Are You Thinking About Serving on a Committee or Running for Membership on the ACHE Board?

My View on the Benefits of Committee Work and Service on the Board
By Anna Kato

Maybe you are considering applying to serve on one of the ACHE Standing Committees or submitting an application to run for election to the ACHE Board of Directors, but feel hesitant to apply. I would like to share my perspectives about why I decided to apply to serve on the Education Committee and to run for election to the Board of Directors in hopes that you might feel encouraged to consider submitting an application.

I submitted applications because I wanted to assist other members of the organization to sustain ACHE’s purpose as it is written on our website’s homepage: An organization “responsible for the recognition and regulation of hypnotherapy training in the USA that has established standards for specialized education and maintains standards of practice and a code of ethics.”

In addition, I value the concept of “giving back,” and I enjoy the benefit of purposeful collaboration with colleagues. All committee work and work on the Board essentially is service to the organization because all the work is unpaid. The idea of service, or “giving back,” is appealing to me because it means that I can participate with colleagues to sustain the “we” that gives life and purpose to the organization, a members-run enterprise.

Membership on the Education, Training and Standards Committee (ETS) allows me to collaborate with colleagues to further the purpose of the Committee in the 21st Century as it “works on ensuring that ACHE’s high standards in the field of hypnotherapy education continues to be upheld and maintained, making recommendations for review and approval by the Board.” My experience as an educator in public schools and in higher education led me to apply to the ETS Committee rather than to another committee. While committee work itself is highly focused, I enjoy the camaraderie that occurs during our meetings via Zoom or Skype. Members of committees may live and work across the world as well as in the U.S. I’ve gained new perspectives about hypnosis and hypnotherapy because of the diverse knowledge and experience people bring to committee work.

You may wonder about the time commitment. Committees generally meet monthly, or as needed, depending on the task at hand. Usually, you will need to prepare for a meeting, or contribute to writing, or conducting research related to the functions of the committee outside of an established meeting time. Board meetings generally take place monthly via Zoom and last one to two hours. Members of the Board work toward supporting the organization’s mission to provide standards-driven initial certification and continuing education to its members who, in turn, offer their clients effective, quality hypnotherapy.

Just as others have offered me encouragement to become more active in ACHE through service, I offer my encouragement to you to become more involved in ACHE, too. I am happy to answer questions if you have any. You will find my contact information in our online Directory.

The committees include: Conference/Events/Marketing, Education/Training, Ethics, Finance, Governance and Membership. (https://hypnotistexaminers.org/application-to-serve-on-a-committee/)

Application to be considered for Board membership: https://hypnotistexaminers.org/about/application-to-run-for-the-board-of-directors/