HMI College of Hypnotherapy

It wasn’t until I discovered the true quality of this college that I knew this was exactly where I was meant to be. I’m a 2014 honors graduate from here and so very proud to be! HMI is the only nationally accredited college of hypnotherapy and their training covers practically everything you could possibly think of. There are so many other «schools» for hypnosis out there that don’t cover everything that HMI does. Other schools are a weekend course, a week long or sometimes even 3 months long, but you can’t learn everything HMI teaches you in that short time span. HMI school is an entire year long and they leave no stone unturned with the education. If you happen to be reading this review and thinking of hiring a hypnotherapist to accomplish something, I can’t stress enough how important their educational background is. Go through their website, look for somewhere where they talk about their education. Unless they said they went to HMI, DO NOT TRUST THEM! It’s possible they went to a short week long course and they want to open up your subconscious mind and change things around with that kind of lack of training!?! I don’t think so! The only kind of hypnotherapist I’ll recommend to anyone is anyone who graduates from HMI. It’s not just a school of hypnotherapy, it is THE school for hypnotherapy.

When I first heard about the Hypnosis Motivation Institute, I was living in the Philippines 15 hours away by plane. I had gone into semi-​retirement mode and was with the most amazing woman I had met in my life. Something inside me stirred when I discovered HMI. After researching it further, I knew it was my calling to be trained by the «Harvard» of hypnotherapy and go to work helping people heal or simply better themselves through guided, self-​improvement behavior modification.
I shared my insights and motivation with my lady, and she gave me her blessing. I would return in time and we would pick up where we left off. So off I went back to the US to enroll at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute.
I met with Michele Guzy the Admissions Director for the college, was given a tour and quizzed about my motivation and reason for coming. I had another interview to cover the financial arrangements and was informed later in the week that I had been accepted. I began my new journey into hypnotherapy on December 17^th of 2013. Now, one year and 720 hours later, I graduated with honors as a certified, clinical hypnotherapist.
The training was extensive, exhaustive, challenging and fun. I have never enjoyed college as much as this, and I already have a degree in computer-​aided design drafting which landed me a job at Boeing in the commercial airplane group. I know what hard work, studying and excellent training is, and the Hypnosis Motivation Institute is up there with the nation’s finest. Maybe this is why since 1968 when the college was founded by Dr. Kappas, it is considered to be the nation’s first and foremost nationally-​accredited hypnosis training college in the country. If you want the best in-​depth training, this is the place.
The entire curriculum is well-​thought out, intelligent, useful and extremely interesting, and of course each semester builds upon the knowledge gained and proficiency of the previous semester. Practicum workshops and extra archived video training supplement the in class training perfectly. Nothing is left to chance.
I would like to point out that the staff of HMI is absolutely dedicated to their craft and they are the best at what they do. I feel very privileged to be under their care and guidance. From Michele Guzy who is immensely talented in so many areas and so fun to be around to Cheryl O’Neil, John Melton, Tanya Nord, Lisa Machenberg, Joe Tabbannela, Ted Moreno, Elaine Perliss, Katt Lowe, Bruce Bonnett, Loren Bennitt, George and Suzy Kappas, Dr. Lupe Zuniga and others, they have all brought so much into our lives and enriched me in ways I can never repay except to be the best at what I do and reflect the college in the most positive light… and that, I will gladly do.
Thank you to everyone at HMI, and to the wonderful people behind the scenes too like Gina and Rose in student services and Jasmine at the HMI clinic front desk! Everyone is so amazingly talented and bright. You are all shining stars in my world.
I would encourage anyone even thinking about a career dedicated to helping others, to contact Michele Guzy at the college to arrange for a tour and discover the best training possible in a wonderful career in clinical hypnotherapy. It is truly the best decision I have made.

I am just starting the second half of the yearlong hypnotherapy training program at HMI.
A little background– I’m a licensed therapist and initially intended to attend HMI to simply add a new skill to my clinical tool bag. I’m also a veteran– I served six years in the army– and I’ve subsequently attended a few different colleges in my lifetime.
HMI is, simply put, amazing. The program is very well organized and all the staff are wonderful. Each instructor has a distinctive and interesting set of skills/​expertise. They are approachable and knowledgeable, with unique personalities! The non-​academic staff are also exceptionally professional and encouraging. If you have a question about anything related to your academic progress, you will find they are available via phone, email, and in person. They are highly responsive to voicemails and emails.
I had the privilege of earning my master’s degree at a very well-​known school, and I can honestly say that HMI’s program is equal in all regards. It’s well worth the tuition!
Speaking of money– I’m a bit confused by another review that says the school is money-​hungry. The tuition is very low considering what you get. I mean, you are taught ALL the skills you need, and then the school keeps you on as an intern and teaches you how to market and establish your private practice. The program fully prepares you for a career in which you can charge $ 100+ per hour, pretty quickly.
There ARE electives that you must complete at your own discretion/​pace throughout the year, but it’s entirely possible to do that without spending money out of pocket. You probably won’t want to do that, though– there are WAY too many amazing in-​person trainings offered. I’m currently enrolled for PTSD and Smoking Cessation certifications and intend to sign up for Past Life Regression soon.
If your financial aid doesn’t quite cover all of your tuition, the school is happy to give you credit off your remaining balance for each hour of pro bono hypnotherapy that you complete. You can complete this on your own and the school does not profit from it.
The school’s founder was a visionary in his own right, and the school continues to implement his teachings. One of those is the Mental Bank Program, which helps you raise your reality income by gradually rewriting your life script and changing old or self-​limiting beliefs about money. It is very nice to see that this program is practiced by instructors and mentors at the school, including the director. I personally am inspired and encouraged by their success!
The school wants you to succeed. All of the instructors want you to succeed. There is a vibe of «yes» in the air. Everyone you encounter is available to help.
Bottom line– this school and program are legit. You get more than your money’s worth, and each and every instructor, staff member, and the director are all great professional role models. I began this program with the thought that perhaps I could raise my hourly rate a little. Now I fully intend to practice hypnotherapy exclusively!

