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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have jurisdiction over UK website content so will we start to see claims being made that are only backed by strong research findings?
Just a quick discussion point touching on ethics and quantifiable and justifiable claims made by hypnotherapists, or otherwise.
Looking at the content of some local competition,who are members of the IAPH (International Association of Pure Hypnoanalysts) I was rather disturbed to see the following, rather spurious, claim being made:-
"HYPNOANALYSIS IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE THERAPY ON THE PLANET...."
I was not aware of any randomised control or audit of the different approaches and their efficacy across a statistically important trial population size...
In fact recently a former student of mine asked the ASA to pre-approve his web copy to avoid any potential problems and the ASA had problems accepting 27 years of published research by Prof Peter Whorwell MD FRCP (NHS Consultant Gastroenterologist) into IBS and hypnotherapy - and this was for an approach based on his 'Manchester Model' about Gut directed therapy/metaphor, not using a different approach and quoting his research...Anyway despite us sending up 10 papers etc the NICE guidelines etc it was only after they had consulted with an "eminent psychiatrist" that they accepted the clear clinical evidence for the efficacy of Hypnotherapy for IBS!
So the question is...should we, as ethical professionals, who are concerned about how we are perceived by the public, our potential clients, welcome with open arms the application of enforceable standards on our Web based copy??
Or should we be concerned that the ASA is trying to critique published scientific papers on subjects it know potentially nothing about?
Oh, and remember to be kind to yourself, everyday!
Duncan
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Duncan Murray on -
James - I appreciate the sarcasm - it is well founded and justified...someone in Portsmouth suggests she can 'cure' heroin addiction in 1 hour session!! Amazing!!
Pete - Just my point - there is no randomised trials that demonstrate that any particular therapy is the 'most effective therapy on the planet'
It is claims like this that bring the profession into disrepute - and this is a reason for the welcoming of some aspects of the ASA having jurisdiction over website claims/advertising in the UK - but as I mentioned earlier in this post the ASA must recognise who is the 'competent authority' so that if claims of efficacy are made on the basis of independently tested clinical research and ratified by an independent 'competent authority' such as NICE then that should be the gold standard that claims of treatment efficacy are accepted as 'true' and that individual clinicians should not have to 're-prove' them for each individual website...
I wonder how Henxy is getting along with the 'V V' issues?
Cheers
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Permalink Reply by Henxy on -
I got my letter from the ASA; but they disagreed with me. They said that as the advert has (almost invisibly) on-screen text saying 'consult your doctor', the patient/client is safe because the doctor wouldn't 'let' them have inappropriate sugery.
Oh well...
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Permalink Reply by Duncan Murray on
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Ah - but is 'that doctor' a competent authority - I mean they didn't accept PJ's research papers for IBS!!!??
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Permalink Reply by Duncan Murray on
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Thank you Henxy - all is clear now! LOL!
But what does that make the ASA?
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Permalink Reply by Tom Hickey on -
Hi folks,
I think the advertising rules in Ireland are pretty much the same as in the UK. The state does seem intent on controlling or at least exempting themselves from any chance of litigation by putting shackles on every aspect of a persons life with all sorts of legal add ons. Personally I am in favour of ensuring any claim produced by an advertiser can be verified but that is as far as it goes. After that I think people should be allowed make up their own minds about any product (hypnotherapeutical or not (is that a word:-)). Buyer beware, caveat emptor and obviously if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!
Most people are not stupid and I for one treat everyone as a person of sound mind until I or they prove otherwise.
Have a good day
Tom
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