You wouldn’t pick a foot doctor to remove your appendix, right? In the same way, doing your research to find the right hypnotherapist for you is the first step to getting the results you desire. This guide will help you do that.

I love massage. But I really dislike finding a new massage therapist. There are so many factors to getting the massage I want—medium to deep pressure but gentle in my sensitive IT band; one that works out the knots but still leaves me relaxed at the end; hot towels, but no hot stones… 

You get the picture. 

As with a massage therapist, just because someone is trained as a hypnotherapist doesn’t mean that they will automatically be a good fit for your needs. With massage, you learn what works for you by getting massages and then using your preferences to find the right therapist. With hypnotherapy, you are baring more than your body (under a fluffy towel, of course!), you are sharing the challenging parts of your life, your hopes and fears, and your subconscious motivations. 

Going to a bunch of hypnotherapists to discover what works for you can be discouraging and expensive. Your odds of success increase if you have right hypnotherapist for you from the start. 

You can use the following guidelines to get clear about what you want in your hypnotherapy experience, which will help you identify which hypnotherapists are most likely to be a good match for you.

TIP: Most hypnotherapists offer a free consultation call before you book an appointment, which you can use to winnow your choices down even further. The number one criteria for choosing a hypnotherapist is that you resonate with them on a personal level so that that you can be honest with them and trust the help they give you.

What Level of Support Do You Need?

Hypnotherapy is well-care, not a substitute for treatment or crisis intervention

Hypnotherapy works best for people who are functional, who are generally mentally and emotionally healthy, and who are able to and open to making positive change in an already functional life and lifestyle. It isn’t a substitute for necessary medical or mental health care. 

However, many trained counselors, mental health therapists and psychologists, as well as some nurses and other trained medical practitioners utilize hypnotherapy in their practice. They can offer a higher level of expertise and support for mental and medical issues than other hypnotherapists. 

Similarly, starting hypnotherapy with a new practitioner in the midst of trauma or a crisis is not a substitute for taking the steps needed to de-escalate a crisis or finding physical safety and other necessary support after traumas like an accident, abuse or rape. However, some professionals who are trained in trauma or crisis intervention incorporate hypnotherapy into their services.

TIP: If you need a high level of medical, mental health or crisis/trauma support as part of your hypnotherapy, look for an appropriately trained professional who offers hypnotherapy as part of comprehensive treatment.

What Do You Want to Use Hypnotherapy For?   

Hypnotherapy is not magic. A hypnotherapist can’t make a change for you or make you change in a way that you refuse. Hypnotherapy can be a fast and effective way to support you in making the positive changes you desire in your life, but you have to want the change you seek. Hypnotherapy can help remove inner resistance and suggest new possibilities, mindset and habits, but you are the one who chooses to accept and implement the change—or not. 

Hypnotherapy can be effective for many kinds of issues. Traditional uses include:

• Habit or behavior changes like to stop smoking, biting your nails, teeth grinding, stuttering or overeating.    
• Improving sleep, health/well-being, wellness 
• Support better outcomes for medical conditions like cancer treatment, digestive or skin issues
• Support easier and less painful pregnancy, surgery, dental visits, etc.
• Reduce anxiety, stress, fears, addictions and phobias
• Building confidence to do something new in your life like moving to a new city, making new friends or starting a new job, etc.  
• Improve performance in sports, test-taking, interviews, career, public speaking, etc.  
• Support a transition like marriage, divorce, school to career, illness, retirement or death
• Shift emotional pattens to support better relationships, including your relationship with yourself
• Relieve symptoms like pain, bowel issues, skin problems, insomnia, allergies and more
• Improve relationships, communication, connection with others and self
• Release unhelpful mental & emotional patterns, anger, stress, guilt, shame, self-esteem issues, trauma, PTSD, etc., and support new strengths and life strategies

Hypnotherapy is also a very effective self-development strategy. This emerging use of hypnotherapy helps people make improvements without necessarily having a “problem” that needs to be “solved,” such as: 

• Dream work or past life exploration
• Support to master a new skill or advance in a field
• Improve memory, focus, performance, mindfulness, etc.
• Improve confidence, assertiveness, motivation, etc.
• Improve mood, mindset, emotional self-regulation, health, well-bring
• Envisioning and actualizing life plans, dreams and goals
• Opening to more in life, like love, prosperity, fulfillment, possibility
• Self-exploration and self-expansion to open new facets of yourself and new possibilities for your life.

TIP: Look for a hypnotherapist who has experience in or specializes in the area of change you desire.

