What the programme covers
The CCH is the professional designation of the National Guild of Hypnotists, and NGH India delivers it as the official India Chapter. What follows is the shape of the programme: what you do, in what order, and what has to be demonstrated before certification is issued.
Everything on this page is a component that is actually taught and assessed. Where an hour count is not yet published, the page says so rather than estimating — see the note at the foot.
The five components
Live sessions. Taught in real time by Dr. Maruti Sharma, not pre-recorded. Theory, demonstration and question-and-answer occur in the session rather than being distributed as material to be consumed alone.
Supervised practice. Candidates practise technique under observation and receive correction on what they actually did, rather than on a written account of it afterwards. This is the component that most reliably separates a practitioner who can perform a method from one who has read about it.
Peer work. Candidates work with each other between and within sessions, in both roles. Being the subject is not a formality: a practitioner who has never experienced a suggestion failing on them tends to misread it when it fails on a client.
Case portfolio. Documented casework, assembled across the programme and reviewed. The portfolio is where assessment, formulation and scope judgement become visible — a candidate who can produce an elegant induction but cannot recognise a presentation they should decline is identified here rather than in practice.
NGH examination. The Guild's examination, included in the programme. Certification follows the examination and the portfolio, not attendance.
Hours and structure
The online CCH runs 100 hours over 3 months. Admission is by interview, and enrolment is rolling: accepted applicants start on the next 1st or 15th. In-person intensives (Delhi NCR, Dubai) are scheduled with each cohort and confirmed at interview. Residential (McLeodganj) is scheduled separately.
The Guild's own new-member materials state a minimum of 100 hours of training for certification; individual approved schools may require more. That figure is quoted from NGH's own pages.
The split is programme design, not an estimate: delivery conforms to it.
Inside the 40 Live Hours — the Session Index
Every serious enquiry lands on this question sooner or later. A doctor asks it. A psychologist asks it. A careful student asks it. So here is the full answer: every session, every lesson, every hour of the NGH India certification, laid out the way the National Guild of Hypnotists structures its own syllabus. Hypnosis (सम्मोहन, sammohan) is taught here as a discipline with a curriculum, not a mystery behind a curtain.
In short: the live teaching runs 27 sessions of 90 minutes, following the National Guild of Hypnotists core syllabus, Lessons 1 to 26. Supervised practice, countersigned peer work, a documented case portfolio and the NGH examination complete the 100-hour certification. At one or two sessions a week, most candidates complete within 3 to 6 months.
Where do the hours come from?
Contact hours first, because that is the first thing a careful reader checks. Every figure below has a paper trail behind it.
| Component | Hours | Evidence kept |
|---|---|---|
| Live teaching — 27 sessions of 90 minutes | 40 | Attendance register |
| Supervised practice — practica, capstone group session, supervised client work | 30 | Assignment records and trainer sign-off |
| Peer work — partner sessions between classes | 15 | Practice logs, countersigned by the partner |
| Case portfolio — documented intake and session work, reviewed | 10 | Portfolio file |
| Examination — written paper and live assessed demonstration | 5 | Examination record |
| Total documented | 100 | Certification compliance file, per student |
How is the syllabus organised?
The Guild organises its training in seven parts, and the 27 sessions follow that spine exactly. Each live session goes deep on one lesson while rehearsing the whole method, so a graduate has run the complete session arc dozens of times before assessment.
| Part | Lessons · Sessions | Ground covered |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Foundations | L1–5 · S1–4 | What hypnosis is and is not, suggestibility testing, helpful and unhelpful influences, contraindication cautions, history and theory. |
| 2 · Core method | L6–10 · S5–9 | The complete induction-to-emergence procedure, trance depth and its testing, suggestion management, the conscious–subconscious working model, ideomotor methods and mechanical aids. |
| 3 · Advanced technique | L11–14 · S10–13 | Rapid and indirect inductions including the Dave Elman method, deepening techniques, hypnotic phenomena, and hypnotic anaesthesia under strict safety rules. |
| 4 · Applications | L15–17 · S14–17 | Smoking cessation across two full sessions, weight management held inside healthy-habit framing, stress management. |
| 5 · Ethics & standards | L18 · S18 | The NGH Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, the Client Bill of Rights, professional terminology, consent, scope and referral. Screening is introduced in Session 3 and drilled here. |
| 6 · Clinical craft | L19–25 · S19–25 | Eight-step session structure, behavioural assessment and intake, goal setting, imagery and mental rehearsal, script personalisation, teaching self-hypnosis, age regression with a drilled abreaction protocol. |
| 7 · Professional practice | L26 · S26–27 | Building an ethical practice, record keeping, written examination preparation, and a live assessed demonstration at graduation. |
What happens in each of the 27 sessions?