This school is amazing. Do yourself a favor and at least check it out if you are at all interested in hypnotherapy. The staff is phenomenal. John Melton is especially good at hypnotherapy and makes a great mentor.

PROS: Interesting training and free one month training.
CONS: They have history of pressuring those in free training to register
for the one year program which is very costly. It’s just a money
making thing to them.

The owner is a therapist with MFT license, but he does not put
enough emphasis on how to effectively counsel his students.
They say that the average student is a 40 some year old person who had a completely different career and they are looking for a career change. So, rather than go to a real university to get the adequate training and education and license to become a therapist, they opt to be wannabe therapists via hypnotherapy.
*John Melton– good teacher, poor hypnotherapist with poor ethical,
professional judgment and practices.

Message to owner: You need to really train your school and the
teachers to take therapeutic issues seriously. Just because you’re
not training them to be therapists and have no regulating body does
not mean you can skimp on therapeutic issues such as professional
boundaries and countertransference that may come up and effective
termination. Maybe you could require more supervised practicum
hours, not even sure if you do this. Then you could charge more
money also. Win win.
REVIEW: I took the 4 week free certification class a few years ago and it was interesting because it was a novel idea at the time. I also decided to experience hypnotherapy to test it’s efficacy.
I thought I’d see one of the actual practicing trainers, John Melton.
He was a good teacher and made hypnosis interesting so he should
be a good hypnotherapist, right?

I was seeing him for 2 things: to heal a broken heart that was taking a long time and to have more confidence to pursue my dream as an artist.

He was a musician so he could relate to the artistic endeavor. Anyways, he recorded the sessions which was nice, however, his voice wasn’t really soothing. It was loud. When we would finish the session, he would abruptly yank the blanket off of me. That may be something that you’d expect from a student, not a seasoned hypnotist.
It seemed like he wanted to focus more on the easy issue of the creativity, but I needed to heal from the relationship. He acted like he didn’t want to work on that issue. He also had a very big ego and got angry when I challenged him and guided him to what I thought would be helpful in terms of imagery. He apologized the 1^st time, then said he’s just not use to clients not
being satisfied with his technique. That’s because they don’t know better or aren’t assertive.

Then later he just got upset and angry when he should have just tried to effectively manage his countertransference issues.

It is part of the therapeutic relationship that the client will transfer their issues onto the therapist and the good therapist will help his client work through the issues… also, the therapist will sometimes have their own countertransference issues come up and they need to be aware of this and not bring it into the session to have a negative impact on the client because you are in the power position and you may damage and further traumatize your client. * I know you understand b/​c you teach this.

Anyways, I started a new job and it was the holidays and I told him that holidays are really hard for me and I could use his support. Well, he called one day and said he’s sick and cx’d the session. Then I called to re-​schedule and he had a nasty attitude from what I recall. Rather than show compassion for the new job stress, he was all ego. Next thing you know, he leaves me a message to refer me to another therapist. He didn’t even ask me or talk about termination with me.
You are unprofessional. You owe me a sincere apology, but calling you would be too easy for you. You need to understand the reason you were unprofessional and how you should have effectively handled your own countertransference issues and termination.

Wonderful school and staff. George is great. Very well educated and on top of it. Wish him the best and thank you. You were wonderful and very helpful.

All I can say is that, Joe Tabanella is amazing!!! He has changed my life so much and I am so happy that I found him. At first I was very skeptical about hypnotherapy, but my gosh, Joe changed my way of thinking instantly, and he has a scientific explanation for every single thing. I love that he is able to back everything up with science. I highly recommend trying hypnotherapy, it is hands down better than the traditional therapy.

I’m always on the lookout for new self-​improvement experiences. I am also a critical thinker, so I am cautious about giving my money to people offering to «heal» me. Lots of kooks out there!
I’ve known about HMI for about two years now. I have heard wonderful things about their accredited school and they are conveniently located across the street from my nail salon. In fact, I had been given their «Mental Bank» books by a friend. When I found out that they offer free classes on Monday nights a couple of time a month, I signed up.
The first class I attended was the «Energy Healing and Connection» class taught by Katt Lowe. Last night I went to Susie Kappas’ «Hypnotherapy for Weightloss.» Both of these women are excellent healers and speakers. They not only gave us some insight into the various modalities used in their practices (they use other healing techniques, like reiki and EFT, in addition to meditation to help their patients), but they did some hands-​on work with us as well. What I really enjoyed about both of the classes is that the instructors shared their personal stories to help us better understand how they came to be healers. They put everyone at ease with their friendliness and professionalism. No snake oil salesmen or weird vibes here!
I will be signing up for more free classes in the near future and will attend one of their reasonably priced EFT classes next month. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose!

all the people that work here are nice and friendly. hypnosis really works !! only at this place their the best !!!