Choosing the best Course or Therapy for You.

You will have your own considerations when choosing the right course or therapy for you - these may include value for money, quality of materials, experience of trainer/therapist, or simply just your positive intuitive feeling on reading a website or brochure.

Here are some of the criteria you may wish to consider, and our response.

A Word on Convincers

A "Convincer" is a trainers term for a trick to demonstrate to a trainee that they have achieved change. These include such things as "Arrow Breaking", "Board Breaking", "Fire Walking" and so forth. However, these practices are never dangerous (arrow breaking rests the arrow on a point of the neck covered in cartiledge and bone, so requires no skill or preparation to perform) otherwise the insurers would want to know! So, trainers have to 'psych up' the participants to believe that they will have the confidence to do an apparently 'risky' activity (boards are usually weakened in advance) that they couldn't do without their training & confidence-building.

In my book, this is not only a 'cheap trick' but demonstrates a non-respectful attitude (see below). The trainer is installing a negative belief only to remove it again to demonstrate something that should be demonstrated by the trainees own skills and confidence learnt in the training.

I refer you to the Karate Kid II film, where the master and his young pupil walk by a competitors extravagent poster showing a guy breaking a log in half. "Hey," says the excited pupil to his elderly master, "can you do that?"

"Don't know," replies the master, "never been attacked by tree".

Experienced Trainer.

Ensure your Trainer has over five years of training experience and ten years of NLP experience. Many NLP Trainers have only one year of NLP training and may have only just become Trainers!

This is important to ensure your Trainer can answer your questions, demonstrate flexibility and apply NLP or Hypnotherapy to your areas of work.

"I was introduced to NLP by a drunk Salesman in Geneva in 1986! For twenty years now I have been learning and teaching NLP and many related subjects."

Good Value for Money.

There is no standardisation to pricing for courses. I have priced my courses in respect of the market, the most beautiful venue in England and my own costs in producing excellent training materials - even the Hypnotherapy Foundation Manual is over a hundred pages of material written by myself for this course - I do not use 'template' manuals downloaded or purchased elsewhere!

"Our courses include materials from two thousand years ago to the day before the course starts - including access to a library of rare works on NLP & Hypnotherapy at our disposal."

Deep Content Simply Delivered.

Does your trainer understand teaching methods such as 4MAT to deliver content in a simple way and respond to your learning style?

Professional Accreditation and Licensing.

It is difficult, I'm sure you may have found, to work through the un-regulated nature of NLP & Hypnotherapy Training. My work with the GHSC keeps me informed as to the status of regulation, and it looks unlikely that any such regulation will be enforced for many years (despite what other courses may suggest)!

Ensure you ask what license/validation you will achieve on your courses and what they are 'worth'. Ensure they are UK-based!

"I chose to work within the GHSC and Hypnotherapy Society as they are working with the medical profession to achieve a high standard of ethics and regulation. If regulation is enforced, my students will be best placed to meet - even exceed any likely criteria - including supervision and CPD."

Respectful Attitude.

NLP in particular tends to attract a wide range of students and trainers - the beauty of its flexibility and range of application! However, not every NLP Trainer will be right for you.

Motivational and Business Gurus are not often suited for considered therapeutic work - Counsellors are not always great public speakers! Ensure that your trainer has a wide range of experience, and ask about their attutude to clients.

"It sounds corny, but I honestly feel honoured every time a client chooses to work with me and respect their bravery at challenging their limitations. In respect of that, I believe integrity of the relationship should be paramount."

Source of Training and Background.

Find out more about your Trainer and his training. Has he studied with one or both of the co-founders of NLP; Richard Bandler and John Grinder? Have they studied under any of those respected in Neo-Ericksonian Hypnotherapy, such as Steven Gilligan? Masters of Sleight of Mouth like Doug O'Brien? Clean Language?

Indeed, before choosing your courses, can you actually talk to your Trainer or even meet them for a day?!

"As most NLP & Hypnotherapy requires rapport and integrity, it is important that you get your trainer and have a good alignment to their attitude. It is important that your trainer is involved in the environment in which they are training, and not just a trainer!"