Consumer alert 

NOTE: Because we do set the standards in hypnosis we receive a lot of phone calls asking about other organizations and individuals.Therefore whether we like it or not, we have been appointed as a "Watchdog Agency" for fairness and standards.

Do not be fooled there are hundreds, if not thousands of places offering education in this field. The reason for this is it is an unregulated field. This allows unscrupulous individuals to operate and to prey upon the unsuspected. The following are five actual examples: 

#1 There is a man in (Deland, FL.) . He operated for years without even registering his company (Omni). He was ordered by the State of Florida Department of Education to stop offering education. So he was operating illegally both in person and on the web for many years, until the Better Business Councils forced him into registering his company. He holds himself out as being certified by this organization, one that he made up. He was kicked out of the “Oldest and Largest” hypnosis organization for many, many years. He offers no guarantee and little or no return policy. Yet he continues to offer a box of very old and poor quality videotapes and calls it “quality education;” which we are told is basically worthless.

#2 Warning, The National Board branch in Malaysia, HM Life Coaching and Training AKA Teoh Hooi-Meng has been revoked for fraud. It was operating what we thought was in the interest of NBPES since 2004. We were notified in March 2008 by several Malaysian students with complaints that this branch and its owner Teoh Hooi-Meng were in fact defrauding NBPES and its students. We gave him a chance to submit the proper papers and fees collected, ($7,000 USD to date), on the 65 students over 2.5 years and he failed or refused to do so.We have canceled his branch, revoked his membership, stripped him of his education, as he used that same education to defraud us and his students who paid him $3,500 each for an education that they did not legally receive. This man is a liar, a cheat and a thief and he is not associated with us in any way shape or form and he can not legally teach hypnosis or NLP. He has committed fraud, tampering with witness, plagiarizing material, copyright infringement and a verity of other criminal actions. Stay as far away from this criminal as possible!

 #3 American Pacific University in Hawaii. APU is a mail order program and it is not expectable education in several US states including Oregon and Michigan. In fact it is not only not usable, but according to official state records sent to us,(see links below) it is a criminal offence to use the education from this organization in these states It is reported by several organizations that they are a diploma mill and nothing else. This so called school is supposedly accredited by an organization in Belgium however when one checks that appears to be worthless and would not be acceptable in the U.S. even if it were valid. This organization was in Calf. but has moved out of the US to continue to operate. This organization is owned and operated by Mathew James and we have been told, Tad James, one of our affiliates, has NO connection with it or his son. Please go below for additional information and links to official web sites. 

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Non-accreditedSchools_78090_7.pdf
http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/unaccredited.html

#4 Hypnosis Motivation Institute was asked four years ago to stop saying,  "HMI is America's first and only nationally accredited hypnotism school," which is an outright lie. They have refused to remove this fraudulent information from their web site despite repeated requests. Click here to view a recent class action lawsuit and settlement against Hypnosis Motivation Institute for its actions since 1995.
http://www.hmilawsuit.com/   OR  

groups?q=%22hypnosis+motivation+institute%22+fraud&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-

8&selm=8cc01941.0208022230.3602dc34%40posting.google

#5 There is a lady named Cathy Maxfield from NY, at www.hypnotyme.com, who called us and purchased two courses, she signed a payment agreement and after 11 days she called again and demanded $100.00 from us. We of course could not understand her request but she insisted we pay her $100.00, this despite the fact she still owed us $500.00. Our CEO spent two days trying to make sense of this and to make her happy, all to no avail.

We conversed with 20+ emails and we even gave in and gave her $100.00 credit but NO it was not good enough. She then threaten to file unwarranted, slanderous complaints against us with anyone she could. She told us she would send us a check for $150.00 to pay for the one course she had received, but she never did, nor did she return it.

She did not provide us the proper ID information we requested of her (and all members) on the enrollment or payment forms so we could perform a background check on her which should lead any reasonable person to assume she could have a criminal record,or be mentally unstable or that she is hiding something.

Her membership in 6 hypnosis/ hypnotherapy organizations has been revoked for misconduct.

