Saturday, July 16th, 2022 : Read 1,580 Times : 621 words (Aprox 3 min read)
This is a great question, and the correct answer is surprising to most people.
Note: I am not a lawyer. As such, this blog article represents my layman opinion and is for your own personal education only. It cannot and should not be considered legal advice from a lawyer, since I'm not a lawyer.
In general, the answer is: yes, it is legal to practice hypnotherapy without a license in most places around the world, providing you do not practice psychology or medicine through hypnotherapy (important information on this later in this article)...
Details About the Legal Practice of Hypnotherapy
Every municipality (country, state, province, city, etc.) can have its own laws around what you can and can't do as a Hypnotherapist, but most have none.
In most places around the world, hypnotherapy is not regulated or is only slightly regulated.
The rules in unregulated areas are usually the same as the rules in slightly regulated areas, and are really just common sense: do not use hypnotherapy to diagnose, prevent, or treat any diagnosis (psychological or medical).
Diagnosing, preventing, or treating a diagnosable condition or disorder would be considered practicing psychology or medicine without a license. In a few areas, the name allowed is regulated. For example, in New Jersey and Texas, you cannot use the term "therapist" without licensing, so hypnotherapists use the term "Professional Hypnotist."
As a general rule, students who are not licensed to do medical or psychological work should never work on diagnoses unless under a direct referral from the client's doctor or psychologist, and only if it is legal where you live (we explain this in detail in the training).
So, If You're Not Allowed to Work on Anything Psychological or Medical, What Can You Work On?
Everything else! Here's just a small sampling of sessions you can do that people are willing to pay for which have nothing to do with psychology or medicine:
- Lose weight by changing eating habits
- Quit smoking (vaping, weed, etc)
- Quit mild addiction (coffee, soda, unhealthy foods, etc)
- Stop bad habits (chewing nails, skin picking/biting, texting while driving, sloppiness, etc)
- Start good habits (saving money, exercise, etc)
- Build motivation
- Build confidence
- Release stress
- Better grades for children (kids are great at hypnosis!)
- Better behavior for children
- Eliminating anxious thoughts
- Eliminate fear (flying, heights, elevators, close spaces, spiders/bugs, snakes/reptiles/animals, etc)
- Eliminate insomnia
- Overcome shyness
- Improve memory
- Improve study habits
- Improve performance (sports, career, etc)
- Stop self-sabotage
- And so much more!
If There's No Licensing for Hypnotherapists, What Does "Certified" Mean?
Since Clinical Hypnotherapy is non-regulated by the government, we are considered a self-regulating field. Instead of state regulatory agencies, hypnotherapists are credentialed by "certifying boards," which are trade organizations that promote, support, and uphold the standards of the field of hypnotherapy.
As a non-regulated field, board certification is optional but highly recommended, as being Board Certified will show credibility to your clients. While some boards can be expensive (ex, $350 /yr), the board we certify through is as low as $7.99 /mo.
Is Becoming a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist Right for You?
If you have always enjoyed helping people and want to get paid well to do so, then becoming a Clinical Hypnotherapist may be for you.
You can earn your certification in just three days in our Learn Hypnosis... Live! training, or from home in our Learn Hypnosis... At Home! distance learning training. While we recommend training in person, for those who are not available to travel to one of the 26 cities around the US where we hold live trainings, the home certification training is a suitable alternative.
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