In-Person vs Online Hypnotherapy Courses

We’ve always held that online training is insufficient to teach people to become responsible and effective hypnotherapists who work sensitively and comprehensively. The Covid pandemic led to a dramatic increase in online hypnotherapy trainings but we refused to compromise. Our successful safety measures during the pandemic have included smaller classes with physical distancing and our high quality air filter augmenting open windows.

Our courses give value far beyond what is possible online. The only online hypnotherapy training worth considering whether it could be properly done would be live remote training, but that is not possible for our accelerated programs that draw students from time zones all over the world. And that's just one of the major issues.

•Crucial aspects of serious hypnotherapy training need to include live demonstrations with class volunteers and supervised practice. This is mandatory for the quality of our highly experiential courses, including the powerful interactive demonstrations and healing that occurs. Responsible and effective hypnotherapy training goes far beyond teaching how to come up with personalized scripts for post-hypnotic suggestions.

•It is important that by Level 3 our demonstrations consistently involve exploratory hypnotherapy, working through core underlying issues for lasting results. The interactive methods include ideomotor signals, Hypnotic DreamworkTM, and especially an emphasis on various forms of regressions including cathartic emotional clearing, all of which are documented in the transcripts within Randal Churchill’s award-winning texts.

•Demonstrations would be sorely compromised in many ways, including there being no guarantee of controlled environment at the subject’s location. 

•Picking up subtle cues in body language would be severely restricted through the fixed lens of a webcam.

•Among our methods are advanced ideomotor signals, which involve communication from deep within the subconscious mind through finger signals that can access information beyond the client's awareness. Some of those movements are quite subtle and would be missed via webcam.

•Our classes are intimate, bonding, and require trust and privacy. The therapy for deeply personal issues demonstrated in class is so powerful and effective in part because of the trust and sense of safety we create together. There would be no comparison to trying to demonstrate such hypnotherapy with students remotely via Zoom, being viewed by other "classmates" that haven't personally interacted, not knowing who could be watching.

•In addition, there are major privacy issues inherent to the internet in general. There are specifically further problems with online platforms such as Zoom, which is gaining notoriety regarding compromised privacy problems. Many thousands of Zoom videos end up being inadvertently left viewable by anyone on the open web. Among additional threats, the platform has given rise to a new form of harassment - Zoombombing - in which an unwanted person hacks in and joins a Zoom meeting and is disruptive. 

•There are so many drawbacks to online training for a comprehensive program such as ours. Almost every day of class includes at least one or two supervised practices, which are usually timed after demonstrations. The inability to have supervised practices would be a huge disadvantage. Also, the logistics of unsupervised online practices would be awkward and time-consuming. When it's time for a practice session, instead of you choosing your partner the teacher would have to assign people at random since it's important to not keep practicing with the same person. Practices would have to be done separately from technological interference.

•There wouldn't be an opportunity at the end of the practice for private, personal questions or comments to the instructor.

In conclusion, our teaching is not about a band-aid approach. We teach working with the whole person, dealing with underlying issues. We emphasize demonstrating transformational methods in a nurturing setting and are not willing to compromise that. Each of our course levels will always be in person and will always be highly experiential. No kind of online program can compare. One of the bonuses is the profound healing that has occurred in the lives of many of our volunteers. Thank you for your understanding.

Randal Churchill
Founder (1978), Director and Primary Instructor
Hypnotherapy Training Institute | 2024 class schedule

     "Great work! A major healing took place in my life. This is much more than a hypnotherapy school. This is a life changing and profoundly deep spiritual experience."
-Robert Birk, M.A., Certified Hypnotherapist
Vancouver, WA

     "Randal, I want to thank you for saving my life. Since your help some years ago I have gotten my life back. My panic and fear are gone. It's as if my heart surgery (the trauma connected to it) never happened. I see a slight scar on my skin, the only reminder. Absolutely no emotions except gratitude are connected to this past issue.
     "I am loving being a hypnotherapist and helping others. Thanks so much again."
-Brian Linton, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist
Reno, NV

