ELIGIBILITY FOR THE PROGRAMME

Applications are considered from those who are academic researchers or are members of recognised therapeutic and other recognised professions in which hypnosis has a legitimate application and who possess qualifications in medicine, dentistry or psychology, or other qualifications as deemed appropriate.  Applicants should be aware that the programme teaches hypnosis as an adjunctive procedure and is not ‘a hypnotherapy’ training programme. For example, if you are trained solely as a dentist, completion of a certificate or diploma programme will not enable you to treat conditions (e.g. IBS) that are not addressed in your dental training.

All applicants should possess a first degree and have professional liability insurance against litigation concerning their clinical work. As a condition of acceptance onto the programme all students must agree to abide by the Ethical Guidelines

 

Ethical guidelines

These guidelines are based on the Code of Ethics of the International Society of Hypnosis, and other leading professional hypnosis societies including the ASCH and BSCAH.

 

Guideline 1

A student shall always place first the welfare of the client or the experimental subject when using hypnosis or hypnotic techniques in clinical practice, other applied situations or in experimentation.

(a) The standards of professional relationships which guide the physician, dentist, psychologist, or other defined professional worker, within the appropriate professional or scientific field, shall prevail in his or her use of all hypnotic techniques.

(b) Proper safeguards shall be maintained whenever a client or subject is exposed to unusual stress or other form of risk.  If stress or risk is involved, the person or subject should be informed and give consent.  Estimation of risk is a difficult matter, and when in doubt the practitioner should consult with professional colleagues.

Guideline 2

Hypnosis is considered an adjuvant to other forms of scientific, clinical and some non-clinical professional endeavours, so that competence in hypnotic techniques alone is not acceptable as a basis for professional service or research.

(a) In view of the dependence of hypnotic practice upon other qualifications, registration as a student on the programme requires proper standing in the recognised national organisations, appropriate to the field of competence not represented by hypnosis.  That is, a medical doctor is expected to belong to the appropriate medical association, a dentist to the appropriate dental association, a psychologist to the appropriate psychological associations, and so on.

(b) Item 2a requires acceptance of the ethical and scientific standards of a responsible professional organisation.

Guideline 3

Students shall limit their use of hypnosis to the area of competence as defined by the professional standards of their field.

Guideline 4

Hypnosis should not be used as a form of entertainment.  No student shall offer services for the purposes of public entertainment or collaborate with any person or agency engaged in public entertainment.

Guideline 5

A student shall not support the practice of hypnosis by laypersons.

(a) A lay person is defined here as one who is not a member in good standing of a therapeutic or scientific profession; that is, he or she is not a physician, dentist, psychologist, or member of another recognised therapeutic or scientific profession with credentials in addition to competence as a hypnotic practitioner.

(b) A student shall not give courses involving the teaching of hypnotic techniques to lay individuals who lack training in a relevant science or profession.  Lectures informing lay individuals about hypnosis are of course admissible providing they do not include demonstrations or didactic material involving the induction of hypnosis.

(c) Consultations with lay representatives of the press or other media of communication are permitted to minimise distortions or misrepresentations of hypnosis.