The American Institute of Hypnotherapy was an educational establishment based in California (School no. 3004761) with the approval of, and under the jurisdiction of, the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Vocational Education.

The Bureau for Private Postsecondary Vocational Education was the California state agency vested with the authority to approve and regulate private postsecondary institutions in California. The Bureau for Private Postsecondary Vocational Education was charged by the California legislature with the mandate to encourage the development of strong, vigorous and widely respected sector of private postsecondary education.

After a review, the State of California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Vocational Education determined that the American Institute of Hypnotherapy met the standards established by the bureau for integrity, financial stability and educational quality. Therefore, under California law, the American Institute of Hypnotherapy was licensed to teach and issue degrees and doctorates in the special field of Clinical Hypnotherapy.

The California practice of recognizing specialist institutions for particular disciplines allowed the American Institute of Hypnotherapy to offer their facilities for practical training and off-campus study in Clinical Hypnotherapy. In order to obtain the doctorate, students must have attained a Bachelor Degree level of education from an approved educational institution.

A diverse curriculum was offered by the American Institute of Hypnotherapy across the fields of healthcare, psychotherapy, self-development and business applications of hypnotherapy.

The American Institute of Hypnotherapy offered a wide range of hypnotherapeutic course modules, including Personal and Professional Ethics, Self-Hypnosis Techniques, Creative Visualization, Modern Hypnotherapeutic Techniques, Understanding Emotional Stress, Communication Skills for Hypnotherapists, Hypnotherapy in Sports, Principles of Behavior Modification, Cognitive Behavioral Change, Hypno-analysis, Medial Hypnosis, History of Hypnotherapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Imagery in the Health Professions, Brain Physiology and many more. For each module research had to completed and an original paper was required to be submitted.

The American Institute of Hypnotherapy was approved from 1982 until 2007 when a major restructuring of the way post-secondary education was delivered under the Arnold Schwarzenegger government. The State of California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Vocational Education ceased to exist in 2007.