Hypnosis Requirements by State
Summary of State Laws Regarding Hypnosis from the Hypnotherapists Union Local 472
This content was last published in early 2023 by the Hypnotherapists Union Local 472, originally located at hypnotherapistsunion.org/statelaws.
The Hypnotherapists Union Local 472, who originally published this summary, is no longer operating. We believe this information to be accurate as of early 2023, but state laws change. The following content is for general informational purposes only. We encourage you to research the laws surrounding the practice of hypnosis in your specific state and jurisdiction, or consult an attorney who is familiar with the laws in your state or jurisdiction for definitive legal advice.
The majority of the United States exert little or no direct regulation over the practice of hypnosis or hypnotherapy, although other laws generally affecting the operation of any business will usually apply, such as truth in advertising, unfair business practices, and related rules.
Connecticut and Washington are states that require mandatory licensure or registration.
California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Texas, and Utah do not have mandatory registration, but do lay out specific regulations for the practice of hypnotism and guidelines for licensure exemption.
- Section I: United States that may have mandatory licensing or registration requirements: Connecticut, Washington.
- Section II: United States that maintain explicit guidelines for licensure exemption: California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Texas, Utah.
- Section III: United States that do not appear to specifically regulate the practice of hypnosis: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
There are also a number of states with laws defining the practice of psychology or counseling, which may require a license, that refer to terms such as “hypnosis” or “hypnotherapy.” It is unclear what the intent of such references are. For example, hypnosis may be listed as one of many things that a psychologist may do, while other activities such as coaching, research, interviewing, evaluating aptitudes and interests, consulting in legal decision making, vocational counseling, creative arts, and stress management may also be referenced. The states that may fall in this category are marked with an asterisk (*). There may be additional states in this category because laws change between website updates and because some states may not have online copies of their laws available for research.
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I. United States with Mandatory Registration
The following states have explicit regulations regarding hypnosis and/or hypnotherapy.
Connecticut
Registration required: In Connecticut, beginning October 1, 2006, “no person shall practice hypnosis or hold himself or herself out as a hypnotist in this state without first registering with the Department of Consumer Protection.”
Eligibility: To register as a hypnotist in Connecticut, an individual must pay an application fee of $100 and complete a simple application form. The form requires name, address, and a representation that the applicant is not subject to sexual offender registration laws.
Regulation: The Department of Consumer Protection shall receive and investigate complaints against individuals who are practicing or have practiced hypnosis in Connecticut and may cause a prosecution to be instigated based on such investigation. The grounds for complaint include physical or sexual abuse, misappropriation of property, and fraud or deceit in obtaining or attempting to obtain registration as a hypnotist.
- The Commissioner of Consumer Protection may deny registration as a hypnotist to an individual who has been subject to one of the above findings.
- The Commission of Consumer Protection may, after notice and hearing, assess a civil penalty of not more than $100 against any person who has practiced hypnosis in Connecticut without first registering with the department.
Definition of hypnosis: In Connecticut, hypnosis means an artificially induced altered state of consciousness, characterized by heightened suggestibility and receptivity to direction.
Regulatory agency: Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.
References: Public Act No. 06-187 § 44; 2006 Ct. ALS 187. Application: http://www.ct.gov/dcp/lib/dcp/forms/hypn-01_-hypnotist_registration_(4)final.pdf
Washington
License required: In Washington State, “hypnotherapists” and “counselors” are required to register. The “counselor” category was eliminated in 2010 and converted into eight new categories; however, the hypnotherapy regulations were not modified.
Eligibility: For registration, an individual must pay an application fee and annual renewal fee, complete four hours of AIDS education, and submit an application form that includes demographic information, title description, previous certification, AIDS education attestation, and applicant attestation.
Regulation: Once registered, there are regulations a hypnotherapist must follow.
- You must provide disclosure information to each client prior to implementation of a treatment plan.
- Required disclosure information includes business name, business address and phone number, Washington State registration number, type of counseling provided, methods and techniques used, education, training and experience, course of treatment, and billing information.
- You must make a disclosure statement detailing the client’s rights and responsibilities as well as yours. Failure to provide disclosure information constitutes an act of unprofessional conduct.
- You must keep records of all services.
- You have a duty to report suspected abuse or neglect of a child, dependent adult, or developmentally disabled person.
- You have a duty not to engage in sexual contact or sexual activity with current clients.
Regulatory agency: Washington State Department of Health.
Reference: Washington Administrative Code § 246-810-010 et. seq.
II. States with Guidelines for Practicing Without Licensure
The following states have no hypnosis laws that require mandatory registration or special certification for hypnotists or hypnotherapists. Instead, these states lay out guidelines to lawfully practice hypnosis or hypnotherapy without a license. These laws generally require that a hypnotist not advertise or perform medical services, such as diagnosing or treating medical conditions.
California
Statutes: California does not have an explicit statute or regulation requiring licensure for hypnotists or hypnotherapy. California Business and Professions Code 2908 exempts “persons using hypnotic techniques” from the psychology licensing act to do “vocational or avocational self-improvement” as long as they “do not treat emotional or mental disorders.” It also exempts persons using hypnotic techniques under referral of persons licensed to practice psychology, dentistry, or medicine.
California Business and Professions Code 2053 requires that complementary and alternative health care providers make certain written disclosures to clients. If hypnotherapists are deemed covered by this provision, they must make the required disclosures.
Case law: In People v. Cantor, a 1961 Superior Court case, the court held that the practice of hypnotism as a curative measure or mode of procedure in helping patients to lose weight, relax tension, and improve nerves and bad habits by one not licensed to practice medicine amounts to the unlawful practice of medicine.
