Ok, so you've decided that pursuing hypnotherapy with a qualified psychotherapist is the right decision for you. How do you go about selecting the right professional for the job?

Should you see a hypnotist, a hypnotherapist, a psychotherapist or a psychiatrist? This article will help you decide the right professional to seek out to help with the challenges you face.

Hypnotist A hypnotist is someone we usually associate with stage performances. They use hypnosis as part of a performance for entertainment purposes. These performers will refer to themselves as being hypnotists and in most cases, they will certainly have the skills, but not the necessary qualifications to use hypnosis for therapy.

Hypnotherapist A hypnotherapist is a professional who has trained in hypnosis for the purpose of helping others in a clinical setting. Each Country has its own exacting standards for hypnotherapists, but in the UK, there is the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) and the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR). Ideally, the hypnotherapist you choose should be listed with each, but at the very least, anyone offer services as a hypnotherapist should be certified to the level required. A hypnotherapist will use hypnosis exclusively in their practise. Their training consists of at least 100 hours of study about hypnosis, regression and the intricacies of communication with the mind in its subconscious mode.

Psychotherapist A psychotherapist may use hypnosis along with psychoanalysis and other forms of communication such as conversation, the written word, artwork, drama, narrative story or therapeutic touch. A psychotherapist is involved in more what is conventionally called counselling. They also have their own association, so when choosing a psychotherapist, they should ideally be a member.

Psychiatrist A psychiatrist is both a Medical Doctor and a psychologist, which means they deal with mental disorders and can prescribe drugs. They may or may not use hypnosis, counselling or psychotherapy technique in their practise of psychiatry or they may simply have a prescription drug approach to help their patients. If they do use hypnosis, it will more likely be at a very basic level as the training they under take is more likely to be over the course of a weekend than a lengthy course.

We've looked at the different types of professionals out there who can help with you, one final consideration is the amount of experience they have in your particular area of need. Ask these important questions: How long have they been practising? Have they helped a client with a similar problem? How many satisfied clients do they have? What is their specialty?

Once you've identified the exact type of professional you need for your area of concern, you can evaluate the other considerations such as their experience, professional training, success with other clients and membership of professionalassociations. The final thing to ask yourself comes when you walk into the office and meet the person -- do I feel comfortable being around them?

Richard Reid is experienced in a variety of disciplines including NLP, EMDR, Integrative Counselling and Hypno-Psychotherapy. He is also a qualified provider of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and Alternative Dispute Resolution. His company, Pinnacle Therapy has offices in Central London and Twickenham and can be found online at http://www.pinnacletherapy.co.uk