ASCH Approved Training in Clinical Hypnosis

Level I Fundamentals Training in Clinical Hypnosis

This ASCH-approved Level I training in clinical hypnosis will provide trainees with a beginning understanding of the concepts, principles and clinical applications of hypnosis. Experienced, ASCH-certified and ASCH- approved consultant faculty will offer didactic presentations, demonstrations, experiential exercises, and faculty-led small group practices of no more than 6 participants to facilitate a fundamental understanding and experience of clinical hypnosis and its integration into clinical practice.

At the completion of the training, trainees will have been taught the knowledge and skills to
begin the integration of clinical hypnosis strategies into their clinical practices. Specifically,
trainees will be able to identify and demonstrate at least three ways to facilitate hypnotic trance
and to competently re-orient a patient from a trance state, demonstrate at least three strategies
for facilitating intensification of trance, and describe at least four clinical conditions in which
hypnotic strategies can be successfully utilized. Trainees will have been introduced to clinical
hypnosis as a neurophysiological phenomenon, a mental state of absorption implicated in
neuroplasticity and change, as well as a creative clinical skill set of relationship development in
the service of collaboratively facilitating mental and physical health. This training is especially
geared towards therapists treating traumatized and dissociative persons.

Level II Intermediate Training in Clinical Hypnosis

Attending the second level of training in Clinical Hypnosis is an important step towards proficiency and confidence in offering hypnotic interventions to diverse populations and symptom presentations.

Whether your Fundamental – Level I (Basic) training in Clinical Hypnosis was six months or six years ago, this training will meet you where you are and help you build on to your “how to” techniques from the Fundamental course, and refresh, solidify, broaden, and refine your hypnotic skills and strategies.

This training is designed to enhance your knowledge and skills in clinical hypnosis. Prior clinical hypnosis training is required such as an approved ASCH Level I course. Focus will be placed on advancing skills and confidence with elicitations, reorienting, and integrating hypnotic applications into practice, along with several supervised practice opportunities. Hypnotic applications include exploratory strategies such as ideomotor signaling, an introduction to ego state therapy, applications for children or child states, trauma, habit disorders, anxiety, and somatic concerns including pain management.

Similar to the Fundamental training, the Level II course will offer you learning through didactic presentations, demonstrations and small-group practices, so that new information can be integrated and become available to you in your clinical practice. Your instructors will be ASCH approved consultants with decades of clinical experience offering hypnosis.

What is special about this training?
The ISSTD sponsored training in clinical hypnosis is a trauma and dissociative disorders
informed training in clinical hypnosis. Not only is the content geared towards clinicians treating
people with trauma and dissociation, but so is the process of teaching and inviting participation
in hypnotic experiences.

The number of participants in the Small Group Practices is capped at six participants to allow for
group cohesion and collaborative learning in a predictable enough environment. The faculty and facilitators are experienced clinicians and trainers in Clinical Hypnosis, and long-standing members of the Clinical Hypnosis community.

Meet our Faculty

Reinhild Draeger-Muenke, PsyD, LMFT, Chair and Faculty
Reinhild Draeger-Muenke, PsyD, LMFT, is a licensed psychologist and licensed
family therapist in Private Practice in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. She provides trauma
informed psychotherapy to individuals across the life span, consultation and training nationally
and internationally. She has published articles in the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, and
has contributed chapters to publications about clinical hypnosis She is a certified ASCH
approved consultant in clinical hypnosis, ASCH Fellow, past ASCH Moderator, past co-chair and
member of the ASCH Education Committee, and has served as chair and faculty of regional and
annual ASCH conferences. She has been an active member of the Greater Philadelphia Society
of Clinical Hypnosis and has served as their President. She is a Fellow of ISSTD and has
chaired the ASCH-approved L1 and L2 trainings in clinical hypnosis at ISSTD since 2014.

Wendy Lemke, MS. LP, Faculty
Wendy Lemke, MS, LP, Wendy is a licensed psychologist at Lemke Counseling &
Consulting. She also serves as adjunct faculty for St. Cloud Technical Community College in

MN. She has expertise in the fields of clinical hypnosis, ego state therapy, and trauma related
disorders. She is an American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) certified approved
consultant, an active member and former Vice President of the ASCH. She is also an active
member of the Minnesota Society of Clinical Hypnosis (MSCH). She is a fellow and an active
member of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) and is a
certified therapist and trainer through Ego-State Therapy International (ESTI). She has
published articles in the Journal of Trauma & Dissociation and the American Journal of Clinical
Hypnosis. She also produced the documentary, You’re Not Crazy & You’re Not Alone: Inside the
Inner World of Dissociative Identity Disorder, and has produced Self-hypnosis CD’s.

Tobi Goldfus, LCSW-C, BCD, Small Group Facilitator
Tobi B. Goldfus, LCSW-C, BCD is a psychotherapist, author (“From Real Life to
Cyberspace and Back Again: Helping Our Young Clients Develop a Strong Inner Selfie”, 2017),
and national/international speaker. She has over 30 years of clinical hypnosis training/teaching
experience and is a certified Ego State Therapy therapist, consultant and trainer (EST North
America and EST International). She is a member of, and frequent presenter/faculty for the
Milton H. Erickson Foundation, ASCH (American Society of Clinical Hypnosis), ISH
(International Society of Hypnosis), ESH (European Society of Hypnosis), MEISA (MHE Institute
of South Africa), SCEH (Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis), and faculty and key
note speaker at NPHTI (National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute). She is a member of
NASW and GWSCSW, and a Board-Certified Diplomat. Tobi is in private practice in
Germantown, Maryland.