In conclusion: This woman has lied to us and authorities, filed false and slanderous complaints (11) in an attempt to extort money from us, she has in fact defrauded us at this point and one should be VERY careful before doing ANY business with this questionable person who claims she is practicing "Counseling Hypnosis" with minimal training and as far as we can determine no licence or experience to do so.

Update: We have won on all of the complaints that she has filled against us to date, including the four she filed with the state. The truth is a powerful thing.

Update 4/08 She has now done numerous charge backs against us, the first one of which we have won. Second is still pending but we are sure we will also win this one. Update:5/15/2008 We have in fact won both charge backs brought by Cathy against us.

Update 8/08 We have received a letter from a lawyer, or a person posing as a lawyer, from South Florida who reports they have been hired by Cathy Maxfild, they have threatened us into removing the above information that we have posted or they may sue. We have responded to this attorney, (hard to know for sure as the stationary looks like a child made it) and we told them "the information will remain as its all 100% true and so it will remain for at least 10 years, as she was originally told. If She wants to sue, go for it!" This proposed law suit maybe the only way to get money from her that she still owes us. We deplore litigation but we will certainly, vigorously defend our selves at any and all cost.

Note: You may have noticed we have removed information on several other organizations as they have agreed  to work for the benefit of hypnosis and their members and we want to give everyone a chance to work for the unity of hypnosis. 

Here is a case of a poorly trained lady who has herself in big trouble. 

Bradenton Herald, The (FL) April 26, 2002 Section:

LOCAL & STATE Edition: BRADENTON Page: 1C

AUTHORITIES: HYPNOTIST WAS NOT STATE LICENSED
Nevy Wilson, Herald
Staff Writer   

A woman who helped golfers improve their game using hypnosis was arrested Thursday for practicing without a license, according to Manatee County Sheriff's officials. Detectives got a tip earlier this month that Elastine (name withheld) , 38, of Bradenton, was possibly practicing without a license, according to reports.  Andersen told an undercover detective that she was board certified, licensed and held doctorate degrees in psychology and hypnotherapy, according to sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow.

After her arrest, Andersen told detectives she earned her doctorate degree from classes she took on the Internet. Sheriff's investigators confirmed that she does not hold a license to practice psychology or hypnotherapy in Florida. Andersen advertised in several local publications and authorities are uncertain how many clients she was treating, Bristow said.  Since at least January, Andersen had been working with several students from Tony Jacklin Golf Academy. Eduardo Rondero, director of the golf academy, said he was shocked to learn about Andersen's arrest.  "Now we feel like we want to find out what's going on, just like everybody else," Rondero said Thursday.  Andersen was never on the academy's payroll, Rondero said. The academy would put up a sign-up sheet for students who were interested in working with her, he said. Students signed up and paid her individually. It was unclear how much they may have paid her per session.

"We trusted her," he said. "We feel we've been cheated, too. Next time we have to do a better background check."  About three or four students were working with Andersen, and at one point as many as seven students were going to her for help.  "She has helped a lot of our students cope with their fears about losing and all that," Rondero said.

Andersen has said that she also worked with professional and college athletes seeking to enhance their concentration in the athletic arena. She contended past clients include players from the Lightning, Devil Rays and Orlando Magic.  Andersen was arrested on a charge of practicing a healthcare profession without a license and jailed on $1,000 bail. She posted bond and was released Thursday night.

Please do not let this happen to you.

The normal acceptable amount of education in this field is 75-125 hours for a basic course.(350 hours in Indiana.) Note: a weekend course is NOT acceptable to any legitimate board.

We challenge the above organizations to find any fault with the above information and if they do we will take it off within  24 hours and post a public apology. This information is NOT provided to slam other organizations but to educate the public and hopefully inspire positive changes in this field, and we believe it has already done so.

We at the National Board have never been sued or had any City, County, State or Country stop any of our members from practicing. We also are the only ones who can claim, no complaints on file.

Be careful, if they do not have a board of directors, a toll free phone line, offer continuing education, free support, proper memberships/affiliations, an acceptable return policy, a good guarantee and a physical address; it is a sure bet you will be taken for your money. Beware of anyone wanting to teach you a one session cure all, or a videotaped course. The bad part is there is nothing you can do about it once you have purchased. Check out their return policy, accreditation's and guarantee first!!