Voice of the Establishment

    Ericksonian Therapy (Zeig and Lankton)
    • Ericksonian Therapy and NLP by kendavis@erols.com, 9/3/97
      • (...)
        • Laypeople ! by Sheldon, 10/21/97

    Voice of the Establishment
    by Jeffrey Zeig, 10/23/97

    Sheldon:

    I don't know why this question is directed to me. I am not the voice of the establishment. I have publicly championed liberal academic requirements for training in hypnosis. When I began 25 years ago, only doctoral-level professionals could belong to the major professional hypnosis societies. The Erickson Foundation has trained Masters-level professionals from its inception, and gradually the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis relaxed its standards.

    Okay, Sheldon, brace yourself: I am going to take you to task and be hard on you.

    It will be difficult to reach you on this issue, because you have an established row to hoe. Here is a try: Licensure is not limited to the professions. The wisdom of society is that trades have standards to protect the public. Yes, anyone can be a taxi driver and the average person may be better at it than a licensed cabby. However, guerilla training of taxi drivers could not be justified by the argument that the taxi trade has regulations merely to "protect their turf."

    It is illegal to practice without a license. That is the wisdom of the law. Why train people in hypnotherapy when they are legally prohibited from using the training? It seems immoral and manipulative.

    Speaking from the point of view of the consumer, I would not take my car to an unlicensed mechanic. I would not take my psyche to an untrained practitioner.

    A professional background indicates a level of competency, which includes the blessing of the accredited granting institution. Graduates are broadly versed in a program that includes supervised training in assessment, theory, intervention and ethics. Licensed professionals are responsible to their State Board and professional society. Dissatisfied clients have recourse. Licensed professionals use techniques such as hypnosis as part of their treatment and have other methods at their disposal.

    The public needs a way of making informed choices and licensure helps despite its limitations (and even abuses by professionals). I have seen more examples of nonprofessionals who have provided damaging hypnosis to fragile people without understanding their psychodynamics than I have seen of professionals causing iatrogenic problems through hypnosis.

    Also, Sheldon, I sincerely doubt that your society has higher standards that the two professional societies that you named.

    And, Sheldon, why do you fail to identify yourself by name, degree and location? Why not stand up for your convictions?

    Jeff Zeig
            • Laypeople 2 by Sheldon Bilsker, CCH, RCC, 10/25/97
              • The real reason lay hypnotists exist by Terry Moore, LCSW, 10/27/97
                • Those Lay Hypnotists! by Sheldon Bilsker, 10/27/97
                  • unscrupulous trainers by Terry Moore, LCSW, 10/28/97
                    • reply to unscrupulous trainers by Sheldon Bilsker, 10/28/97
                      • hypnosis training & degrees by Terry Moore, LCSW, 10/29/97
                        • The hard work issue by Stephen Lankton, 10/30/97
                          • reply to hard work by Terry Moore, LCSW, 10/30/97
                        • On Training, Supervision, and Prejudice by Sharon McLaughlin, MA, 11/12/97
                          • What makes a hypnotist so special? by Michael Melhorn, 11/13/97
                        • American Board of Hypnotherapy by Lynn Gay, 3/27/98
                      • Master's Smaster's by Michael Melhorn, 11/13/97
              • RE: Charlatans by Jeffrey K. Zeig, Ph.D., 11/4/97
                • Who died and left you judge? by Huna Man, 11/27/97
                  • Beautyful and Sad by Mu Jung, 2/19/98
            • a Limitation by Terry Moore, LCSW, 10/27/97
            • The Establishment by Philip H. Farber, 4/10/98
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