Hypnotherapists in Victoria Consider Their Options

HypnosisAustralia, May 2005

By Dr Tracie O'Keefe DCH, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Psychotherapist & Counsellor
Editorial Director of HypnosisAustralia Online.

On the 9th of April the Council of Clinical Hypnotherapists (CCH) held a meeting in Camberwell in Victoria. This was a loose collective thinktank of four Victoria-based hypnotherapy associations who are considering amalgamation to form one collective body representing their members who practise in Victoria and also nationwide. An inaugural meeting including the Australian Clinical Hypnotherapists Association, Australian Association of Clinical Hypnotherapists & Psychotherapists, Australian Hypnotherapists Association, and the Australian Society of Clinical Hypnotherpists (ASCH) was held 12 months earlier. The impetus for the CCH thinktank originally came about when ASCH decided to close down its Victorian Chapter and centralise the association in the home state of NSW.

Until 1996 lay hypnotherapists were unable to practise in Victoria and only medical doctors and psychologists were allowed to use hypnosis in the therapeutic environment, even if they had only had a few hours training. There is little doubt that many professional hypnotherapists' skills in the field of hypnotherapy far outweighs the knowledge and experience of the majority of MDs or Psychology Phds, who often only dabble in hypnosis.

The original impetus of the CCH was to form a national body to represent the hypnotherapists to the government. The only way this can occur is if there is just one body of hypnotists, which is a tall task. A proposal that was also made at the meeting was that perhaps as the associations join together they may consider applying to become a member of the Psychotherapist and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA). PACFA is by far the largest collective of multidisciplinary counselling and psychotherapies in Australia and the government is far more likely to deal with PACFA in the future because of its sheer numbers. What the government has clearly indicated in the past, however, is that it will not deal with individual therapeutic disciplines and would prefer it if the therapy industry was a self-policing collective.

One of the problems that has been faced by hypnotherapy associations considering joining PACFA has been the secrecy by which PACFA sometimes makes its decisions, and some hypnotherapists are distrustful of it as an organisation. Hopefully PACFA will utilise more transparency when dealing with hypnotherapy associations.

At the CCH meeting there was a proposal that if the four associations joined together, and even possibly more associations, it might offer a foundation membership to all members but also upgraded memberships for those who may have higher qualifications or wish to go forward to the PACFA register if that is the route the association takes.

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©HypnosisAustralia, May 2005