Hypnotherapy & Psychotherapy: What’s the Difference?
The brain is incredibly complex and can be affected by wide variety of medical disorders and mental health concerns. To get the help they need, people have different options for treatment, including talking therapies like hypnotherapy and psychotherapy.
While these practices have similarities and can be used together, they are different and have their own particular use cases. At CPHT, we have a strong understanding of when and where to apply each type of therapy, and in this article we’ll discuss the benefits of each, when they’re used, and how they can be used together to achieve the best results.
What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis techniques to treat conditions, emotional trauma, or unwanted habits. There are many different types of hypnotherapies that a trained practitioner can try to employ, and different ones might be better for treating certain conditions or patients.
A form of talking therapy, hypnotherapy starts by discussing goals with the patient to understand their objectives and the types of methods that might be right for them. From there, a hypnotherapist can:
- Lead the patient into a relaxed state
- Implant suggestions to dissuade unwanted behaviours or achieve objectives
- Lead the patient out of the state of hypnosis
Hypnosis only works when a patient is receptive to it, and they are in full control, being able to reject any suggestions if they wish. Hypnotherapists need to build trust and rapport with their clients to ensure everyone is on the same page as to expectations and requirements for a successful treatment process.
What is Psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy is another talking therapy that helps patients deal with mental health conditions and unwanted emotional responses. Depending on its application, psychotherapy can not only alleviate symptoms but also work on uncovering and resolving the route cause.
Psychotherapy can be used to treat conditions and disorders caused by:
- Stress
- Trauma
- Illness
- Loss of loved ones
- Mental health conditions (e.g. depression, anxiety)
Like with hypnotherapy, there are several different types of psychotherapies, with the best one to use being dependent on the patient and their situation. In combination with other treatments such as medicines or therapies, including hypnotherapy, psychotherapy can often achieve even greater impact.
How to Blend Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy Techniques
The route to achieving the best results for hypnotherapy and psychotherapy is not to utilise them in isolation, but to instead blend techniques from the two into a single process. Different aspects of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy can help to alleviate symptoms at various stages, and provide crucial information for highlighting the best treatment routes.
For example, training techniques such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or focused therapies you might get from psychotherapy can provide great insight into a patient’s state of mind. Combined with the analysis of symptom root cause, psychotherapy acts as a perfect springboard for hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapy works by building trust and understanding with your patient, and leading them into a relaxed state of mind. From there, your goal is to help them achieve their objectives with regards to their state of mind and wellbeing. Without firm foundations, you may find it difficult to understand their goals or build this level of trust and rapport.
With the building blocks in place from psychotherapy, you will be better positioned to relate to and support your clients through hypnotherapy. Throughout the journey with them, you will likely find other places that psychotherapy techniques can support your hypnotherapy efforts, resulting in the two working in tandem to help you achieve the best results.
The Benefits of Broad-Scope Hypnotherapy Training
Broad-scope hypnotherapy training with CPHT targets all the different aspects of starting and progressing a career in hypnotherapy.
It starts by giving you the necessary skills to work as a hypnotherapist, providing on-the-job experience from as early as your first month. By the end of your course, you will have been guided through hundreds of hours of active learning, giving you plenty of experience to draw on for your future clients – and a validation tool to show your legitimacy.
Aside from the course qualification itself, you will also gain access to a huge number of valuable resources and connections that you can use for further training and specialisms.
We’ll also touch on related fields like psychotherapy, giving you a broad range of tools you can apply in any scenario.
Finally, we include marketing as part of your training at our schools. It is vital to know how to get and keep clients, as most hypnotherapists work independently, so we give you all the knowledge you’ll need to succeed in your future career.
Find out more with our ultimate guide to hypnotherapy training >
Develop Your Hypnotherapy Skills with CPHT
While psychotherapy helps to understand and work through the root causes of conditions and emotional trauma, hypnotherapy plants suggestions and steers people towards a conclusion they can be comfortable with. Together, these services can help you build a strong understanding of your clients, actively working to resolve both the issues they’re having and the underlying reasons behind them.
At CPHT, we believe in providing quality, comprehensive training to aspiring hypnotherapy practitioners – giving you all the necessary qualifications and access to further resources to ensure you can offer the best service. To book your hypnotherapy training today, get in touch.
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