The complete index. Each session is one live class, with countersigned peer practice on that session's skill between classes.
| S | Lesson | What is taught and signed off |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1 · Foundations · Sessions 1–4 | ||
| 1 | L1 | What hypnosis is. A working definition, the common misconceptions corrected, everyday trance recognised. Every trainee experiences suggestibility first-hand in the first class. |
| 2 | L2 | Suggestibility testing. Administering and reading a preliminary test battery; choosing a permissive or authoritative approach from what the tests show. |
| 3 | L3–4 | Influences and cautions. Factors that help or hinder hypnotic response; contraindication screening — epilepsy, psychotic disorders, acute crisis — and the refer-out rule; the pre-induction talk that settles a nervous client. |
| 4 | L5 | History and theory. Mesmer, Braid, and the move from magnetism to psychology; eye fixation practised on oneself. |
| Part 2 · Core method · Sessions 5–9 | ||
| 5 | L6 | How to hypnotize. The complete procedure — pre-talk, progressive-relaxation induction, suggestion, full emergence — delivered on a partner under supervision. The first milestone. |
| 6 | L7 | Trance depth. The depth stages; eye and arm catalepsy testing; reading subjective signs; matching the work to the depth. |
| 7 | L8 | Suggestion management. Constructing suggestions that are positive, specific and post-hypnotically durable; delivery practice with feedback. |
| 8 | L9 | Conscious and unconscious. The two-level working model of mind; establishing ideomotor yes/no finger signals. |
| 9 | L10 | Mechanical aids. Chevreul's pendulum and the classic ideomotor instruments — what they show, and what they do not. |
| Part 3 · Advanced technique · Sessions 10–13 | ||
| 10 | L11 | Additional inductions. Rapid and indirect methods, including the Dave Elman induction — timed, refined, and repeated until clean. |
| 11 | L12 | Deepening. Realisation challenges, pyramiding, counting and feedback methods, fractionation; deepeners stacked on a rapid induction. |
| 12 | L13 | Hypnotic phenomena and craft. Language discipline, phenomena such as time distortion, record keeping, and the habit of switching methods when one does not fit. |
| 13 | L14 | Anaesthesia management. Glove anaesthesia produced and removed under strict rules; the safety quiz must be passed at 100%. |
| Part 4 · Applications · Sessions 14–17 | ||
| 14 | L15 | Smoking cessation I. Structured intake and motivation assessment, practised with a real smoker — assessment only, no therapy. |
| 15 | L15 | Smoking cessation II. The full cessation session structure delivered end to end in supervised role-play. |
| 16 | L16 | Weight management. Healthy-habit framing only; screening for disordered eating, and referral practised as a skill in its own right. |
| 17 | L17 | Stress management. Relaxation-based stress work; a 60-second reset and a calm anchor, taught well enough to pass on. |
| Part 5 · Ethics & standards · Session 18 | ||
| 18 | L18 | Ethics. The NGH Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, the Client Bill of Rights, professional terminology, informed consent, and graceful referral — applied to scenario cases, not just recited. |
| Part 6 · Clinical craft · Sessions 19–25 | ||
| 19 | L19 | Session structure. One complete eight-step session run end to end against a checklist. |
| 20 | L20 | Behavioural assessment. A full intake interview with forms, conducted on an outside volunteer. |
| 21 | L21 | Goal setting. Turning a vague wish into a precise, testable goal statement a client recognises as their own. |
| 22 | L22 | Image psychology. Self-image work and mental rehearsal, with before-and-after confidence measures recorded. |
| 23 | L23 | Working with scripts. Personalising a stock script responsibly for one specific person, live. |
| 24 | L24 | Teaching self-hypnosis. The six-hour self-hypnosis course format; each trainee teaches a segment and plans a supervised group session. |
| 25 | L25 | Age regression. Pleasant-memory revivification only at this level. The abreaction safety protocol is recited from memory before any regression work begins. |
| Part 7 · Professional practice · Sessions 26–27 | ||
| 26 | L26 | Your practice. The professional introduction, first-client roadmap, record keeping, and written-examination preparation. |
| 27 | — | Certification showcase. A live demonstration before invited guests; logs, portfolio and NGH paperwork completed and reviewed. |
How is competence verified?
A syllabus tells you what is taught. It does not tell you what is checked. These do:
- Per-session skill sign-offs against a checklist, in class.
- Peer-practice logs, countersigned by the practice partner.
- Two safety gates that require a 100% score — the anaesthesia rules at Session 13, the abreaction protocol before Session 25. Retakes are allowed; a lower pass mark is not.
- An intake portfolio built with outside volunteers, on standard forms.
- A group self-hypnosis session planned and led solo, with the run-sheet approved by the trainer beforehand.
- Written examination preparation at Session 26, and a live assessed demonstration at graduation.
All of it sits in one certification compliance file per student, so the answer to “show me the hours” is a folder, not a promise.
Which lines does the training hold?
Ask what a school teaches, and every school has an answer. Ask what it refuses to teach, and you learn who they are. These rules run through all 27 sessions:
- Practice partners receive skills and relaxation only. No therapy on friends or family, at any point in training.
