Open Question
Where can I find NHS approved hypnotherapy or an NHS registered hypnotherapist?
My Answer
Hi
The short answer is there is no such thing as NHS approved hypnotherapy, and there is no register of NHS approved hypnotherapists.
If you are interested, here's the longer answer.
The National Health Service (NHS) does not fund treatment by hypnotherapy normally. Any patient who wants to be receive hypnotherapy on the NHS (so that they don't have to pay for it themselves) must first convince their GP that it's a good idea.
If the GP really does think it is a good idea the GP will have to make an application to their Primary Care Trusts (PCT) Exceptional Treatments Panel (ETP). The ETP usually sits once a month to consider such applications. If the GP is to be successful, they will have to persuade the ETP of two things; firstly that the treatment they are recommending is likely to be effective and, secondly, that there are compelling reasons why their patient should get this exceptional treatment when no one else is getting it.
In reality, the GP is unlikely to want to make an application to the ETP. If they did, they would find it difficult to satisfy the efficacy test as it is such an individual treatment. (That is, the fact that I was able to use hypnotherapy to cure one person of a phobia this morning does not guarantee that I will be able to cure someone else of the same phobia in the afternoon.) If. Somehow, they manage to get over the efficacy hurdle, then they will have to prove their patient merits hypnotherapy for, say, chronic stress, when all the other chronically stressed people in the area don't.
For these three reasons, the NHS hardly ever funds hypnotherapy and has no need to 'approve' it, or any of it's practitioners. In fact the National Institute for Clinical Excellence(NICE) has' approved' hypnotherapy as a possible treatment for refractory irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); that is, chronic IBS that has not responded to any other treatment for a period of 12 months.
When hypnotherapists advertised themselves as providing 'NHS Approved' hypnotherapy, they are misleading potential patients. Hypnotherapy colleges have been know to teach that the British Medical Association (BMA) 'recognised hypnotherapy as a mainstream medical practice in 1955'. I have not seen the original pronouncement but my understanding is that in April 1955 the BMA approved the use of hypnosis in the areas of psychoneuroses and hypnoanesthesia in pain management in childbirth and surgery. That does not amount to universal approval. Also, it should be noted, the BMA is a staff-representative organisation, rather like a trade union. It is not the National Health Service.
As so very little hypnotherapy is ever done under the auspices of the NHS, it really has no need for a register of approved hypnotherapists and there is no such register. There are a couple of organizations with names like NHS 247, and the NHS Directory of Complementary and Alternative Therapists, which make themselves out to be part of or at least very closely linked to the NHS. They are neither. They are independent commercial operations whose revenue comes from selling advertising space to hypnotherapists who are led to believe they are gaining some sort of NHS-backed credibility by signing-up.
These operations tend to style the NHS part of their logo very similarly to that of the actual NHS; a ruse likely to deceive both the therapists who buy advertising with them, and potential patients who see “Member of the NHS Directory” on their websites.
I am a clinical hypnotist. I work in private practice at the Mindsci Clinic. I also work with the Occupational Health Department of Kingston Hospital, which is an NHS hospital, and have done for seven years. I have an ID (see below) which say I am a Clinical Hypnotist with the Occupational Health Department of Kingston Hospital (NHS) Trust, and I wouldn't claim to be NHS 'approved' – so take it from me: there is no such thing as NHS approved hypnotherapy or a register of NHS hypnotherapists.
The short answer is there is no such thing as NHS approved hypnotherapy, and there is no register of NHS approved hypnotherapists.
If you are interested, here's the longer answer.
The National Health Service (NHS) does not fund treatment by hypnotherapy normally. Any patient who wants to be receive hypnotherapy on the NHS (so that they don't have to pay for it themselves) must first convince their GP that it's a good idea.
If the GP really does think it is a good idea the GP will have to make an application to their Primary Care Trusts (PCT) Exceptional Treatments Panel (ETP). The ETP usually sits once a month to consider such applications. If the GP is to be successful, they will have to persuade the ETP of two things; firstly that the treatment they are recommending is likely to be effective and, secondly, that there are compelling reasons why their patient should get this exceptional treatment when no one else is getting it.
In reality, the GP is unlikely to want to make an application to the ETP. If they did, they would find it difficult to satisfy the efficacy test as it is such an individual treatment. (That is, the fact that I was able to use hypnotherapy to cure one person of a phobia this morning does not guarantee that I will be able to cure someone else of the same phobia in the afternoon.) If. Somehow, they manage to get over the efficacy hurdle, then they will have to prove their patient merits hypnotherapy for, say, chronic stress, when all the other chronically stressed people in the area don't.
For these three reasons, the NHS hardly ever funds hypnotherapy and has no need to 'approve' it, or any of it's practitioners. In fact the National Institute for Clinical Excellence(NICE) has' approved' hypnotherapy as a possible treatment for refractory irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); that is, chronic IBS that has not responded to any other treatment for a period of 12 months.
When hypnotherapists advertised themselves as providing 'NHS Approved' hypnotherapy, they are misleading potential patients. Hypnotherapy colleges have been know to teach that the British Medical Association (BMA) 'recognised hypnotherapy as a mainstream medical practice in 1955'. I have not seen the original pronouncement but my understanding is that in April 1955 the BMA approved the use of hypnosis in the areas of psychoneuroses and hypnoanesthesia in pain management in childbirth and surgery. That does not amount to universal approval. Also, it should be noted, the BMA is a staff-representative organisation, rather like a trade union. It is not the National Health Service.
As so very little hypnotherapy is ever done under the auspices of the NHS, it really has no need for a register of approved hypnotherapists and there is no such register. There are a couple of organizations with names like NHS 247, and the NHS Directory of Complementary and Alternative Therapists, which make themselves out to be part of or at least very closely linked to the NHS. They are neither. They are independent commercial operations whose revenue comes from selling advertising space to hypnotherapists who are led to believe they are gaining some sort of NHS-backed credibility by signing-up.
These operations tend to style the NHS part of their logo very similarly to that of the actual NHS; a ruse likely to deceive both the therapists who buy advertising with them, and potential patients who see “Member of the NHS Directory” on their websites.
I am a clinical hypnotist. I work in private practice at the Mindsci Clinic. I also work with the Occupational Health Department of Kingston Hospital, which is an NHS hospital, and have done for seven years. I have an ID (see below) which say I am a Clinical Hypnotist with the Occupational Health Department of Kingston Hospital (NHS) Trust, and I wouldn't claim to be NHS 'approved' – so take it from me: there is no such thing as NHS approved hypnotherapy or a register of NHS hypnotherapists.
Best wishes
Barry Thain
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