Why did we become a corporate member of RCCM?

I am in the interesting position of looking at RCCM from two perspectives, both as a trustee and also as a corporate member, I am the Chair of BAThH and as such, I could see the benefits available to us, so we joined in the vision that RCCM has for the future of complementary medicine in general healthcare.

At BAThH  we represent the interests of professional hypnotherapists around the UK, and we felt that an important way to do this was to get involved with RCCM as a corporate member. We now have rigorous training, a strong code of ethics, with ongoing CPD management and we are involved with organisations that are both collating and leading research in hypnotherapy, so we feel it is time to raise awareness and take that to a higher level. Hypnotherapy can often fall between talking therapies and complementary therapies and so drop off the main agenda, it is time that we change this.

Research is the way to have complementary therapy recognised and integrated into the NHS, providing greater patient choice and maybe even sometimes cutting costs. We want to make sure the voice of hypnotherapy is heard and plays its part in this move towards greater integration, we know the best way to present our case both preparing research and presenting it to NICE is by working with RCCM. I am really looking forward to the free training we can attend on how to develop research strategy and support research among members, this is just the kind of guidance that we need right now. As well as this kind of guidance and support, we get to work with an organisation that can provide us with an interface with NICE, the ASA and lobbying in parliament through the IHC parliamentary group.

Both BAThH and RCCM are supporters of the European Congress for Integrated Medicine conference to be held in London later this year, the fact that we did this independently shows the harmony of our intent. This is a forum to facilitate the advancement of the integration of conventional and complementary healthcare to improve overall healthcare. This conference will bring together medical professionals, researchers, scientists, therapists and health politicians to help navigate the changes that will be necessary, we are delighted to be joining together in this venture.  At BAThH we want hypnotherapy to be a part of this dialogue and I want to present our case in the most professional way. We are a much stronger voice for complementary medicine and its integration into mainstream healthcare if we work together and it increases both our visibility and credibility to join with RCCM to this end. We are delighted to be on board, and I am actively encouraging other hypnotherapy organisations to join us too: https://www.rccm.org.uk/register/corporate-member/ 

Zetta Thomelin