The majority of
hypnotherapy professional organisations require that their
members do not bring the profession into disrepute. To this
end many, but not all, have a requirement that their members
adhere to the Code of Advertising Practice (CAP) advertising
standard when advertising their services of services
associated with hypnotherapy.
The largest number of complaints that the ASA have dealt
with against hypnotherapists have been for making the
following claims:
Smoking cessation
treatment forms a major part of many hypnotherapist's
private practices. We have spoken to many people over the
years who have attended hypnotherapy sessions to stop
smoking and for whom this type of treatment has been
successful. More recently however we have spoken to people,
journalists and key people within the profession who were
either making or receiving complaints about smoking
cessation therapy offered by some therapists.
The complaints are fairly consistent and centre around the
claim:
and the fees that some
therapists charge for their services.
Looking first at the claim, 'Stop Smoking in one hour' -
first and foremost this claim has led to numerous complaints
to the Advertising Standards Authority who have ruled
against the claim on each occasion and instructed the
advertiser to remove it from future advertising. As the
majority of professional hypnotherapy bodies
encourage/demand that their members adhere to the ASA's
published advertising standards there is also scope here for
members of the public to not only complain to the ASA but to
also bring their complaints directly to those organisations
to whom these hypnotherapists belong.
Advice for hypnotherapists:
You can submit advertising copy to the Committee of
Advertising Practice (CAP) advertising team prior to
publication. This service is free and response times are
often within 48 hours subject to demand. If there are any
issues they can be resolved then, rather than later as the
result of a complaint - click here to see more about the CAP
team...
http://www.cap.org.uk/cap/
Contact the ASA:
Advertising Standards
Authority
Mid City Place
71 High Holborn
London WC1V 6QT
020 7492 2222
Textphone 020 7242 8159
Fax 020 7242 3696
http://www.asa.org.uk
Contact CAP:
Committee of Advertising Practice
Mid City Place
71 High Holborn
London WC1V 6QT
020 7492 2222
Fax 020 7242 3696
http://www.cap.org.uk
enquiries@cap.org.uk
