American Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy

What American Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy does

The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH), referenced in the firmographic data as the American Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy, is a nonprofit professional membership organization founded in 1957 by Milton H. Erickson, MD and headquartered at the National Press Building in Washington, DC. It serves licensed healthcare professionals across at least five disciplines — medicine, dentistry, psychology, social work, and nursing — offering clinical hypnosis training, certification, and a federated community organized through 25+ regional Component Societies in the U.S. and Canada. The organization is the largest interdisciplinary clinical hypnosis body in North America, distinguished from lay-hypnotism groups by a licensure prerequisite and peer-reviewed membership.

ASCH's core products include tiered membership (Full, Associate, Student/Resident/Intern, International at $140–$356.25 annually), a non-statutory Certification Program and Approved Consultant credential requiring 20+ hours of consultation and 3-year renewals, a three-level clinical workshop curriculum (Level 1, 2, Advanced) delivered 4–6 times per year with ACCME/APA/PACE/NASW accreditation, and the eLearning Center launched in August 2023 for self-paced online courses. Supporting assets include the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis (published by Taylor & Francis since 2011, dating to 1958), the quarterly ASCH Advisor Newsletter, an Annual Scientific Meeting (132 attendees and 57 CE hours in 2026), a public Referral Database, and three ASCH-ERF scholarship funds. The underlying technology is a standard association-management and LMS stack (members.asch.net, eLearning Center) administered through Kellen Company.

ASCH's business model is a hybrid of subscription membership dues, tiered training and certification fees, pay-as-you-go workshops and webinars, publication sales, and tax-deductible donations to scholarship funds. Go-to-market is event-driven and community-led: annual conferences, 4–6 regional workshops, live Zoom webinars, an interdisciplinary peer network, and a public practitioner directory that funnels consumer demand back to certified members. The organization recently completed a membership system upgrade, transitioned leadership (Jeff Feldman as President, Matthew Clark as Executive Director), and reports it has achieved profitability for the first time in years, with operations administered by association-management firm Kellen Company.

Name

American Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy

Legal name

American Society of Clinical Hypnosis

Website

https://asch.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1957

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) is a nonprofit professional membership organization founded in 1957 that provides clinical hypnosis training, certification, and continuing education exclusively to licensed healthcare professionals across medicine, dentistry, psychology, social work, and nursing in North America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Healthcare Education and Certification

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAAANAI

Healthcare & Clinical Professional Certifications

Education/Adult & Continuing Education/Professional Certification Programs

SECONDARYEDAAALAD

Behavioral Health & Counseling (Social Work, Psychology, Substance Use CE)

Education/Adult & Continuing Education/Professional Licensure & Continuing Professional Education (CE/CPE)

Keywords

• Clinical hypnosis training
• Professional certification programs
• Continuing medical education
• Healthcare professional development
• Clinical hypnosis workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees ranging from $140-$356.25 depending on membership category (Full, Associate, Student/Resident/Intern, International) and enrollment period. Membership year runs July 1 through June 30.
2. Certification Fees: Initial certification $150 for members ($300 non-members), recertification $65 for members ($125 non-members). Certification must be renewed every three years.
3. Workshop and Training Fees: Level 1 workshops $540 member/$730 non-member; Level 2 pricing similar. Webinars $45 member/$65 non-member/$35 student. ASCH 2026 conference registration $700 member/$940 non-member with daily rates available.
4. Scholarship Fund Donations: ASCH-ERF manages three scholarship funds (Mutter Scholarship, Betty Alice Erickson & Kay Thompson Student Scholarship, Virginia Hypnosis Fund Grant) for student training support.
5. Publication Sales: Sale of ASCH publications including books (Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, Learning Lingo Cards at $35), and standards documents.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

The organization is a professional membership society that delivers clinical hypnosis training, multi-level credentialing, and accredited continuing education for licensed healthcare professionals in medicine, dentistry, psychology, social work, and nursing. Its core deliverables are membership programs (Full, Associate, Student/Resident, International), the ASCH Certification Program and Approved Consultant designation, Level 1/Level 2/Advanced clinical workshops, an online eLearning Center, the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, an annual scientific meeting, and a public referral database of certified practitioners.