How Do You View The World? 

It’s easy to think that everyone views the world the same as you, but we are all unique in this way. Do you have a particular viewpoint or value through which you would best receive help and suggestions, like a specific religious/spiritual, cultural or experiencial worldview?

Does it seem like the issue you want to work on would be best understood by a person of the same gender or life experience, or the same race, ethnicity or native language? For example, if you are exploring LGTBQ gender issues, finding a hypnotherapist who has experience with gender dynamics, is LGTBQ, or is LGTBQ friendly will work much better than one with a strong tractional gender worldview.

TIP: Write a list of the worldview or other factors that are important to you and relevant to the issue you want to address. You may or may not be able to search for those terms specifically, but it can certainly help you screen out possible hypnotherapists that you find in your search.

Which Approach: Authoritative or Suggestive?

Every hypnotherapist will have their own flavor of approach, but there are two basic kinds of approaches, and one may work better for you.

Older-style hypnotherapy used an authoritative or directive approach, meaning that the hypnotherapist tells you what to do (based on the result you discussed with them.) This can work well for people who most easily adopt things when they are presented by an “expert” and also for people with lower levels of self-trust.

More recent hypnotherapy training tends to favor the suggestive approach, which suggests to you and your subconscious the direction you might choose to go, and guides you into choosing it if you desire. This can work well for people with a good level of self-trust or intuition, and also for people whose first reaction to authority is to push back. Most hypnotherapists use some of each, and most of one, approach, based both on their training and personity.

Because its subjective to the hypnotherapist, it’s not often stated directly on a website This is something you can gauge from website text, or discover in a short consultation before booking a hypnotherapist.

TIP: How do you best receive suggestions for change—from an authority like a coach, teacher or leader, or because it feels right to you or comes from someone you deeply trust? Knowing this about yourself will help you assess the personality and approach of the hypnotherapist when you speak with them.

In Person or Virtual?

The covid pandemic has moved many therapies to the virtual realm. Not every hypnotherapist likes phone work, but I suspect  it will be a more common option going forward. 

Personally. I offered only virtual/phone session long before covid. The advantage is that the client is in a place that is comfortable for them, and they don’t have to get in a car and drive after a long period of deep relaxation. Plus, both therapist and client can work with anyone around the country or world. 

I’ve had at least as good and often better results over the phone. It may seem strange, but it can work great as long as as a client (you) can be in a quiet, undisturbed place for the appointment duration. 

In-person appointments offer a quiet, pre-optimized environment, but of course require that you get to the appointment location. In person appointments may be best if you have a busy or noisy house, young kids who you need to attend to with immediacy, barking dogs, doorbell rings or other things that would keep you from being fully relaxed and present during your session.

TIP: If you opt for a phone appointment, be sure that you can ensure a quiet, undisturbed environment for the duration of your call, and also that your phone, volume and/or headset/earbuds will allow you to be hands-free, relax and still easily hear your hypnotherapist.

Do You Need To Use Insurance?

Hypnotherapy isn’t a stand-alone certification in most states and countries, which means that most hypnotherapists are not covered by insurance—though this may differ around the world. If the only way you can afford hypnotherapy is with insurance, then looking for a licensed therapist, counselor or psychologist that also is trained in hypnotherapy. Be sure to  check with them that their hypnotherapy usage is covered by insurance before your appointment—don’t assume that it is.  

Even if you can’t use insurance, be assured that hypnotherapy is generally a short term commitment, often with effective, measurable results in a handful of sessions.  

TIP: Don’t assume that insurance is the only way to afford the short-term support of hypnotherapy. But if it is, be sure that your practitioner accepts your insurance and that it covers hypnotherapy before you book your appointment.

How To Search For A Hypnotherapist Online

If you’re a wiz at web searches, and you have your criteria from the above sections, then you’re set. For everyone else…

First go through the segments above and write out your preferences, then prioritize them so that your most important criteria are on top. 

Put the word “hypnotherapist” in you preferred search engine. 

If you need a in person appointment then also type in your location.  

If you have a specific issue like “stop smoking” or “confidence” then you can add that as well.

You’ll likely get many pages of results, but with your criteria list, you can eliminate many quite quickly. 

Choose your top three, and set up a free consultation call with each one to see who you resonate most with.

Then set your appointment!

Give It a Try! 

This isn’t an exhaustive list of things to consider when looking for a hypnotherapist, but it should steer you toward hypnotherapists who are a good fit for you. Good luck!