Hypnotherapy Testimonials – building a relationship of trust?

One thing prospective clients often cite when we first meet is how the testimonials on my website gave them the hope and courage they needed to take the first step towards overcoming their issues. After all, reading feedback and watching real client testimonials of people who used to struggle with, for example, anxiety, low confidence or fears, and who successfully overcame it, is pretty inspiring. I know that it inspires me each and every day in my work because I want all of my clients to experience that joy (whether or not they decide to share their successful results with others).

I’m delighted to now have nearly 200 hypnotherapy testimonials, including forty videos, from clients who were delighted with the results from our sessions together and who wanted to encourage others to seek help too.

And each and every testimonial I publish is from a client who I have worked with and helped myself. I’m pretty proud of that.

I’m also clear on my website that results cannot be guaranteed because both you and I have a role to play in achieving results. Each and every client I work with has their own responsibilities within the process, such as engaging in our sessions and carrying out agreed therapeutic tasks that help them take back control over how they think and feel between our sessions.

So as a professional hypnotherapist I was saddened this week when I happened to come across other therapists who seem to try and pass off the results of others as their own. I mean, is that really how someone thinks you develop an effective working relationship?

Whose Results Are They Really?

Research shows that when there is an effective working relationship between the therapist and client then the client will likely derive more therapeutic gain from their sessions. There are many aspects that feed into the relationship including expectations, attitudes and motivation and any client should expect to actively collaborate in their own success (and why wouldn’t you collaborate when you want to overcome that anxiety and fear or end that smoking habit and so forth).

Yet another underpinning factor in the likelihood of achieving successful results is that a client trusts their therapist. The hypnotherapist must seem credible and trustworthy and deserve the client’s respect.

Which makes me wonder how this stacks up when there a hypnotherapist is publishing testimonial results achieved by others as if they were acheived by them? On the websites I looked at there was no explicit mention of this fact and I struggle to believe it wasn’t done as a deliberate marketing ploy. Surely that’s just hoping that unsuspecting members of the public seeking health with their mental health problems won’t notice and are therefore tricked into believing that therapist achieved those results? How is that building a relationship of trust? How does that fit with the research into the client/therapist relationship and the increased likelihood of results? How is that at all ethical in any way?

Now I suspect that these hypnotherapists would claim that the results were achieved by following a particular therapeutic approach and system. That these clients saw therapists who have received the same training and follow the same programme that they do (I’m not even going into how is that at all focused on the individual client – I mean, you may as well just buy a book!).

Yet that doesn’t stack up at all. As already mentioned, research shows the importance of the client and therapist relationship in the likelihood of achieving successful results. That does not come from a book. That does not come from a programme.

When I studied law at university, we all followed the same programme and used the same recommended textbooks. If I then claimed credit for someone else’s exam results I think you would say I was being deceitful. If I went back over each and every hypnotherapy training course and made a list of all the other attendees, and then went onto their websites, copied and pasted their testimonials onto my website and said ‘look at these results!’ then you would quite rightly have doubts about the results I actually achieve myself.

It’s a sad fact that there is nothing that can be done about their practice except to highlight it and hope to educate prospective clients to thoroughly examine hypnotherapy testimonials before relying on them. There are many excellent practitioners out there who have dozens of examples of the results they have achieved with their clients and who don’t need to piggyback on the results of others.

So how do you make an educated decision when finding a hypnotherapist?

Finding A Hypnotherapist 

Whether you decide to come and work with me for hypnotherapy or to go elsewhere, there are some essential things to be sure about when choosing your hypnotherapist:

​​​​​​​1. Ensure that they have the right qualifications and make sure they continue to attend further training to stay up to date with the latest research and knowledge. Be wary if they suggest that one technique or approach works every time and with every person.

2. They should be willing to meet you face to face before you commit to working with them. If they have your best interests in mind they will be happy to meet you at their office to talk about your issues and goals and to answer any questions you have so that you make the best decision about who you want to work with.

3. Make sure you feel comfortable with them. If you want the best results you need to be able to work collaboratively and trust your hypnotherapist. In many ways this links with meeting the hypnotherapist face to face before you start sessions so you can be sure you feel comfortable with them before you invest time, money, hope and energy.

4. The most successful hypnotherapists work full time in hypnotherapy from professional consulting rooms. You should ask them whether they are a full time hypnotherapist or practice it as a hobby on the side or from a spare room at home.

5.  It is essential that they will teach you skills and strategies that you can use between sessions to be in control over your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Knowing these puts you in control and means that once sessions are completed, you can maintain your success.

6. Ensure that they can demonstrate evidence of real life success with clients. If they are good at what they do they will have dozens of written and video testimonial from happy clients. If they show you testimonials make sure that they are for the individual hypnotherapist (and not for someone else who may use the same approach or programme or who attended the same training course they did).

If they can’t meet all of these then I’d suggest that you look elsewhere for the very best professional to work with.

To your success,

Dan Regan

Hypnotherapy Ely & Newmarket

Struggling with anxiety, stress, worry and fear and need some help? Find out how I can help with a Complimentary Hypnotherapy Strategy Session. Learn more here: Appointments

Find out what dozens of other people have said after their hypnotherapy sessions with Dan: Hypnotherapy Testimonials

And check out these powerful hypnosis downloads that can start helping you right away with anxiety, confidence and more: Hypnosis Downloads