     "Little did I know when I answered your ad that I had just set foot on a journey that would turn my life around forever. In my blind assumption that this was merely a fine school for the training of hypnotherapists, I found myself walking willingly into a safe and loving cocoon, formed by the spoken word, the warm embrace and the gentle spirit of both of you as well as the additional special teachers you brought in from time to time. In this place, I experienced and witnessed spiritual transformation and personal growth unparalleled in any other single event of my life. The depth and breadth of the wisdom and knowledge offered to your students far exceeded my wildest expectations and the deep bonding I accomplished with the class I will carry in my heart forever. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
-Catherine Hershon, Certified Hypnotherapist, Marketing Research Consultant
Scottsdale, AZ

     "It's very hard to find the words to express my profound gratitude and appreciation for everything I was privileged to witness in class. It was almost like a fairy-tale where miracles can be worked easily, effortlessly, and joyfully. Everything was performed with great skill, experience, feeling, respect, and deep love. The atmosphere was always friendly and pleasant. It's been so nice to be your student.
     "Randal, your approach is so full of energy, enthusiasm, willingness to share. I loved every moment of your teaching and demonstrating. You and the other instructors complement each other in a most intricate and brilliant way!
     "You gave highly informative, brilliantly presented, very enjoyable lectures. The demonstrations were profound and inspiring, and the practice sessions were very useful. A big, big thank you! It's all in my heart and I know you feel it."
-Tanya Konyukhova, Certified Hypnotherapist, Translator
Moscow, Russia

     "You certainly covered a broad range of modalities in your classes, but I was most impressed by your depth, especially during the therapy demonstrations. You are both masters of reaching the underlying issues and working through profoundly challenging problems. You are so skillful, sensitive and supportive, I would send anyone in the world to you!
     "I continue to be amazed at the results of my hypnotherapy clients, and have found much to integrate into my chiropractic practice. And the positive effects of your training on my personal life have been truly dramatic. Thank you for giving your all to create such a beautiful program!"
-Dr. Victoria West, Chiropractor
Fremont, CA

     "The courses are a superb balance of cognitive, experiential, and practical approaches. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to assimilate the skills. The balance in styles and approaches of the instructors is exceptional! I found myself drawn to - and resonant with - each of them in a remarkable way.
     "Wonderful things have happened for me throughout the course. Equally exciting for me has been the fantastic 'results' my clients have enjoyed. I've begun to think about my work in wonderful, new, and innovative, refreshing ways. I have appreciated the high level of integrity and sensitivity of the instructors.
     "In retrospect, I feel that I've learned more about clinical practice in the Hypnotherapy training than I did in 2 1/2 years of graduate school. I can't at all evaluate the human contact that has been really miraculous for me in this course."
-Alan Brickman, M.A., Certified Hypnotherapist, Transpersonal Counselor
San Francisco, CA

The following graduate commuted 6,000 miles roundtrip for 3 months to the version of our program on weekends!

     "The moment I arrived at the Corte Madera Inn, I knew this was it. This is what I've searching for for over three decades. The next few months were some of the happiest of my life because each day some new magical, rewarding, wonderful thing happened, whether I was in class or between classes. I was literally bursting with excitement, experiencing new worlds with each new lesson... Suffice it to say that this was an exceptional experience in my life and one for which I will be forever grateful.
     "Randal, many of my classmates voiced similar thoughts and we were, besides being charmed by your personality, somewhat in awe at the magnitude of the energy that we felt radiating from you. The gentleness with which you taught allowed us to learn extremely rapidly....
     "I felt that this classroom was a sanctuary - once inside its walls I was safe. Suddenly all the hurt and worries of the outside world were shut out, and a huge weight lifted from me. I've never had such feelings in a classroom before, and to have trusted enough to have opened up to the experience, this is saying some rather phenomenal things about the school.
     "In the year that I've been working as a hypnotherapist I've met many others in the same field. What arrests my attention is that although some of these people have attended excellent schools they have not the broad range of knowledge that I have acquired from my studies at HTI."
-Mary Caldwell, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist
Charlotte, North Carolina