Do not get me wrong I respect both the hypnotist and the hypnotherapist but I do believe there should be a difference, here in Quebec there are no laws or regulations gouverning hypnosis or hypnotherapy so we can say that the hypnotist is a stage hypnotist and that a hypnotherapist does therapy using hypnosis.
People need to know that in both cases we are not doctors not to say that a doctor can not use hypnosis but the hypnotist and the hypnotherapist are not doctors, we have no medical degrees like psychologist, psychiatrists or medical doctors, like I said they can learn and use hypnosis infact they do learn a bit about it during there training in school.
So what is the diffrence between the two people?
The hypnotist is a stage performer usualy and has learned how to create the hypnotic state in people with a high suggestibility and with practice and experience manage to hypnotize more then the standered 5% of an audience. the can learn about psychology and social psychology as well as other forms of information easily with the internet now days and not to get confused with the state of Florida where a trained hypnotherapist must use the term hypnotist there for legal reasons, here in Quebec we do not have such laws. where the issue can become a problem for client or practitioner is when terms are missed used like I can help cure that, or hypnosis can cure that, something a properly trained hypnotherapist would not say for only people with a medical degree can cure people. Hypnosis is a tool to help make change or alleviate symptoms. so no we can not cure canser or a broken arm we can help alleviate symptoms caused by the treatments, and with broken limbs or surgery using pre and post op hypnosis can help make recovery more pleasent and in some documented cases accelerate the healing and lower risk of infection.
The hypnotherapist studies techniques not just to create the state of hypnosis but also how to communicate with the subconscious mind, techniques like those created by Bandle or Erickson, Kappasinien and the popular NLP techniques also known as awaken hypnosis, the hypnotherapist will use hypnosis to help there clients achieve there goals and make changes to there habits and when we love what we do we can not help but learn more about how the mind works. Some will go back to school and become psychologists or psychiatrists other like my self take classes that may or may not be recognized by our government here in Quebec meaning it has no scolarity value and is worth about the same as if you read a book. but we still study the mind and human behavior and not just in books but every where and we end up learning all there is about hypnosis from NLP to research done in the 60's using drugs well we do if we are crazy about what we do like I do, we guide people to make the changes in behaviour they want using a powerful tool know as hypnosis since 1848 when James Braid first wrote a book using the terms hypnosis and hypnotism for the first time and the term stuck, can a stage hypnotist become a hypnotherapist? yes they can I just hope they learn the therapy part and not just look for scrips on the net, Can a hypnotherapist become a stage hypnotist? yes and good ones at that because we know a little more about behaviour and suggestibility.
The real issue here in Quebec is that we are not recognized as a career path or a valid source of treatment for pain or as a motivation tool or to help with conventional medical issues as a added treatment to help with the regular medical treatment. Here in Quebec most people do not even know just what hypnosis is or what it can do, many still think it is a form of mind control or worse that it is not real even if science has already proven it's benefits and existence. some people still think we snap our fingers and magically make all the problems go away but the word is hypnotherapy if the client doesn't work on the issue with you then how can change occur and yes stage hypnosis and stage hypnotist like to give the illusion they have taken control of you and it does cause a lot of fear in some people not to mention how Hollywood portraid hypnosis and hypnotist in the movies.
Bad hypnotist and hypnotherapist along with false beliefs on hypnosis along with the myths about it make it hard to practice here in Quebec, not impossible how ever, in metropolitan areas there are more immagrants and open minded people then if you are out in the country but it is also our job to dispel the myths and to educate people on what hypnosis is. Here in Quebec we are still in the 70's when it comes to hypnosis and using stage hypnosis to help find clients and promot hypnosis is how they did it back then in the U.S so we find our selves doing that here to, well I do and I love doing stage hypnosis almost as much as hypnotherapy.
So what is the diffence between the two here in Quebec?
there is none legally but I believe ther should be a difference in that a hypnotherapist should have trained in a school approved by at least an association and that hypnotist enjoy the stage or the street and continue to entertain or get trained to do more
