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Home / Mark R. Davis

Mark R. Davis is a therapist, trainer, meditation teacher – and leader in developing the integration of hypnosis with cognitive behavioural psychotherapy approaches.

Mark is Director and Principal of The UK College of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy, a world leader in evidence-based hypnotherapy training, and Chairman of the Register for Evidence-Based Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy. He also has a therapy practice in Central and North London.

He has a Dual Honours Degree in Psychology and Philosophy from Sheffield Hallam University (1986)– and a Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy from the UK College of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy (2007).

He is very involved in merging Western evidence-based psychotherapy with Eastern philosophy and meditation techniques. (See his keynote lecture to 3000 psychotherapists at the 2016 Applied Psychology Conference in Bejing:  “Integrating the Ancient, the Magical and the Scientific: Mindfulness, Hypnosis and CBT”)

Mark R. Davis, BSc (Psychology & Philosophy), Dip, CBH, REBHP Chairman

Current Projects:

Great Ormond Street Hospital – CBH training project
In 2019 Mark was invited to bring his team to train the psychologists at Great Ormond Street Hospital in the cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy model.
Mark and UK College trainers worked to adapt the 21-day CBH training programme for the clinical psychologists at GOSH and deliver a very effective, 8-day training programme that is specifically targeted at helping children and young people cope with painful recurrent medical procedures, pain in general/chronic pain and a variety of anxiety issues due to their medical condition.

CBH for Children and Teenagers – Training Programme
A natural outcome of the work with Great Ormond Street Hospital will be a well-informed training programme for cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy for children and teenagers.
Despite it being clear that between the ages of 8-12 children pass through a phase of hyper-suggestibility there are very poor training programmes for hypnotherapy for children. Most are based on either relaxation-hypnosis models or Ericksonian models.
A self-hypnosis cognitive behavioural model focused on skills training will be developed for older children and teenagers.


China – CBH Psychotherapy Training Programme – Certified
Since 2016 Mark and Hui Bee Teh have been delivering a special version of the CBH training programme adapted for Chinese counsellors and psychotherapists. The training programme continues to develop with assessment, ongoing support and supervision elements, and hopefully professional certification and registration.
In 2019 the CBH training programme was certified by the Chinese Psychological Society (one of only eight trainings to be certified in the first ever certification of private sector psychotherapy programmes.

China – Stroke Rehabilitation Hospital  – Training for Psychologists
In 2020 Mark and the Chinese team of trainers (Hui Bee Teh and Katherine Yu) were invited to offer special training at the Changcun Stroke Rehabilitation Hospital in Jilin Province.
The hospital director had taken the CBH training programme with Mark, Hui Bee and Katherine in 2019 – and was very excited at the anxiety reduction techniques he learned.

Conditioned Reflex Therapy – Reprint
For several years, Conditioned Reflex Therapy by Andrew Salter -the psychotherapy classic that really started behaviour therapy – was out of print.  Getting a new edition of CRT back in print has been a project of Mark’s since 2009.
In 2019 that project bore fruit  – and through a great collaboration with William Salter,  Andrew Salter’s son, and Watkins Publishing (especially Itan Efeld) and new edition of Conditioned Reflex Therapy was published (with great testimonials from Professor Stephen Hayes, Professor David Barlow and Elizabeth Shapiro).

Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy as an Integrative Psychotherapy
Following on from the launch of Hypno-CBT® as a psychotherapy in the “technical eclecticism model” and the further work by the late Dr Assen Alladin to position Cognitive Hypnotherapy “as an integrative psychotherapy in the assimilative model” – Mark and the team at the UK College are working towards a new paper on Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy as an Integrative Psychotherapy.

Qualification Development with NCFE-CACHE
Mark is leading several projects to develop, in collaboration with NCFE-CACHE, externally verified vocational qualifications in cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy, mindfulness and stress management.


PhD and Research Supervision and Support
Mark is involved as an advisor and supervisor on several research projects.

