Alberta Clinical Hypnosis Society

Membership within the Alberta Clinical Hypnosis Society (ACHS) is a positive step towards the practice and successful integration of hypnosis into your practice. Benefits of membership include:

Association with the Alberta Clinical Hypnosis Society (ACHS) is acquired by becoming a full member. The Alberta Clinical Hypnosis Society (ACHS) is a professional society and all full members are required to be licensed health care providers.

Membership Eligibility

Full Membership - Alberta Clinical Hypnosis Society (ACHS) is open to health care professionals who have a doctoral or master’s degree in one of the following professions: medicine, dentistry, psychology, chiropractic, social work or nursing, and are members in good standing with their respective regulatory colleges. The completion of an Introductory Workshop* approved by the Alberta Clinical Hypnosis Society (ACHS) or the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) is required to become a full member of the Alberta Clinical Hypnosis Society (ACHS).

* Please note that applicants with appropriate academic credentials are admitted as Affiliate members until completion of their Introductory training. Similarly, applicants who are considered provisional in their registration status by their professional college are admitted as Affiliate members pending full registration with their college.

Student Membership - Open to graduate students in medicine, dentistry, psychology, chiropractic, social work, or nursing program.

Affiliate Membership - Available to other regulated health care professionals who hold a bachelor’s degree.

Procedural Hypnosis Membership - Procedural Hypnosis Members shall be limited to those health care providers listed under the Health Professions Act in each Province who do not meet all the qualifications for any of the previous categories, be allowed to complete Introductory Level Hypnosis training and Intermediate Level training appropriate to the understanding and use of Hypnotic Language to induce trance states that would ease anxiety and discomfort for patients during health care, not be allowed to attend more advanced training in the Psychotherapeutic Practice of Hypnosis, and not be allowed to vote, hold office, chair committees, or receive referrals from the Society.

Issues & Complaints

Alberta Clinical Hypnosis Society (ACHS) is a professional society, which means that all full members are licensed health care providers. We are NOT a regulatory or disciplinary body. Complaints, if and when they occur, are to be handled by the appropriate regulatory college, which is mandated to deal with such problems. We are an advisory and educational organization.

Worth Considering

• We think it is important to clearly state our core beliefs so that readers can decide if they have merit and wish to pursue an association with us.
• We believe hypnosis is a real phenomenon that may be applied in many situations with good results.
• We believe there are health care situations in which hypnosis is the preferred primary treatment and other situations in which hypnosis should not be used as the primary treatment choice.
• We believe these choices should be made in consultation with a health care professional because we believe that health care professionals are trained to deal with health care concerns.
• We believe that each member of the public deserves to be treated by a hypnotherapist, who is already a qualified health care professional and who is licensed by his or her province, a member of a college or association with both the responsibility of policing the practice of its members and with well-developed procedures for investigating concerns registered by the public, has taken specialized training in hypnosis and hypnotherapy in a professionally-recognized and accepted training program that includes personal supervision and an ethics component.
• We believe we have a responsibility to our members to offer support and opportunities for professional growth.
• We believe that we have a responsibility to the field of hypnotherapy to promote and disseminate research and inform others of its usefulness.
• We believe that Canada is a distinct geopolitical entity requiring an organization devoted to its needs and the best interests of Canadian hypnotherapists.
• Also, we believe that hypnosis should be used by trained health-care professionals to achieve health goals identified by their patients or clients. Because hypnosis is a powerful technique for at least some people, it has the capacity for deliberate or inadvertent misuse by those who are inadequately trained, or who are practicing outside the scope of their practice and experience. For this reason, a part of our work is to advocate and lobby governments to take measures to protect the public and promote the responsible use of hypnosis.

Online Membership Form