CODE OF ETHICS

CODE OF ETHICS OF HYPNOTHERAPY BUSINESS ACADEMY

Our Code of Ethics is taken directly from the Code of Ethics of the General Hypnotherapy Register and all students and graduates are required to read and accept the Code as part of their graduation with a Diploma in Hypnotherapy from Hypnotherapy Business Academy.

This code sets out to govern best practice between our graduates and their hypnotherapy and mind coaching clients and links their practice. As a training school accredited through the General Hypnotherapy Standards Council, it’s important for us and for our graduates to be aligned to the highest standards and therefore that is why we adopt the same Code of Ethics.

Furthermore, all students and graduates are encouraged to become and remain members of the General Hypnotherapy Register for as long as they are working and seeing clients in a professional capacity.

DELIVERY OF HYPNOTHERAPY SERVICES

All practitioners shall undertake to:

1. Provide service to clients solely in those areas in which they are competent to do so and for which they carry relevant professional indemnity insurance.

2. Act in a non-biased, non-prejudicial manner towards all clients, providing those clients with an identical quality of service and treatment irrespective of the many differences which are to be found between clients, including but not restricted to: race, gender, sexual orientation, disability etc.

3. Disclose full details of all relevant memberships, training, experience, qualifications and appropriate avenues of complaint to clients upon request and only use those qualifications and memberships to which they have proof of entitlement.

4. Explain fully to clients in advance of any treatment: the fee levels, precise terms of payment and any charges which might be imposed for non-attendance or cancelled appointments and wherever relevant, confidentiality issues.

5. Present all services and products in an unambiguous manner (to include any limitations and realistic outcomes of treatment) and ensure that the client retains complete control over the decision to purchase such services or products.

CLIENT CARE AND WELFARE

All practitioners shall undertake to:

6. Work in ways that will promote client autonomy and well-being and that maintain respect and dignity for the client.

7. Remain aware of their own limitations and wherever appropriate be prepared to refer a client to another practitioner (regardless of discipline) who might be expected to offer suitable treatment.

8. Ensure that wherever a client is seeking assistance for the relief of physical symptoms, that unless already having done so, the client be advised to contact a registered medical practitioner.

9. Confirm that they will never knowingly offer advice to a client which either conflicts with or is contrary to that given by the client’s registered medical advisor/s.

10. Use due care and diligence to avoid the implantation of false memories in the client and ensure that the client is made fully aware that memories experienced while in a suggestible state are not necessarily correlated with, or to be taken as, real and valid memories of either the client’s past or actual events.

11. Ensure that their workplace and all facilities offered to both clients and their companions will be in every respect suitable and appropriate for the service provided. These shall include any consulting room used for the purpose of consultation and/or conducting therapy with a client, along with any reception or waiting areas associated with such rooms.

12. Take all reasonable care to ensure the physical safety of the client and any person who may be accompanying them.

13. Refrain from using their position of trust or confidence to:

a) Cross the commonly understood professional boundaries appropriate to the therapist/client relationship or exploit the client emotionally, sexually, financially or in any other way whatsoever. 

b) Touch the client in any way that may be open to misinterpretation.

14. Not accept any inappropriate gifts, gratuities or favours from a client.

15. Never protract treatment unnecessarily and to terminate treatment at the earliest moment consistent with the good care of the client.

16. Maintain strict confidentiality within the client/therapist relationship, always provided that such confidentiality is neither inconsistent with the therapist’s own safety or that of the client, the client’s family members or other members of the public, nor in contravention of any legal action (i.e. criminal, coroner or civil court cases where a court order is made demanding disclosure) or legal requirement (e.g. Children’s Acts).

17. Ensure that client notes and records be kept secure and confidential and that the use of both manual and computer records remains within the terms of the General Data Protection Regulation.

18. Recognise that the maintenance of case notes should include personal details, history, diagnosis and/or identification of problem areas; programme of sessions as agreed between therapist and client (if any), session progress notes and a copy of any contract.

