Studying for the CHT — how much clinical theory vs. technique questions should I expect?

Sat for the CHT three weeks ago and passed with an 81%. I'd been practicing for about 2 years before pursuing certification and that hands-on experience carried weight, but the exam has a lot more theory content than I expected. Induction techniques were probably 20% of what I saw, while clinical applications and contraindications made up a much larger chunk of the question pool.

The psychopathology section caught me off guard. You need solid understanding of when hypnotherapy is contraindicated and why, which means knowing DSM-adjacent content well enough to evaluate clinical scenarios. I spent 3 weeks specifically on this section and I'm glad I did — getting these wrong could hurt more than just your score. These questions are testing whether you understand scope of practice at a genuine clinical level.

My study schedule was 1 hour daily for 12 weeks. The suggestibility assessment and regression therapy content was manageable. Ethics questions were scenario-based and required real judgment calls — not the kind of thing you can memorize your way through. If you're coming from a coaching background rather than a clinical one, add extra time on the clinical foundations material before you schedule your date.