Product overview

ASCH is a professional membership organization (not a traditional product company) offering a unified platform of clinical hypnosis education and credentialing services. The core offerings include membership programs at multiple tiers (Full, Associate, Student/Resident, International), professional certification through the ASCH Certification Program and Approved Consultant Program, and multi-level workshop training (Level 1, Level 2, Advanced). Supporting services include the ASCH eLearning Center for online courses and webinars, the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis (AJCH) for research publication, the quarterly ASCH Advisor Newsletter, the Annual Scientific Meeting & Workshops (ASMW) conference, ASCH Library publications, scholarship programs, and a public referral database. These products work together to advance ethical, evidence-based clinical hypnosis through education, certification, and professional community building.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ASCH Membership Professional membership program for licensed healthcare professionals offering access to hypnosis training workshops, certification discounts, the ASCH Referral Database listing, online access to the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, the ASCH Advisor Newsletter, networking, and library access. Offered in Full, Associate, Student/Resident/Intern, and International tiers.
• ASCH Certification Program Non-statutory voluntary credentialing program providing recognition of advanced clinicians meeting ASCH's educational and training requirements in clinical hypnosis. Requires a master's degree, licensure, completion of Level 1 and Level 2 workshops, and 20 hours of individualized consultation with an ASCH Approved Consultant; certification must be renewed every three years.
• ASCH Approved Consultant Program Highest advanced specialty credentialing program beyond basic ASCH Certification, requiring a minimum 40 additional hours of ASCH-approved Advanced workshop training, completion of the 10-hour Teaching and Consultation Workshop (TCW), a minimum 5 years of independent practice utilizing clinical hypnosis, and a minimum 5 years of ASCH or equivalent membership.
• ASCH Clinical Workshops (Level 1, Level 2, Advanced) Three-level professional training workshop series in clinical hypnosis. Level 1 introduces foundational principles and skills including hypnotic inductions and therapeutic suggestions; Level 2 strengthens skills, strategies, and applications; Advanced workshops offer specialized training topics. Each workshop provides 20-22 CE hours.
• ASCH eLearning Center Online learning platform providing self-paced courses and on-demand webinars for clinical hypnosis education. Offers topics including Dental EMS, Medical & Nursing Applications, Integrating Hypnosis with Other Modalities, Metaphysical & Spirituality, Pain Management, Trauma, and Veteran-Related Applications.
• American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis (AJCH) Official peer-reviewed journal of ASCH, published by Taylor & Francis, presenting original scientific articles and clinical case reports on hypnosis, reviews of related books, and abstracts of current hypnosis literature. Online access is included with ASCH membership (value $216).
• ASCH Library Publications Books and standards documents available for purchase, including the Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors, Learning Lingo Cards ($35), Standards of Training in Clinical Hypnosis, Clinical Hypnosis and Memory guidelines, and Hypnosis, Headache and Pain Control.
• ASCH Webinars Live and on-demand webinar educational programs offering continuing education credits on specialized topics such as Integrating ACT and Clinical Hypnosis, Rapid Inductions, and other clinical hypnosis techniques; 2 CE hours per session.
• ASCH Annual Scientific Meeting & Workshops (ASMW) Annual conference bringing together clinicians, educators, and researchers for learning, collaboration, and dialogue on clinical hypnosis topics, offering multiple CE sessions, workshops, special interest discussion groups, and awards ceremonies. Includes both virtual attendance and an optional in-person gathering in Washington, DC.

Quantifiable outcome

• ASCH Referral Database generates thousands of public hits annually
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Taylor & Francis PublishingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTaylor & Francis became AJCH's publisher in July 2011, handling subscriptions, distribution, compilation of reviews, editing, and revisions. This transition increased readership, subscriptions, and professional viability of the journal.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association (IMDHA): IMDHA is a competing professional credentialing body for medical, dental, and mental health practitioners using hypnosis, offering its own certification pathways and CE training. It overlaps ASCH on training, certification, and member-acquisition for the same licensed healthcare audience.
• American Academy of Medical Hypnosis: The American Academy of Medical Hypnosis is a competing U.S. medical society offering hypnosis training to physicians, dentists, and allied healthcare professionals. It serves a comparable licensed-clinician audience with similar workshop and certification offerings.
• International Society of Hypnosis (ISH): ISH is the global umbrella organization for constituent hypnosis societies (including ASCH and SCEH). It operates research and training congresses and represents the same licensed-clinician hypnosis community across continents, making it a directly comparable professional society peer at the international level.
• Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH): SCEH is the closest U.S. peer to ASCH, offering professional hypnosis training, scientific meetings, and certification to licensed healthcare professionals in clinical and experimental hypnosis. ASCH and SCEH share comparable membership-based operating models and are referenced as equivalent credentialing bodies within the field.

Regional players

• British Society of Clinical Hypnosis (BSCH): BSCH is a UK-based constituent society of ISH and the main British counterpart to ASCH, offering clinical hypnosis training and certification to licensed UK healthcare professionals. Operates as a comparable peer in a different geography.

Emerging players

• American Hypnosis Association / Hypnotherapy Academy of America: Adjacent hypnosis training providers focused on certification for lay and complementary practitioners. They compete for general mind-body training demand but operate in a less regulated segment outside ASCH's licensed-clinician remit.
• National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH): NGH is one of the largest U.S. hypnosis organizations but is built around lay hypnotists and non-licensed practitioners rather than licensed healthcare professionals. It serves as an adjacent competitor in the broader hypnosis training market that ASCH explicitly differentiates against.
• APA Division 30 - Society of Psychological Hypnosis: Division 30 is the APA's specialty division for psychological hypnosis, providing scientific programming, CE, and credentialing-focused community for psychologist members. It is a partial-overlap peer that intersects ASCH on the psychology-specific subset of its clinician base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UClNIT20i5Zx9hNL7f4MjGZQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/americansocietyofclinicalhypnosis
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-society-of-clinical-hypnosis/posts/?feedView=all&viewAsMember=true

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about American Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy