Advertising Standards

Principle: All marketing communications should be legal, decent, honest and truthful. It is the responsibility of the marketer to ensure that all marketing communications pertaining to their service(s) are legal. Marketing material must not mislead either through subjective claims, omission or exaggeration. A potential client or customer must be allowed to make an informed decision about your service or product. If you do not comply, a complaint may be made against you to the ASA who would consider the complaint against the CAP code.

Harm and offence: Marketing materials must not contain any information likely to cause offence on the grounds, for example of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. The deliberate act of causing fear or distress e.g. through the use of a shocking image to attract attention is not acceptable.

References to medical conditions: Clients should not be in any way discouraged from seeking essential medical treatment or offered a diagnosis or advice pertaining to serious medical conditions. Clients should not be advised to self-diagnose or avoid essential medical treatment in favour of Hypnotherapy. General information about medical conditions that is accurate and responsible may be offered.

A full list of medical conditions for which medical advice must be sought from a suitably qualified person (list 1) and could be sought (list 2) is available via the following link: https://www.asa.org.uk/asset/A2A01BF3-6F72-4216-B4AFC73344C4AF55/

List 1: Discussing any of these conditions is non-compliant and in breach of the CAP code.

List 2: Conditions which could be referred to in marketing communications without breach of the CAP code subject to compliance with all other appropriate clauses of the code. Pre-fixing a condition listed on list 2 with 'serious', 'chronic', 'persistent' or something similar is also likely to be in breach of the code.

If you are in any doubt as to the appropriateness of listing any medical condition in your marketing materials, contact the ASA for advice (https://www.asa.org.uk/).

Claims of efficacy: Any claims made about the efficacy of Hypnotherapy must be supported by robust evidence to support the claim. Any medical or scientific claims about Hypnotherapy should be backed up by evidence, where appropriate, consisting of trials on people. The ASA offers information pertaining to evidence-based claims and the submission of documentary evidence to support claims and further information should be sought via the CAP code.

Avoid using the words 'treat', 'treatment' or 'cure' either directly or indirectly e.g. through the use of visual information and images. It would, for example, be inappropriate to claim that 'Hypnotherapy can cure your insomnia' but you could say that Hypnotherapy can 'help you to relax,' or 'generate an improved sense of well-being'.

References to the history and tradition of Hypnotherapy are acceptable but must not make health claims which are not supported by robust evidence e.g. 'Hypnotherapy has been used successfully for hundreds of years'.

Providing links to information: Links to published research should be provided in a section of your website not directly connected to your service; i.e. under a separate tab labelled 'further reading' or 'research'.

Use of testimonials and endorsements: If you wish to use an endorsement or testimonial from a client in your marketing communication the claims made by your client must comply with ASA rulings. The testimonial must be genuine, and you must hold written permission to use it from the client in question, which includes their contact details. Testimonials and endorsements should not refer to a medical condition such as those detailed in the ASA's 'List 1' (see above).

Use of titles and qualifications: You must not use any title or qualification in a way that may mislead the public about its meaning or significance, or to claim you are better than other practitioners. You must be able to provide evidence regarding your professional qualifications, expertise and membership of professional bodies. This also includes the appropriate use of professional membership designation and use of a professional organisation's logo - please refer to the AfSFH Membership Agreement for further details about appropriate use of AfSFH designations.