Mark – in his own words…

I trained in cognitive-behavioural hypnotherapy with Donald Robertson in 2006 and have been a full-time therapist since 2007 – with a practice in Central and North London.

I have a Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy (DipCBH) and Dual Honours Degree in Pyschology and Philosophy from Sheffield University.

I am also the Chairman of the Register of Evidence-Based Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy.

Professional Memberships:

  • Senior Registered Hypnotherapist (Profile Page)with the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR)
  • Accredited Hypnotherapist (Profile Page)with The National Council of Hypnotherapy (NCH)
  • Professional Member of the Association of Contextual Behavioural Science (ACT Therapist)
  • Member of The Royal Society for the Protection of  Health
  • Member of The International Stress Management Association
  • Registered Hypnotherapist with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council


“Mark's a great and knowledgeable trainer. He is very enthusiastic and really communicates his passion for the subject”

Theresa Brockway, Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist and UKCHH Supervisor 




My History with The UK College of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy

I started working with Donald Robertson and the UK College in 2008, teaching on the courses and developing materials (particularly around Mindfulness, Insomnia and Relaxation Skills). Together we founded The Register Evidence-Based Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy (REBHP) in May 2008. In 2012, Donald asked if I wanted to take over running the UK College, as he was emigrating. Honoured to take over such a great body of work, I of course, as you can see, agreed!

Early Days

Before becoming a therapist and trainer, I gained broad practical experience as a senior executive and business director within both charitable and commercial organisations. Since the age of 16 I had a deep interest in the human potential movement and the possibilities of human development and experience.  That interest took me into  Zen Buddhism, Silva Mind Control (remember that?), Existentialism, an honours degree in Psychology & Philosophy and then Siddha Yoga Meditation and non-dual philosophy/meditation.

In the late 1980's, I spent five years in India, and further 10 years in America, studying and practicing yoga, meditation and Indian philosophy under the guidance of a renowned meditation teacher. During this time I qualified as a Hatha Yoga Teacher and Meditation Instructor in that tradition. I delved deep into the non-dual philosophy behind yoga and meditation – studying with leading ‘scholar-practitioners' (Professor Paul Muller-Ortega, Professor Douglas Brooks, Carlos Pomeda, Chris Wallis, Sally Kempton, Professor Bill Mahoney) and gaining might be called “a felt knowledge” of the teachings of non-dual Tantra, Buddhist and Indian philosophy.

Therapy Practice

www.inspiredhypnosis.co.uk
Perhaps it's useful to know that I actually TRAINED at The UK College back in 2006!  Essentially I took everything I learned on that training (which covers a LOT) – and applied that into my new hypnotherapy practice that I started in 2007.
By 2008 I had a busy practice in Central and North London, so much so that my wife joined me as secretary and administrator in my therapy business.  I specialise in working with anxiety, especially social anxiety, as well panic attacks, insomnia and depression. As a therapist I'm passionate about enabling others to take control of their lives and begin to unlock their potential. My entire focus as a therapist has been more on “skills training” than “treating”.
I still see clients each week, when not teaching, in Camden and Harley Street.

Special Interests

My particular interests are in 3rd wave CBT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Metacognitive Therapy, ACT), neuromuscular relaxation, assertiveness and self-expression training – as well as non-dual philosophy and meditation/awareness practice. I'm a meditation instructor and I've been teaching meditation since 1990. I teach yoga philosophy and meditation in as part of the Anusara Yoga Teacher Training Programme and I've lectured on Spiritual Leadership at Warwick University.

I now thoroughly enjoy and delight in bringing over 25 years of meditation-philosophy practice and insight to a modern therapeutic application of the most effective techniques of hypnotherapy and CBT. I am excited to see how Behavioural Science, hypnosis and modern CBT are converging with teachings of both the Greek philosophers and the non-dual teachings of Buddhism and Yoga.