STRUCTURE, AIMS and OBJECTIVES

STRUCTURE

The General Hypnotherapy Standards Council (GHSC) and the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR) comprises of two distinct but co-operating entities. The former (the Council), established in June 2001, is a committee run, unincorporated, non-profit making body, and the latter (the Register), established in July 2000, is structured as a commercial sector executive agency, resourced by specialist CAM administrators.

The GHSC is comprised of individual organisations (i.e. either Training Schools or Professional Bodies) and membership is open to *any such organisation that is actively and legitimately engaged in the provision of either training or professional services within the field of Hypnotherapy.  

*The general criteria for acceptance is that Training Schools should have produced a crop of at least 10 students who have successfully graduated at Practitioner Level and that Professional Bodies should have a minimum membership of 50 fully paid up registered practitioners.

The GHR is comprised of individual practitioners and membership is open to any Hypnotherapist who is able to satisfy the criteria with regard to both training and ongoing requirements as periodically determined by the GHSC

Executive decisions (which affect both the GHSC and GHR) are taken by the GHSC Committee of Management Advisory Board. There are nine seats on the Committee and in order to protect the interests of all stakeholder groups, the makeup of the Committee comprises two representatives from professional bodies, two representatives from UK training schools, one representative from an overseas training school, two registered practitioners and two lay members of the public (who have no connection with any individual practitioner or member organisation). A non-voting Registrar, appointed by the Committee, has responsibility for the administration and day to day running of the GHSC & GHR

Voting by the Committee is by simple majority and in the event of a tie on any issue the Chair (who shall be agreed prior to the commencement of a meeting for the duration of the meeting) shall have a casting vote in addition to his/her usual vote.

The Committee may meet as often as it sees fit and, wherever possible, committee meetings should be by personal attendance but may, by agreement, be via web or telephone conferencing. Where a Committee Member is unable to attend (or participate) and his/her reason is accepted by the Committee, voting on each and every agenda item shall be permitted by post (including by email).

In addition to its normal activities, the Committee shall have the power to set up internal Complaints Committees to consider any breach of the Code of Ethics by either Member Organisations or individual Practitioner Members.

Membership of the Committee is an entirely voluntary position and no fees or expenses of any kind shall be paid by the Council. (Where applicable, expenses should be met by the Committee Member’s School or Professional Body).

AIMS & OBJECTIVES

The GHSC has primarily been established to offer a facility through which the diverse field of Hypnotherapy may collectively work towards the status of **Voluntary Self-Regulation (VSR), as defined by the UK Government.  Such a status has been deemed desirable by the Department of Health (DH) and all other relevant agencies as it will ensure accountability by both Professional Bodies and individual Practitioners and thereby afford greater protection to the public. The Council’s work includes achieving agreement on a common Code of Ethics and a Complaints & Disciplinary Procedure, agreed standards of training by Schools and harmonised requirements for both the ongoing Supervision of therapists in practice, required levels of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) together with the promotion of Research Projects, so vital to the credibility and justification of all Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM).  VSR is clearly of benefit to both the members of the public who seek the services of Hypnotherapists and to prospective students who wish to train as Hypnotherapists.  It will also ensure that the entire industry is accorded acceptance as a responsible profession in its own right.

The Council’s further aims are to assist the public in their choice of a suitable practitioner, advise on the process of hypnosis as a therapy to all enquirers, offer guidance and advice to those in search of a suitable course of training, provide appropriate support to other healthcare organisations and to promote and advance the profession of Hypnotherapy as an important and serious branch of healthcare generally.  As such, the Council considers itself to be essentially philanthropic by nature.

**The status of VSR for Hypnotherapy was achieved in December 2010 when the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) accepted the profession into its Federal Regulatory Programme.