How experienced are most hypnotherapists?

This pie chart below is based on original research which I conducted in December 2019. I wanted to know how experienced are most hypnotherapists in the UK. I gathered data from the British Society for Clinical Hypnosis, the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, the National Council for Hypnotherapy, and the Hypnotherapy Directory. These registers and directory cover about 60% of all hypnotherapists advertising on Google. I estimated the age of each practice using the Wayback Machine. From other research in my local area I know this is a valid method.

Results of the Survey.

The most striking result of this survey is how many hypnotherapists have been in practice for only a short while. For instance, we see that 44% had been in practice less than 5 years and 72% for less than ten years.

This is due to a very high turnover in the profession. Most new hypnotherapists go out of business within a few years. Obviously a therapist who’s only been in practice for a few years will not have built up much experience. So does the question of how experienced are most hypnotherapists really matter? Yes, it matters very much! Even the best hypnosis training is only a beginning. We learn most of what we know by actually doing the job. This is the same for every profession.

I began my practice in 1994 although already I saw a few clients in London in 1993. So you can see from the chart that only about 3% of hypnotherapists have as much experience as I do.

Location of Hypnotherapists

From the same database I have also created a map showing the distribution of hypnotherapists in different parts of the UK. You can see this HERE. This may be of interest if you’re thinking of training as a hypnotherapist yourself.

You can copy this chart to any website so long as you add a link back to my own website.