Ethical principles and code of conduct for hypnotherapists

This document investigates the need for a central code of ethics and professional conduct for hypnotherapists. Private boards hypnosis offering membership to practitioners of hypnosis are influential in organizing the profession. Most of these professional boards operate with abbreviated codes. The purpose of this thesis is to present an expanded and comprehensive set of proposed ethical principles and codes of conduct. The existing code of ethics of the three largest boards in the USA were analyzed for content and it was determined that a more detailed code could be created. The principal investigator and presidents of these boards concluded that a more comprehensive code would be advantageous in the advancement of professional hypnosis. The code proposed in this thesis is a new document based on existing codes and original work. This comprehensive code, if adopted, would be an important innovation for these professional organizations that could unify the standards of ethical conduct among various practitioners of hypnosis.