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Code of Ethics
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF HYPNOSIS
Ratified August, 1979*
The International Society of Hypnosis (ISH) is dedicated to the
scientific investigation and clinical utilization of hypnosis at the
highest professional level. Ethical guidelines to which a member
must subscribe are stated to allow for the multidisciplinary nature
of the membership. There is implied a personal commitment to behave
according to high standards of personal and professional conduct.
SECTION A: ETHICAL GUIDELINES
Guideline 1
1. A member of ISH shall always place first the
welfare of the patient or the experimental subject when using
hypnosis or hypnotic techniques in clinical practice or in
experimentation.
- The standards of professional relationships which guide the
physician, dentist, psychologist (with doctoral degree), or other
defined professional worker, within the appropriate professional or
scientific field, shall prevail in his or her use of all hypnotic
techniques.
- Proper safeguards shall be maintained whenever a patient 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
give consent. Estimation of risk is a difficult matter, and when in
doubt the practitioner should consult with professional colleagues.
Guideline 2
2. Hypnosis is considered an adjuvant to other forms of
scientific or clinical endeavors, so that competence in hypnotic
techniques alone is not acceptable as a basis for professional
service or research.
- In view of the dependence of hypnotic practice upon other
qualifications the membership requirements of ISH require proper
standing in the recognized national organizations, whether clinical
or scientific, 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.
- Item 2a requires acceptance of the ethical and scientific
standards of a responsible professional organization. It does not
imply endorsement by ISH of the particular policies or practices of
any particular organization.
Guideline 3
3. East member of ISH shall
limit the clinical and scientific use of hypnosis to the area of
competence as defined by the professional standards of his or her
field.
Guideline 4
4. Hypnosis should not be used as a form of
entertainment. (a) No member of ISH shall offer services for the
purposes of public entertainment or collaborate with any person or
agency engaged in public entertainment.
Guideline 5
5. A member of ISH shall not support the practice of
hypnosis by lay persons.
- 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 recognized therapeutic or scientific
profession with credentials in addition to competence as a
hypnotic practitioner.
- A member of ISH 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 admissable
providing they do not include demonstrations or didactic
material involving inducting of hypnosis.
- Exceptions are made to students in training in the
appropriate sciences or professions. While ISH explicitly
recognizes that hypnosis is not an indepedent science or art,
the technique may appropriately be utilized by nurses or
paramedical assistants under the immediate and direct
supervision of an individual whose credentials and training
would permit membership in ISH and who has an agreed commitment
to this Code of Ethics either directly or through a National
Constitutent Society. Special arrangements can be made for the
training of such nurses or paramedical personnel provided that
arrangements have been made for such individuals to work
directly under the supervision of an ISH member or the
equivalently trained professional as outlined.
- Consultations with lay representatives of the press or other
media of communication are permitted to minimize distortions or
misrepresentations of hypnosis. Talks with lay representatives
of the press and radio or TV appearances are welcomed so long as
these benefit the Society from wise and informed views on issues
in hypnosis.
Guideline 6
6. It is recognized that an ethical code cannot by
its very nature specify all of the practices that are considered
ethical and mention all of those considered unethical. Hence
behavior in accordance with the ethical norms of the nations in
which the professional worker or scientist lives are taken for
granted, and violation of these norms (e.g., through illegal
behavior, or discordant behavior that brings disrepture upon others
who practice hypnosis), may be the occasion for adverse action by
the ISH, even though not specified in this code.
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