Pilot: does clinical hypnosis training impart the confidence needed to use it?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Medical Education

Background:

• Confidence in clinical skills is a key learning outcome in clinical hypnosis.
• Current training standards often overlook affective learning objectives like confidence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if clinical hypnosis instruction by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) enhances learner confidence.
• To address the deficit in training standards regarding affective learning outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study employed a one-group observational A-B survey-based design.
• Twenty clinicians completed Likert-type questionnaires pre- and post-ASCH Fundamentals Workshop.
• Assessed baseline, expected, and post-training confidence in clinical hypnosis skills.

Main Results:

• A significant increase in average confidence ratings from pre- to post-training (+0.80, p=.022).
• The results suggest that ASCH workshops effectively foster learner confidence.

Conclusions:

• Clinical hypnosis workshops can positively impact learner confidence, an important affective learning objective.
• This study highlights the relevance of affective learning objectives in clinical hypnosis training.
• Further research is recommended to formalize affective learning objectives in this field.