Analysis: Care must be taken in California to disclaim in advertising materials the practice of medicine and to state that the hypnotist does not diagnose, prescribe, or treat any medical condition.
Colorado
In 2020, Colorado removed its “unlicensed psychotherapist” registry, under which hypnotherapists had previously registered, and stated that going forward, anybody practicing psychotherapy would need to be licensed and registered. Colorado’s Department of Regulatory Agencies stated that if a practitioner is not practicing psychotherapy and falls within Title 6 provisions for complementary and alternative healthcare providers, no registration is required.
Text of Title 6: Colorado Revised Statute Title 6 § 6-1-724.
Colorado practitioners may want to specify that they are working as complementary or alternative practitioners as defined by Colorado Revised Statute Title 6 § 6-1-724 and are not licensed psychotherapists, psychiatrists, or doctors.
Florida
In Florida, therapeutic hypnosis is regulated. It is unlawful for any person to engage in the practice of “hypnosis” for therapeutic purposes unless such person is a “Practitioner of the Healing Arts” or a “Qualified Person.”
“Hypnosis,” as defined by statute, only applies to hypnosis used in the treatment of any human ill, disease, injury, or for any other therapeutic purpose. A “Practitioner of the Healing Arts” means a person licensed to practice medicine, surgery, psychology, and similar fields. A “Qualified Person” means a person deemed by the referring practitioner to be qualified by both professional training and experience to employ hypnotic technique for therapeutic purposes under supervision, direction, or prescription.
It is not clear how the law applies to hypnotists who expressly disclaim the practice of therapeutic hypnosis.
Reference: Florida Statutes § 485.000 et. seq.
Illinois
Illinois law states that a person may practice hypnosis without a license provided that the person does not otherwise engage in the practice of clinical psychology, does not otherwise engage in the practice of medicine, and does not hold themselves out to the public by a title or description stating or implying that the individual is a clinical psychologist or is licensed to practice clinical psychology.
Reference: 225 Illinois Compiled Statutes 15/3(h).
New Jersey
New Jersey law does not seem to require licensure for hypnosis activities such as altering habits like smoking and weight management, increasing client motivation in employment, workplace, and sports activities, and enhancing creative, artistic, and scholastic endeavors.
Reference: New Jersey Administrative Code § 13:42-1.2.
Texas *
Hypnosis and hypnotherapy, when performed by a licensed psychologist, are subject to Board Rules. The practice of psychology includes hypnosis for health care purposes and hypnotherapy. Texas law also includes references to investigative hypnosis proficiency, counseling methods that may include hypnotherapy, and hypnotherapy by marriage and family therapists.
A Texas court held that a hypnotist was not exempt from obtaining a medical license when he advertised hypnosis as a means of curing certain mental and physical disorders.
References: 22 Texas Administrative Code § 465.5; Texas Occupations Code § 501.003; Office of the Attorney General Opinion No. DM-321; 37 Texas Administrative Code § 221.7; 22 Texas Administrative Code § 681.31; 22 Texas Administrative Code § 801.42; Masters v. State, 170 Tex. Crim. 471 (1960).
Utah
Utah provides exemptions from licensure for an individual engaged in performing hypnosis who is not licensed under a profession that includes hypnosis in its scope of practice, provided the individual induces a hypnotic state for increasing motivation or altering lifestyles or habits, prepares clients to enter hypnotic states, tests suggestibility, applies hypnotic techniques, and trains clients in self-hypnosis conditioning.
The individual may not engage in the practice of mental health therapy, represent themselves using protected license titles, or use hypnosis with or treat medical, psychological, or dental conditions defined in generally recognized diagnostic and statistical manuals.
Unless licensed, the title “clinical hypnotist” may not be used.
References: Utah Code § 58-60-107; Utah Code § 58-60-109.
III. Unregulated United States
Alabama
In Alabama, the State Board of Education specifically prohibits the use of hypnosis. School personnel are prohibited from using any techniques that involve the induction of hypnotic states.
Reference: Alabama Administrative Code Regulation 290-040-0400.02.
Alaska *
Arizona
A physician may not delegate psycho-therapeutic procedures, including individual and group psychotherapy, clinical hypnosis, or other behavioral health interventions subject to independent regulation in Arizona, to an unlicensed person.
Reference: Arizona Administrative Code § R4-38-306.
Arkansas *
Delaware *
District of Columbia *
Georgia
Hypnotists are listed as one of many examples of businesses or practitioners of professions or occupations which may be subject to regulatory fees of local governments.
Reference: Official Code of Georgia § 48-13-9 (b)(24).
Hawaii
As of the original summary, there was no hypnotherapy regulation in Hawaii. A bill had previously been proposed requesting that the Legislature recognize hypnotherapy as a legal profession subject to regulation and control, but the Hypnotherapists Union opposed the bill and was instrumental in its defeat.
Reference: 2005 Bill Text HI H.B. 1695.
Idaho
Indiana
In 2010, Indiana passed Senate Bill 0356, which repealed hypnotist and hypnotherapist licensing laws in Indiana as of July 1, 2010. Prior to this, Indiana had a licensing scheme for hypnotists and hypnotherapists under which it was very difficult to become licensed and few were licensed.
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana *
Maine *
Maryland *
Massachusetts *
Michigan *
Minnesota *
Mississippi
Missouri *
Montana *
Nebraska *
Nevada *
New Hampshire *
New Mexico *
New York
North Carolina *
North Dakota *
Ohio *
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island *
South Carolina *
We are aware of one case in which the South Carolina Board of Examiners has taken the position that an unlicensed person advertising “hypnotherapy” or “counseling” on a website is practicing psychology without a license.