Ethics The Cornerstone of Good Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy Practice
Today’s topic comes from yesterday’s training course. One of the things that the National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy and I feel is that without a good ethical compass a practitioner, no matter how skilled or qualified, is not safe to practise. Ethics at the end of the day are the rules which we hold to in independent practice. We are very fortunate in this country to have very few limitations as to what a hypnotherapist or psychotherapist may do in their professional work. If, however, we only play lip service to ethics, then this situation will change very quickly.
Practitioners are human beings with all the frailties and flaws of their clients and in fact every other human being. That being said, a strong code of ethics gives guidance to flawed creatures in order to help them not only be better practitioners, but to be safe practitioners. The long and the short of it is that the code of ethics a practitioner follows is as much about public protection as it is about professional protection. We as practitioners must never fail to appreciate the importance of our role in keeping our clients safe when they are in our care. This is, in my view, one of, if not the most important obligation a practitioner has.
