The ADVANCED: Modules and Learning Outcomes

 COURSE MODULES

Module One: Models of Hypnosis

1. State model
2. Neodissasociation model
3. Ericksonian/utilisation model
4. Role playing and/or sociocognitive model
5. Altered consciousness model

Module Two: Factors that facilitate or impede change

1. Rapport
2. Motivation
3. The therapeutic relationship and therapist skills
4. Primary, secondary and tertiary gain and malingering
5. Unrealistic expectations
6. Fear/nervousness around change
7. Psychological theories of change
8. Extra therapeutic factors

Module three: Advanced questioning and recognizing opportunity

1. Double barrelled questions
2. Double negatives
3. Loaded and leading questions
4. Meta questions

Module Four: Handling awkward situation, clients and questions

1. Dependency on therapy/therapist
2. Handling difficult questions
3. Door knob disclosure
4. The Therapy is not working

Module Five: Advance Clinical Approaches

1. Working without a script
2. Positive and negative language
3. Anchoring (collapsing anchors)
4. Association and disassociation
5. Embedded suggestions
6. Paradoxical intention

Module Six: Academic Skills and Critical Thinking

1. Professional abbreviations and symbols
2. Listening and reading skills how to critique and evaluate claims made
3. Logical and academic argumentation
4. Academic referencing (Harvard and footnote)
5. Level of analysis and levels of abstraction
6. Academic skills and critical thinking
7. Advanced ethical considerations and debates in clinical practice

Module Seven: Social and Scientific Research

1. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy research
2. Common sense versus scientific

1. Validity and reliability
2. Asking questions: interviews, case studies, surveys, questionaires.
3. Observational methods
4. Controlled experiments
5. Comparison studies
6. Grounded theory
7. Discourse analysis
8. Systematic review and meta analysis
9. Factors affecting the availability of research on hypnotherapy
10. Statistics
11. How and where to find research articles

Module Eight: Ethical Considerations and debates in Clinical Practice

1. Power dynamics in the therapeutic relationship
   1. Take on or refuse clients
   2. Refer them
   3. Hypnotise them
   4. Ask probing questions
   5. Professional knowledge
   6. Certificates
   7. Writing and keeping notes
2. Effectively screening prospective clients
3. What discussed at initial contact
4. Duties regarding breaking confidentiality (legal/moral obligations)
5. Working with other health professionals
6. Types of ethics
7. Hypnotherapy techniques with children

Module Nine: Growing as a Hypnotherapist

1. Being a reflective practitioner reflecting on our work, analysing strengths/weakness, etc
2. Getting the best from supervision
3. How to set up and run a peer group
4. Constructing a personal development plan
5. How to work with unusual issues not covered on initial trainings e.g. skin disorders, working with grief, and tinnitus.

Module Ten: Options

Advanced interventions and additional material eg scripts

Learning outcomes

The following learning outcomes must be met (in any order).

Important note: each question or task in the homework portfolio is accompanied by the learning outcome/s that it substantiates.

Learning Outcomes

1. Advanced clinical knowledge and skills

1.1 An understanding of advanced interventions.

1.2 An ability to devise an appropriate psychological intervention for a medical condition.

1.3 Sophisticated thinking, within the bounds of law and ethics, but beyond the confines of unnecessarily dogmatic rules sometimes asserted in training, supervision and reading.

1.4 Prioritising the client and specific, localised, contextual issues over inflexible rule-based thinking (i.e. 'bottom-up' versus 'top-down' thinking).

1.5 An ability to determine an ethically and therapeutically appropriate approach for more complex cases where specific training may not be available.

1.6 An understanding of what is meant by 'normalising' client experiences.

1.7 An ability to recognise 'loaded' questions.

1.8 An ability to recognise 'leading' questions.

1.9 An understanding of the nature and impact of extratherapeutic factors.

1.10 An understanding of primary, secondary, and tertiary gain, and malingering.

1.11 Knowing how to take an appropriate course of action with a client who is experiencing an epileptic seizure.

1.12 Knowing how to sensitively and firmly handle clients who breach personal or professional boundaries.

1.13 An understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of group hypnotherapy.

2. Theory and its application

2.1 Knowledge of the various theories on the nature of hypnosis.

2.2 A demonstrable understanding of psychological theories of motivation and behavioural change and an ability to apply this to clinical practice.

3. Academic thinking and argumentation

3.1 A demonstrable understanding of logic and academic argumentation.

3.2 A recognition of the problems associated with forming conclusions about other modalities based on small and biased data sets.

3.3 An ability to reference other authors' work properly, e.g. in 'Harvard' and 'footnote' formats.

3.4 An ability to critically appraise, in a professional, factual and non-emotive manner, claims made in the media, including digital media such as websites, or those made by colleagues, supervisors and trainers.

3.5 An ability to critique hypnotherapy literature in an academic and professional manner.

3.6 A forward-thinking appreciation of the potential consequences of scientific research and theorising on the future of clinical practice.

3.7 An ability to implement new techniques without direct supervision and critically reflect on this, e.g. assessing the suitability of the technique, outcome, and personal performance.

3.8 A demonstrable and respectful appreciation of both the advantages and disadvantages of interventions that have, or have not, been scientifically researched.

4. Ethics

4.1 Advanced thinking around difficult ethical issues, particularly those outside of codes of ethics and where an unambiguous and universally agreed upon solution is unavailable.

4.2 A considered approach to professional responsibilities around public protection.

4.3 An awareness of the subtleties around protecting client confidentiality, especially regarding the ease with which identifying details can be released, e.g., bit by bit in supervision.

4.4 An ability to handle awkward challenges to the maintenance of confidentiality, demonstrating an awareness of the issues, sound judgement, and sensitivity towards client needs.

5. Research methods and application

5.1 An understanding of scientific methodology and its advantages.

5.2 An understanding of the term 'falsification' in science.

5.3 An understanding of 'bias' in research.

5.4 A basic understanding of statistical methods, sufficient to enable engagement with hypnotherapy research literature.

5.5 A demonstrable ability to locate hypnotherapy research.

5.6 An understanding of the term 'pseudoscientific therapies/treatments'.

5.7 An understanding of the term 'empirically supported therapies/treatments'.

6. Professional development

6.1 An appreciation for the benefits of peer groups and an awareness of how to organise one.

6.2 Effective personal reflection on the learning that has taken place on the course.

6.3 A recognition of, and demonstrable commitment towards, professional development needs as evidenced through a Personal Development Plan.