Hypnosis Certification via Video Exam

I was recently asked about becoming a certified hypnotist through the Video-Based Hypnosis Certification Exam program offered by the Society of Experiential Trance (http://www.trancesociety.org).

The certification by exam program was set up specifically for folks who are already experienced hypnotists who really don’t want to have to go through yet another course for their basic certification. This covers folks who are self-taught as well as those who have previous certifications. Since the SET does not generally accept previous certification with other organizations as proof of competence – that’s a bag of worms for another discussion – we set up an option for folks to just simply demonstrate that they know what they are doing either through live exam with an instructor or even via video.

Essentially, after you’ve reviewed the skillsets required for certification, you contact an instructor and ask if they accept video exams. Some do, some don’t. They all have their own fee structures. For instance, I do accept video exams and charge a standard amount to vette a video exam (payable via paypal).

Basically, the you would make a video of yourself performing each of the skills required for certification.

The Society webpages are at http://www.trancesociety.org or http://www.trancesociety.net where you can find complete skill lists.

In the section on certification, you will find links to the skill lists for basic membership certification as well as many of the specialties.

So, if you check the basic requirements (prerequisite for any of the specialties) at http://www.trancesociety.net/cert_hypnotist.html you will see a table with the skill lists and how many times you need to demonstrate each skill from memory on your video submission (for instance, each of the required suggestibility effects must be done at leas twice for a video exam while the Dave Elman induction must be demonstrated at leas three times). For the basic skills list, they are all included in the free online video course available at the Trance Society Community at http://trancesociety.net/community with explanations and demonstrations for those who wish to review the skillsets or brush up on things prior to taking the exam (many folks use that program as a complete self-study course as well so that they learn and practice the skills and then take the exam for certification – in such cases, it’s a good idea to start your own local practice group and use the video materials as the basis for your workshop practice sessions, it’s very solid material).

Note that video exams require that you work with at least five different trance partners (you cannot just keep hypnotizing the same one person for certification).

Basically, you video yourself and prepare either a DVD that you send to me or another instructor you’ve contacted for this or upload the video (preferably as individual clips, although they can be zipped into one or two large files). You might convert to mp4 to save file size. Some people upload to youtube but we do NOT reccommend that for examination materials but rather suggest you use either the private exam group I have on the Community for uploads or – and this is much more common – that you use a private ftp or file share service such as megaupload or rapidshare which allows you to upload the file and then send the download link privately.

If you send a DVD, it will not be returned.

Most folks pass their video exam without difficulty as you prepare the material beforehand so you choose which clips to send – obviously, representing your work at best competence.

Typically, you prepare the video materials and upload the files before paying your exam vetting fees so take your time to prepare your exam package the best you can without pressure.

Once your video exam has been vetted, you will know your results and if you pass you can then pay your certification or membership fees to the examiner who forward the info and fees to the Society for finalization.

I hope this has been helpful.

– Brian