Hypnotherapy as a second income
There are many different reasons why people become hypnotherapists. For some, they wish to completely change career, for others they are seeking to learn a new therapy to complement the therapy that they are already doing (e.g. counselling). Whilst hypnotherapy certainly can be a fantastic and fulfilling full-time occupation, there are many hypnotherapists out there that only work part time.
For some, they enjoy their ‘main job’, or have contractual obligations, and wish to carry on with it, whilst doing hypnotherapy to earn a little extra, or to give back and help people. For others, they may have childcare or carer responsibilities, or limited working hours, and need a career that provides a second income that can fit around their schedule. Some people also work as a hypnotherapist part time, as they slowly transition into retirement or as part of a phased career change plan, as a way of keeping busy (and generating income) during retirement.
Before you read further, perhaps you already know that you want to become a professional hypnotherapist. If so, we recommend you check our award-winning HypnoTC Hypnotherapy Diploma course.
Find out more about our Hypnotherapy Diploma course
The benefits of earning a second income with hypnotherapy
From a job security perspective, if you are already employed, then being self-employed as well means you’ll have a supplementary income that you can rely on during any employment changes or times of financial hardship. It gives you a sense of control and security, because if you lost your main job, you wouldn’t be left totally unemployed with no income. Also, it is often considered to be true that it’s easier to get another job if you are already employed (or self-employed), rather than unemployed.
It may be that you are in a job that you love but it doesn’t pay well. Your part-time hypnotherapy business can help supplement that job and make it easier to carry on doing what you love. Alternatively, you may be in a job that is okay at covering the bills but leaves little left over for the extra ‘luxuries’ in life. A second income can enhance your leisure life, pay off debt, start to fill up a savings pot so that the dream holiday, house renovations or new car are more likely to become a reality, rather than an aspirational dream!
By working a second job that is aligned with your existing job, it can have additional networking and career opportunities. You may be able to benefit in both roles when you talk to people about what you do. For example, if your day job is a hairdresser you are likely to hear a lot of client’s problems which may be better discussed in the therapy room rather than the salon.
Or, you might be a massage therapist who finds a client is stressed and tense and would benefit from some stress management hypnotherapy, as well as their massage. Or, conversely, as a hypnotherapist, you might be working with someone with anxiety who would benefit from the physical relaxation that massage offers.
If you were thinking of adding in a bar job, or stacking shelves, or another ‘low wage’ type of job, you’d be making a fairly large time investment for very little overall profit. Being a hypnotherapist, in contrast, can earn you a lot more money in a lot less time. If you’d like to earn £90, how would you prefer to do it, with 10 hours of bar work, or just 1 hour conducting hypnotherapy?
The ‘average’ hypnotherapist charges between £60-100 per session, so it can definitely be a great source of income. You might consider doing some research into what hypnotherapists in your local area are charging, so you get an idea of what you could charge. You can then use our handy earnings calculator to get an idea of how many clients you’d like to see, in order to get the amount of income you’re looking for.
There are more additional benefits to learning hypnotherapy, beyond diversifying and gaining a second income. There are the personal benefits as well. Learning anything new gives you a great ‘project’ to focus on, and can give your self-esteem a big boost.
Learning hypnotherapy takes that even further, because although you learn approaches and techniques to help people become the best they can be, you will also benefit, by being able to apply those techniques and approaches to yourself, using self-hypnosis. Whether you wish to alleviate anxiety, eliminate phobias, develop healthier life habits or become highly motivated in any other area of life, learning hypnotherapy helps you help others and yourself.
Becoming a hypnotherapist
Before you figure out how you’re going to work once you have become a hypnotherapist (part-time or full-time), there is the matter of actually becoming a hypnotherapist first. To do this, you have a vast array of choices, from books, to online courses, through to individual training/mentoring and live hypnotherapy training courses that range from one day to a year or longer.
When considering books, it can be good to do a little research and find out a bit more about the author. Who they are, what they do and what their experience is. Some online booksellers, such as Amazon often have a ‘look inside’ option and Smashwords have an extract, often 10% of the total book that you can read first to see if you resonate with the author’s style. For a full range of hypnosis books, check out our recommended reading list page:
Entry criteria to train
Anyone, at any age, can learn hypnotherapy. At HypnoTC we have trained people from a wide range of occupations, from scientists to lorry drivers, librarians to full-time parents. Whatever your experiences in the working world, your life skills will contribute to your effectiveness as a hypnotherapist. With such a diverse population around the world, there is room for an equally diverse range of hypnotherapists.
As well as there being no age restriction, there is also no mandatory retirement age for hypnotherapists, so you can work for as long as you wish to. More mature hypnotherapists are often perceived as having the wisdom of their years, and so, as a result, age can actually work as an advantage. Indeed sometimes, their career may start as a second income alongside other work, and then become a beneficial income when they retire from their primary career.
In contrast, for some young adults, becoming a hypnotherapist might be a very first job. With younger hypnotherapists, their age can help them to relate to younger clients, again working in their favour. Indeed, some people train and work as a hypnotherapist to finance their study of psychology or other degrees.