Akira Otani, EdD, Small Group Facilitator
Akira Otani, EdD is a Fellow and Approved Consultant of the ASCH. After spending
20-plus years at The Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Counseling
Center, he decided to teach, consult, and travel which he had always wanted to do. In 2016 he
spent 6 months in Kobe, Japan, where he studied Theravada Buddhist meditation intensively.
He has published 9 books (in Japanese) and more than 70 journal articles and book chapters
(in English and Japanese) on hypnosis and meditation. He maintains a part-time psychology
practice in Linthicum, Maryland.

Group rates are available for groups of five or more from the same hospital, facility, or university. Please email the ISSTD HQ for assistance with group rates.

Participants attending ISSTD trainings are eligible to receive continuing education credits which are available for a separate fee. Information about credits for each level are included on the course registration page. To earn credits, participants must attend the full training and complete all required evaluations. This training is not eligible for ISSTD Certificate Program credits.

Level I

• American Psychological Association (APA) – 12.5 Credits
  The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
• ASWB ACE – 12.5 Credits
  The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), #1744, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. ISSTD maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 08/20/2021 – 08/20/2024. Social workers completing this course receive 13.50 continuing education credits.
• American Society of Clinical Hypnosis – 20 ASCH credits towards ASCH certification in clinical hypnosis are anticipated.
  Professionals in other related clinical disciplines can submit CE certificates from this training to
  their corresponding boards for independent approval. Full participation over the three days is required. No partial credit is given for partial attendance. Sign in and out on all three days is required. An evaluation for the CE granting organizations needs to be completed through ISSTD.

Level II

• American Psychological Association (APA) – 13.5 Credits
  The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
• ASWB ACE – 13.5 Credits
  The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), #1744, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. ISSTD maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 08/20/2021 – 08/20/2024. Social workers completing this course receive 13.50 continuing education credits.
• American Society of Clinical Hypnosis – 20 ASCH credits towards ASCH certification in clinical hypnosis are anticipated.
  Professionals in other related clinical disciplines can submit CE certificates from this training to
  their corresponding boards for independent approval. Full participation over the three days is required. No partial credit is given for partial attendance. Sign in and out on all three days is required. An evaluation for the CE granting organizations needs to be completed through ISSTD.

Below are the eligibility requirements for all ISSTD-Sponsored ASCH Trainings:

• Registrants must hold a Master’s degree or higher in a health care discipline deemed appropriate by the Society from a college or university accredited by its appropriate regional accrediting body. In addition, registrants must be licensed or certified in the state in which they practice.
• Registered Nurses with a Bachelor’s degree from a college or university accredited by its appropriate regional accrediting body who are licensed or certified in the state in which they practice are eligible to attend the Basic Workshop on Clinical Hypnosis.
• Students must be enrolled full-time in a Master’s level or higher program. Students must have completed a minimum of one full semester of the program and must submit proof of full-time enrollment at an ACE-approved institution of higher education on school letterhead that clearly identifies the individual’s program of study, area of concentration (if applicable), level of degree pursued and date of intended graduation.
• Full time residents or interns participating in a recognized residency or internship program may also register. Residents/interns need to submit correspondence from their supervisor on official letterhead explaining the nature of the residency/internship and date of intended completion of the program.
• ASCH recognizes a variety of health care disciplines as eligible for ASCH and ASCH-approved training, certification, and membership including medicine (physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, dentistry, psychology, social work, licensed professional counseling, licensed marriage and family counseling, and other licensed health care professionals, as well as persons actively enrolled in accredited training programs in these health care disciplines.
• Health care professionals with a Doctoral Degree in Medicine, Dentistry, or Psychology; persons holding a Master’s Degree in Social Work, Marriage and Family Counseling, or Clinical or Counseling Psychology who are licensed by the state/province in which they practice; Registered Nurses with advanced sub-specialty training and certification or a Master’s Degree; or students actively enrolled in a graduate program leading to a degree in any of the foregoing or a four-year bachelor’s degree that ends in certification in such a field. Master’s level, licensed health professionals (e.g., Occupational and Physical Therapists, Speech and Language Pathologists, et. al.) are also welcome and encouraged to attend.

In addition to the requirements above, all participants in a Level II training must provide proof of completion of a Level I training.

Cancellation Policy
Cancellations with a full refund minus a $75 processing fee will be accepted forty-five (45) days or more prior to commencement of the first training module.

No refund is available for cancellations received fewer than forty-five (45) days prior to the training. Attendee substitutions can be made until five (5) days prior to commencement of the training.

All materials used for this course are subject to copyright laws and are not for duplication or distribution by course participants. Fees must be submitted with registration, and must be submitted in US dollars.

Disability Policy (ADA)
We would be happy to accommodate your ADA needs. Please contact ISSTD Headquarters via email at professionaltraining@isst-d.org or via phone at 202-803-6332 for assistance.

Grievance Policy
ISSTD is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformation with the APA, EMDRIA, and ASWB grievance procedures.

During a course, instructors will address any concerns that arise. Every effort will be made to address the concerns during the course when possible. If the course instructor(s) are unable to address the participant’s concerns, the complaints and grievances shall be presented in writing to ISSTD Headquarters at professionaltraining@isst-d.org. These will be forwarded on for review by the ISSTD Executive Committee.

Social Workers: Should social workers have a specific grievance, these grievances will be addressed by D. Michael Coy, LICSW. In situations where the social worker would have a conflict of interest, then, Christine Forner, MSW will review the grievance.

ISSTD strives to resolve grievances in a manner that is in the best interest of the participant. All complaints and grievances are reviewed within five working days. Formal grievances are required to be written and emailed as directed above and will be responded to within 15 business days.

Awarding of Certificate of CE Credit
Certificates of continuing education credit are awarded within 30 days of completion of the evaluation for the training. Participants will be sent a link to complete evaluations and will be able to download a pdf of their certificate after all evaluations are complete.