A tongue in cheek look at our profession
The plethora of qualifications and designatory letters after
many a hypnotherapists name can be a cause of some confusion
to members of the public and indeed, other healthcare
professionals.
Even should the reader know what the various letters mean,
in some cases they may not mean what they imply! Some highly
qualified therapists simply get by with their Dip Hyp and
leave it at that.
For example, how many hypnotherapists are now called Doctor
by virtue of a PHD? And is it a genuine PHD or a case of
Pile it Higher and Deeper?
In any case, who decides whether a particular qualification
is 'real' or not? Some non-traditional Universities are
indeed truly excellent, and lets face it, few of us have the
time or inclination to spend 3 to 5 years sitting in a
classroom when we need to be out there earning a living.
I recently read that a Spiritualist had been on the
receiving end of a complaint that they were misleading
people by using an inappropriate qualification, a PHD of
questionable origin.
The complainant argued their case that this was misleading
because it gave the impression that the advertiser was more
qualified than they actually were.
Give them their dues, the advertiser wrote a letter for
publication in a trade newsletter, to apologise, and
explained their part of the story.
The argument was settled amicably and the qualification was
not to be used in any future advertising. In our own
profession we’ve seen some people embarrassed when their
claimed PhD’s were traced back to spurious organisations.
That the lure of fast sales talk would lure a
hypnotherapists, a master of language and persuasion after
all, might be worth another paper all on its own.
maybe the sellers of these degrees are master hypnotists???
According to my unfiltered email inbox on an average day I
myself am apparently qualified for several University
degrees. These are generally unspecified, however
recently they included offers of two PhD’s and a doctorate
in divinity. Of course as I’ve lived for so long, have had
so many life experiences, am able to read my email and
therefore presumably able to send payment, of course I
‘qualify’!!!
In the spring of 2005 I
was in communication with a colleague, who during said
discourse, told me that his title was now Doctor! I was
asked to amend my records accordingly.
Being the inquisitive
type, I did some research and found that although my
colleague may well be 'entitled' (as in not breaking any
laws) to the title by virtue of the PhD that he had
'earned', the source of the PhD did not inspire confidence.
The title was 'awarded' by
a 'University' that awards degrees and PhD's for 'life
experience’. It was one of those 'institutions' that
spam offers around the Internet ad infinitum, and one whose
emails I delete on a seemingly daily basis as discussed
above. Otherwise know as a diploma mill, these
‘Universities’ sole criteria for awarding any of their
qualifications is that the recipient be alive and capable of
paying for it.
In short, it is the kind of PHD that each and every reader
of this page, as long as the fees can be paid, can 'earn'.
Should the public consider that these kinds of
qualifications are confidence inspiring and mean superior
knowledge?
Well, they don't inspire me in the slightest, and having
been involved in this field for a fair number of years I do
believe that I know what I'm talking about.
Maybe it’s a sad reflection on market forces?
A hypnotherapist across the road now has 17 series of
initials after his name??? OH dear! Quick quick, where can I
find another 3 to get ahead again??? With that mindset
people will have to start printing letterheads in landscape
format to get them all on!!!
In comparison a dear friend of mine has just been granted
her PhD – after 4 years of hard study and a year writing a
thesis which was then presented before the rigorous scrutiny
of a board of examiners.
Suddenly that Internet
offer is looking a bit more attractive!
In any case, the wrong questions are usually asked about
qualifications.
Most authorities will tell you that you should always ask a
hypnotherapist what their qualifications are before agreeing
to being treated by one. Most professionals within the field
probably agree with that one.
However, to most people a
PhD after a persons name usually means something and speaks
for itself. In too many cases, and sad to see, these can be
meaningless letters bought to impress.
A PhD from Oxford or
Cambridge can’t be compared to one from a degree mill.
As there is absolutely no proven link whatsoever between how
someone trains to become a hypnotherapist and how effective
they are at their work; asking what their qualifications are
is not always quite the right question!
Might it not be much better to ask 'what kind of
person has the qualifications?'
If this sounds like splitting hairs, then go back and read
that last bit again, the questions use similar words, but
are asking entirely different questions?
What good to a client is it if an expensively and well
qualified therapists is also inept and obtains poor results
with clients?
In the same street you may
find a very competent but on the face of it, poorly
qualified therapist who through personality, life and
personal experience and knowledge is probably the best
person in the world to help someone with their particular
problem?
So, how far do we want to go – in the early days everyone
had their Dip Hyp and went about their business quite
happily. Today we have master hypnotists, advanced
hypnotherapists and now a whole profusion of PhD’s and so
many more ‘job titles’ its hard to keep up.
Where will it all end?