19. Obtain written permission from the client (or if appropriate, the client’s parent/s or legal guardian/s) before recording client sessions, discussing undisguised cases with any person whatsoever, or publishing cases (whether disguised or not) via any medium.

20. Advise the client that disguised case studies may sometimes be utilised for the purposes of either their own (i.e. the therapist’s) supervision or the supervision and/or training of other therapists but refrain from using such material should the respective client indicate that it should not be used for these purposes.

GENERAL CONDUCT

All practitioners shall undertake to:

21. Conduct themselves at all times in accord with their professional status and in such a way as neither undermines public confidence in the process or profession of hypnotherapy nor brings their professional body into disrepute.

22. Protect the public and the profession from unethical, unsafe or bad practice, or behaviour.

23. Respect the status of all other medical / healthcare professionals and the boundaries of their own professional remit.

TREATMENT OF MINORS AND PERSONS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

All Practitioners shall undertake to:

31. Obtain the written consent of an appropriate adult (i.e. parent, legal guardian or registered medical practitioner) before conducting treatment with clients who are either under the age of majority or are classified as persons with special needs.

N.B. Wherever possible and provided it is judged to be in the child’s best interests, it is advisable that an appropriate adult should be present during such sessions.

SUPERVISION AND CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Practitioners are expected to maintain or improve their level of skills and professional competence in accordance with the requirements laid down by the GHSC.

This could include:

a) Meetings with a colleague (or colleagues) to discuss, in confidence, ongoing cases and issues arising from them, and to work through any personal matters that might affect their own position or ability as practising therapists. Such arrangements can take a variety of forms, the most usual of which are either personal One to One Supervision or participation within a Peer Support Group;

b) Undertaking continuing training, either formally by attendance at relevant courses, workshops and seminars or informally by relevant reading and Internet research;

c) The utilisation of appropriate audit tools, e.g. client feedback forms, care aims forms etc;

d) Maintaining an awareness of research and developments within both hypnotherapy and other related fields.

ONLINE AND REMOTE THERAPY

All Practitioners shall undertake to:

32. Be aware of, and familiarise themselves with, the differences between online and face to face therapy and the impact that online work can have on the relationship between therapist and client and on the therapeutic process in general.

33. Possess the ability to carry out appropriate client assessments and shall ensure client suitability for online work prior to commencement of therapy.

34. Obtain appropriate insurance to cover online work.

35. Satisfy themselves that the client has presented their true identity.

36. Ensure that the client has read, understood and agreed their personal contract for working online prior to commencement of therapy.

(N.B. The contract should include, but not necessarily be limited to, confirmation by the client of the following:

i) That they are not suffering from any diagnosed psychiatric condition, psychological illness or epilepsy and are not under the supervision of a psychiatrist.

ii) That they have provided the correct address and contact details of their online location.

iii) That they have provided the correct name and full practice address and telephone number of their GP and that they authorise the therapist to contact the GP if the therapist regards it as essential for either the wellbeing of the client or others.

iv) That they will take part in all sessions free from the influence of either alcohol or drugs and will provide a list of any prescription medicines they are currently taking.

v) That they will ensure that the environment in which sessions are undertaken shall be safe and free from distractions and will inform the therapist if there is anyone else present or monitoring the session.

vi) That they will not record the session (either by sound or visual means) without prior permission from the therapist.

vii) That they understand and accept that the therapist may terminate the session without warning if the therapist should determine that the session has been booked for some purpose other than to receive therapy, and that should this occur, the client will remain liable for any session fee that may have been paid in advance.

37. Obtain an agreed back-up number or text arrangement in case of technology failure, and a third-party emergency contact number.

38. Ensure that the client has a clear understanding of what to do in the event of server or computer breakdown or other loss of communication.

39. Ensure that the client has access to all relevant email transactions and full details of all fees paid to the therapist.

40. Take appropriate measures to protect the integrity and privacy of their computer system and to remove client material from their computer at the end of the contracted work.

This Code is not a static document and may be amended from time to time in order to remain fully consistent with the good care and well-being of the client.

To read the full and original Code of Ethics.