Geographical location is not a factor either, as hypnotherapists can work in most countries around the world. This is great if you are planning to relocate to another country, whether for a career change or as part of your retirement plan (or even seeing clients abroad to make some spending money whilst you’re on holiday)!
It may also be that you wish to work with a certain range of client problems/conditions, and use hypnotherapy online to reach clients all around the world, instead of just in your local area. For example, if you were to specialise in hypnotherapy for a particular sport, you may work with an international range of athletes in that specific sport. Or, your UK based athletes may wish to keep in contact with you when they are travelling to compete.
Foundation level training
Having an initial, general understanding about hypnotherapy means that you can then make a more informed choice about your next step moving forwards. If you would like to ease into learning, then you might like to start with a short online course, such as our Hypnotherapy 101 online course. Though, like any training, there are ‘super cheap’ options out there, it’s worth keeping in mind that the old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ applies here. Many ‘budget hypnotherapy courses’ are limited in their content, delivery, and training materials. A good online course will have demonstrations and explanations, plus a downloadable manual so that you can devote your time to learning, rather than having to take detailed notes.
Some people like to immerse themselves in training and will happily spend all day watching videos and reading manuals, whereas others like to dip in for short chunks of time over a longer period, and re-visit course materials later on. So, it helps if you get lifetime access to your course materials. Because, by being able to access or download your course at any point in the future, you have the flexibility of studying at times that best suit you, rather than having to get it all done before you lose access to the training materials (or having to pay to keep them for longer). This is why all of our online training at hypnosis-courses.com is a one-time payment, and gives you lifetime access to your chosen courses.
By beginning to learn hypnotherapy via books and with an online course, you will then have a more informed perspective of how you best like to learn, which will help you choose the best live training course for you. Whilst a shorter ‘intensive hypnotherapy training course’ may immerse you in a range of relevant topics for a block of days (often 3-5 days), there can be quite rapid knowledge and skill fade. Hence many people prefer a more substantial course, over a longer time frame, such as one weekend a month over several months, that goes into more depth on the topic of hypnotherapy.
Getting the best in-person hypnotherapy training
Live (in person) hypnotherapy training is possibly the best way of training if you want to become a professional hypnotherapist. Yet even a brief internet search will find a vast number of training courses, so it can be tricky to know which one is best. However, there are ways in which you can narrow your search. Firstly, a great way to find out about a course is to go to a shorter training opportunity provided by the trainers, such as a one day ‘introduction to hypnotherapy’or ‘taster day’. This will let you meet the trainers, learn more about becoming a hypnotherapist with their training school, and you’ll often get a chance to engage in some practical hypnotherapy activities too.
Next, think about how you may wish to work as a hypnotherapist. The book and the online course may have helped you think about the types of issues you are interested in working with. If you wish to work with common conditions, such as weight management, smoking cessation and anxiety, then a shorter or more intensive course may be suitable, whereas if you wish to work with complex cases, a more in-depth training would be helpful.
After that, have a look on the trainer’s website and check what they cover and how. Do they give demonstrations in class? Do you get lots of hands-on practice? Is there homework, are there exams? Also, whilst it is important to understand the supporting theory, one of the benefits of an in-person course is having someone observe and guide your practice so you develop strong practical skills. A good course will also cover the business side of being a hypnotherapist, such as how to attract clients and how to run the administration side of things.
Check out the ‘course syllabus’ section of our Hypnotherapy Diploma Course page to learn more about what a good, comprehensive hypnotherapy course should cover.
Fitting in a second job
So, let’s imagine you have learned how to do hypnotherapy and you’ve set up your own hypnotherapy practice. Now, do you want to work full-time? Term-time only? See a couple of clients a week? Only work evenings? Where can you see yourself fitting this second job into your schedule? You may wonder if you’ll have time to earn a second income as a hypnotherapist alongside your existing job, your family and friends, leisure activities and other time commitments. Yet, it might surprise you quite how you can manage your time more efficiently and re-organise your schedule to create blocks of ‘free time’.
If you kept a record of what you do during each day for a week you might work out quite how many hours you spend doing things that you don’t need to do (or even times where you’re doing nothing at all). By optimising your time, you can free up time that you could use to see a hypnotherapy client and earn some extra money. Alternatively, you might free up some time by trading time (e.g. taking turns to do the school run) or by outsourcing chores. For example, it may be more cost effective to pay a cleaner for a few hours a week, and you use that time to see clients.
There are many different ways that people can optimise their time. So, perhaps sit down and have a think about your current time commitments, how much time you have available (or can make available), and how many clients you might be able to help each week, as well as how much of a second income that will provide you with!
Find out more
To find out more about any of the training options mentioned in this blog, and to meet the HypnoTC team, feel free to book a place on one of our upcoming free hypnotherapy taster days or simply check out our great range of online courses and products. We hope that this blog about earning a second income with hypnotherapy has been helpful. If you have any questions about this topic or anything else for that matter, do please get in touch, because we’re always happy to help!
– written by Dr Kate Beaven-Marks
(HypnoTC Director)