- Epilepsy, psychotic disorders and acute crisis are screened for in Session 3 and drilled in Session 18. The standing instruction is: refer out.
- Hypnotic anaesthesia never masks unexplained pain. Medical evaluation comes first, always.
- Weight work stays inside healthy-habit framing. Signs of disordered eating mean screen and refer.
- Regression at this level means pleasant-memory work. The abreaction protocol is drilled cold before Session 25 opens.
- Pain and trauma-adjacent work is not in this curriculum. It belongs to advanced-level training beyond this certification and proceeds only on documented referral from the treating doctor or mental-health professional.
Questions clinicians ask
How many contact hours does the certification include?
40 hours of live teaching across 27 sessions of 90 minutes. Supervised practice, countersigned peer work, the case portfolio and the examination complete the 100 documented hours before assessment.
Which induction methods are taught?
Progressive relaxation in full at Session 5, eye fixation at Session 4, and rapid and indirect methods — including the Dave Elman induction — at Session 10, with deepening layered on from Session 11.
Is age regression taught, and with what safeguards?
Yes, at Session 25, limited to pleasant-memory revivification at this level. The abreaction protocol is recited from memory first, by every trainee, without notes. Uncovering work beyond this belongs to advanced-level training.
What is out of scope at certification level?
Diagnosis, therapy on practice partners, masking unexplained pain, disordered-eating work, and pain or trauma-adjacent work — the last proceeds only at advanced level, on documented professional referral.
How is competence assessed before certification?
Logs, sign-offs, two 100%-pass safety quizzes, an intake portfolio, a solo-led group session, the written examination, and a live demonstration assessed at graduation.
Five words worth knowing
Induction — the structured way a session begins. Deepening — techniques that take a light state further. Ideomotor response — small involuntary movement answering a thought. Abreaction — a sudden emotional release, met with a drilled protocol. Emergence — the structured return to full waking alertness.
All words on this page are original. The NGH Trainer's Manual is © National Guild of Hypnotists, Inc., and is used in the classroom under the trainer's authorisation; none of its text appears here.
What is assessed
Three things, and they are not weighted equally.
Technical skill — can the candidate induce, deepen, deliver a suggestion and emerge a subject competently. This is the most visible and the easiest to teach.
Assessment and formulation — can the candidate take a history that would reveal a condition outside their scope, and state why this method suits this person before beginning rather than afterwards.
Scope judgement — can the candidate recognise a presentation that belongs elsewhere, and refer it without abandoning the person. In India this is the difference between lawful practice and an offence, because diagnosing and treating mental illness falls under the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992, and a hypnosis certificate confers no such authority.
A candidate strong on the first and weak on the third is the outcome this programme is structured to prevent.
What certification does, and does not, confer
The CCH is a professional certification, not a government licence. It does not confer authority to practise medicine, psychology, psychiatry or any regulated health profession, in India or elsewhere. It does not substitute for RCI registration. A CCH holder may work with goals — habit change, performance, general stress — and must refer where a presentation amounts to a disorder. The credential page sets out the six concepts that are commonly merged and should not be.
On certification you join the NGH India Chapter: the Monthly Chapter Meet online on the first Sunday of every month, and the Annual Chapter Meet on 20 November. Entry is for Fellows holding the CCH, or holding a current training seat.
How to apply
Admission is by interview — a personal conversation with Dr. Sharma. There is no public checkout. Fee details are discussed at interview, and Fellowship Awards — merit- and need-based — are assessed in the same conversation. Apply for an interview.
Questions people ask
How long is the NGH CCH programme?
The online programme runs 100 hours over 3 months, including live sessions, supervised practice and the NGH examination. In-person intensives (Delhi NCR, Dubai) are scheduled with each cohort and confirmed at interview. Residential (McLeodganj) is scheduled separately.
When can I start?
Enrolment is rolling. Admission is by interview, and accepted applicants start on the next 1st or 15th.
What is actually assessed?
Technical skill, assessment and formulation, and scope judgement — recognising a presentation that belongs elsewhere and referring it appropriately. Certification follows the NGH examination and the case portfolio, not attendance.
Is the certification a licence to treat mental illness?
No. It is a professional certification, not a government licence, and it does not substitute for RCI registration under the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992. A CCH holder works with goals and refers where a presentation amounts to a disorder.
How much does it cost?
Fee details are discussed at interview. Fellowship Awards — merit- and need-based — are assessed in the same conversation.
References
- National Guild of Hypnotists. New member application — certification requirements. new.ngh.net/new-member-application/ (read 30 Aug 2026).
- Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992 (Act No. 34 of 1992).
- Elkins GR, Barabasz AF, Council JR, Spiegel D (2015). Advancing research and practice: the revised APA Division 30 definition of hypnosis. Int J Clin Exp Hypn 63(1):1–9.