After Psychology: A Serious Pathway into Evidence-Based Private Practice.
A BPS Psychology Careers Festival presentation for psychology graduates, assistant
psychologists, DClinPsy applicants, counselling psychology applicants and psychologists exploring a
practical route into therapeutic work.
A Note from Mark R. Davis
If, like me, you studied psychology because you wanted to understand people and help them change…
…it can be frustrating to discover how narrow the professional pathway can become.
The DClinPsy route is important and what many of us aspired to, but it is not the only meaningful route into applied therapeutic work. Counselling psychology, PWP and high-intensity CBT pathways, research roles, assistant psychology posts and private training routes all have different strengths, costs, limits and realities. And also, as I discovered, Hypno-CBT®.
This page is for psychology graduates, assistant psychologists, DClinPsy applicants, counselling psychology applicants and qualified psychologists who are asking a serious question: what is my next viable pathway into therapeutic practice?
Hypno-CBT® is not a shortcut into clinical psychology, and it does not provide HCPC registration. It is a distinct, evidence-based vocational pathway into cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy and private practice. For the right person, it can be a rigorous and practical way to begin using psychology directly with clients, and to build a strong, thriving private practice.
The best place to start is the BPS Psychology Careers Festival presentation below, where Clinical Psychologist, Dr Krissie Ivings, and I discuss the pathway honestly.
Hypno-CBT® as a Contemporary Career Pathway into Private Practice
Presented as part of the BPS Psychology Careers Festival 2026 by Mark R. Davis and Dr Krissie Ivings,
Consultant Clinical Psychologist, former NHS CAMHS Head of Service, BABCP accredited and Hypno-CBT®
graduate.
In this presentation, Mark and Krissie discuss Hypno-CBT® as a serious vocational pathway for psychology
graduates, assistant psychologists and psychologists considering private practice.
“What started off as a marketing ploy has become a new career. I was getting changes immediately in one to two sessions that used to take me six or more. I now use it with pretty much everyone I see.”
Dr Krissie Ivings — Consultant Chartered Clinical Psychologist, DClinPsy (Manchester), BABCP Accredited, 24 years NHS, Hypno-CBT® Senior Advisory Board
Who should watch this?
- Have a psychology degree and want to use it in direct applied work.
- Are working as an assistant psychologist and considering your next step.
- Have applied, or are thinking of applying, for the DClinPsy.
- Are weighing up counselling psychology, PWP, CBT, private practice or further vocational training.
- Are already a psychologist or therapist and want to extend your clinical toolkit.
What the video covers?
- Why the psychology career pathway can become unnecessarily narrow.
- What Hypno-CBT® is and what it is not.
- How clinical hypnosis can be integrated with CBT, mindfulness, behavioural methods and imagery.
- What the evidence says about adding hypnosis to CBT.
- How the Diploma works as a vocational route into private practice.
- What this pathway can and cannot offer.
- How to think clearly about whether it fits your background and goals.
What Is Hypno-CBT®?
Hypno-CBT® is the integration of evidence-based clinical hypnosis with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and mindfulness. It is not stage hypnosis. It does not involve putting people into a “trance” in any theatrical sense. The model is grounded in the experimental and clinical research into how hypnosis actually works — and it teaches that research seriously.
When I say Hypno-CBT® is cognitive-behavioural, I mean three specific things. First, the way we understand hypnosis is cognitive-behavioural: it is about focused attention, expectation and motivation, not an altered state. Second, the way we conceptualise client problems is cognitive-behavioural — phobias, anxiety, avoidance — understood in terms of how they are maintained now, not in terms of childhood trauma or unconscious conflict. Third, the interventions we use are cognitive-behavioural: teaching new ways of thinking, how to approach rather than avoid, how to regulate, how to problem-solve — and we add hypnosis to all of that to make it more powerful.
When I say Hypno-CBT® is integrative, I mean that hypnosis is not bolted onto CBT as an add-on. It is woven into every intervention. We integrate hypnosis and mindfulness on a spectrum, with hypnosis at one end and mindfulness at the other. We understand the client's problem, in many cases, as a form of negative self-hypnosis — an over-rehearsed, vividly imagined version of threat or failure that the nervous system has learned to treat as real. Therapy is, in part, the process of dehypnotising someone from that — and then building a new, more helpful version of what is possible.
This approach has deep roots in mainstream psychology. It is not fringe. If you know Beck, Wells, Meichenbaum, Wolpe, Jacobson, Hayes, Kabat-Zinn — you are already familiar with the foundations we build on.
Evidence, qualification and limits
The evidence base is not perfect, and no serious clinical training should pretend otherwise. But meta-analytic evidence supports the view that adding hypnosis to CBT can improve outcomes compared with CBT alone.
Meta-analysis across 18 RCTs comparing CBT with CBT plus hypnosis. For 70–90% of clients, the CBT plus hypnosis condition produced better outcomes.
Updated meta-analysis pooling 48 controlled studies and 1,928 participants. 66% of participants at post-treatment, and 72% at follow-up, experienced better outcomes in the CBT plus hypnosis condition than in the CBT-alone condition.
CBT plus hypnosis for depression produced 6–8% greater reductions in depression, anxiety and hopelessness compared to CBT alone, maintained at 6- and 12-month follow-up.
