From the author: Quackery in hypnotherapy - what are its signs? Quackery is a phenomenon present in all areas of human activity. There is especially a lot of it in the field of psychological, educational and medical services - that is, where the mechanisms of the changes for which the client is willing to pay money are not very clear. In some cases, quackery is revealed very quickly. And then the unlucky client can only blame himself for being too gullible (especially since it almost always turns out that such a development of events could have been foreseen in advance, but... for some reason I didn’t want to). This is a good option, because the client only loses: - A certain amount of money (one time), although of course, sometimes these can be quite large numbers; - Time is also not so much; - And, of course, faith in humanity that , however, is usually expressed in a skeptical attitude towards the technology that the charlatan used. Probably, this version of quackery is closest to outright fraud in the spirit of the “great schemer” Ostap Bender. But there is relatively little harm from it. It is much worse if the quackery is, so to speak, long-term in nature, and the client for a long period of time cannot clearly assess the result that he expects and for which he pays. I remember a story from my youth. My first education is as a defectologist; I started working privately as a speech therapist very early. One of my first clients was a ten-year-old girl, Yulia, who could not pronounce the sound “R”. By this time, I had become very good at producing sounds, so Yulechka began to “growl” after just six lessons. Imagine her mother’s amazement when this happened! When I asked what surprised her so much, she said: “Well... I thought she would remain burry... I didn’t tell you, but before you, another specialist, very knowledgeable, worked with Yulechka for two whole years, twice a week. And nothing came of it. I was sure that my daughter had some special problems...” I still remember my feelings: what is it like to work for two years, twice a week, with a not-so-small child... and not turn on the sound?! And all this time the parents paid the charlatan. Yes, it's not a lot of money. But... two years! This version of quackery is much more painful than the previous one. The losses are more noticeable in every sense: material, temporal, moral, and in some cases - when it comes to the client’s physical and / or mental health - and medical. How to recognize a charlatan from hypnosis? More precisely, not so much from hypnosis, but from hypnotherapy? The main signs of quackery even at the stage of searching for a specialist: - Quickly. Very quickly (1-2 sessions); - It will definitely help. Necessarily. Any problem. All you have to do is come and pay. Or you don’t have to come, we’ll cure you via WhatsApp. 200% guarantee; - Expensive. Very expensive. Or very inexpensive, but then for a very long time (1-2-3 years); - Lack of special psychological / medical education, but there are certificates from the Intergalactic Academy of Hypnosis and a personal recommendation from the classic of the Russian hypnotic school V.M. Bekhterev (and it is not so important that he passed away in 1927). Signs of charlatanism after contacting a specialist: - The entertainment of the session - as if we are talking about a bright show or a shamanic performance; - Long-term (after 3-4 meetings maximum ) lack of positive changes or their instability (according to the client’s feelings); - The specialist’s inability/unwillingness to explain what he is doing and why. Why do people fall for hypnosis charlatans? Firstly, of course, due to naivety - if a person does not know how to look, there is a high risk of finding “the typical wrong thing”. Secondly, due to the fact that many charlatans working in the field of hypnotherapy actually have the gift suggestions, know how to win others over, and some sincerely believe in their own professionalism. Thirdly, the field of hypnosis simply attracts people who dream of power. By the way, conscientious!