The Diploma: What You Actually Learn
The Higher Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy (Hypno-CBT®) is an intensive vocational training course. It runs across 21 days of teaching, structured in three stages, each resulting in a Certificate award. Complete all three stages plus a written assessment and you receive the Diploma, with a certificate of achievement issued directly by NCFE.
This qualification has been developed to meet the specific needs of our learners and has been accredited by NCFE, demonstrating its quality and rigour. NCFE is an awarding organisation recognised by the qualification regulators for England (Ofqual), Wales (Qualifications Wales) and Northern Ireland (CCEA Regulation). This is an unregulated qualification and is not a nationally recognised qualification.
The training is approved through the BPS CPD Quality Mark Scheme for the purposes of continuing professional development. 50% of the training is practical and experiential. You learn by doing, not just by reading.
What the training covers
Self-hypnosis skills training
Basic hypnotherapy skills and assessment
Pain control — hypnotic and non-hypnotic methods
Stress Inoculation Training (Meichenbaum)
Cognitive Therapy for Anxiety (Clark, Wells, Beck)
Exposure and Desensitisation (Wolpe, Lazarus)
Applied Relaxation and Tension Control (Jacobson, Ost, Borkovec)
Habit Reversal Training (Nunn and Azrin)
Mindfulness Approaches (Kabat-Zinn, Hayes et al)
Problem Solving Therapy (Nezu, Nezu & D'Zurilla)
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (Ellis)
The role of imagery in Cognitive Therapy and Hypno-CBT®
Assertiveness Training and Social Anxiety Models (Clark & Wells)
Why Psychology Graduates and Assistant Psychologists Rate This Training
Psychologists are consistently among the highest-rating cohorts on this course. The reasons are not surprising once you understand what we teach.
We use a non-state model of hypnosis — aligned with the experimental research, not with stage-show mythology. We reference the academic literature throughout. We use serious clinical textbooks. We do not teach woolly thinking, undefined concepts, or wild claims about what hypnosis can do.
If you have studied psychology to degree level or beyond, you will not be asked to leave your critical faculties at the door. You will be in an environment that rewards intellectual rigour and expects you to understand why each intervention works, not just how to deliver it.
Dr Krissie Ivings — Consultant Chartered Clinical Psychologist, Manchester-trained DClinPsy, BABCP accredited, 24 years in NHS clinical psychology — chose this course after researching the field:
“Use all the right words — evidence-based, rigorous, ethical, research-oriented. A quick glance at the content showed me it was teaching the right things, to the right level of detail, with a great degree of fidelity to models.”
Dr Krissie Ivings — Consultant Chartered Clinical Psychologist, DClinPsy (Manchester), BABCP Accredited
“The course even improved my CBT knowledge considerably, because I had so many gaps from my original training. We just didn't do behaviour therapy. We started with CBT — and it was a bit like, well, you can do a bit of behaviour stuff if you want to. But we never did Salter, never did Jacobson.”
Dr Krissie Ivings
Core textbooks for the Diploma
– Hartland's Medical and Dental Hypnosis, 4th Edition (ed. Michael Heap)
– The Practice of Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy — Donald Robertson (2012)
– Essentials of Clinical Hypnosis — Kirsch and Lynn (2006)
Training Format and Options
The Diploma is available in two formats. Both lead to the same Diploma and the same NCFE certificate of achievement.
Live Webcast
Delivered online in real time across three intensive stages. Full trainer interaction, peer learning, live practice. You can study from anywhere in the world.
Online Self-Paced
Study at your own pace with tutor support and 18 hours of one-to-one coaching from a qualified Hypno-CBT® practitioner.
Free Monthly Event
Live Pathway Events with Mark Davis and Dr Krissie Ivings
Join Mark R. Davis and Dr Krissie Ivings for a live session for psychology graduates, assistant psychologists, DClinPsy applicants, counselling psychology applicants and psychologists exploring Hypno-CBT® as a serious pathway into private practice. The session ends with a live Q&A — bring your questions and ask them directly to Mark and Krissie.
Register for the Next Free Webinar
Mark R. Davis
Principal & Developer of Hypno-CBT®
Dr Krissie Ivings
Consultant Chartered Clinical Psychologist
Talk to Someone First
A 15-minute call with one of our Course Advisors is the best next step if you want to discuss your background, your career goals, and whether this training is a good fit. These calls are informational. They are not sales calls. If the training is not right for you, we will tell you.
Fees and Finance
Full Diploma Fees
Finance is subject to availability, status and income. Applicants must be 18 or over. Terms and conditions apply. The UK College of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy is a trading style of Mindease Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a credit broker, not a lender (FCA No. 835198). Finance is provided by Dopple.
BPS members are eligible for a 10% reduction on Diploma tuition fees.
The Senior Advisory Board
Who are we to be teaching you CBT? That is a fair question, and it deserves a straight answer. We teach Hypno-CBT® — a rigorously developed, evidence-based integration of cognitive-behavioural therapy, clinical hypnosis and mindfulness. The model is continuously updated to reflect current psychological and neuroscientific research. The people who provide academic guidance and strategic oversight of that model are among the most distinguished figures in the field.
Further Reading
These pages on our site are worth reading before you make any decision:
A detailed explanation of the model, the research and how it integrates with CBT
The full range of evidence-based techniques taught on the Diploma
What our accreditations mean and how they work
The academics and clinicians who guide the model
The full teaching team
What to look for and what to avoid
Careers, private practice, and what graduates do next