ASH History
The history of Australian Society of Hypnosis
Geographical and historical considerations
Prior to World War 2 (1939-1945) hypnosis in Australia was almost exclusively the province of entertainers and stage performers. Medical practitioners who were using hypnosis therapeutically at that time did so covertly and did not advertise their skills.
From 1950 there was renewed interest in hypnosis, stimulated by its use in cases of war neurosis, particularly the so called “shell shock” victims.
Therapeutic hypnosis in Australia, as in other parts of the world, began to emerge more into the open, but was still considered by traditional medical authorities to be largely the province of charlatans. For over 70 years, therapeutic hypnosis has continued its upward climb towards a position of respect and endorsement by an increasing percentage of the public and health professionals as a legitimate tool in the management of a wide variety of medical and psychological problems.
In December of 1970, concerned by the upsurge of non-professional hypnotherapists and stage hypnosis, Dr David Collison of Sydney, through the Australian Medical Journal, stimulated interest in the formation of a professional hypnosis society in Australia.
Early in 1971, Dr Phillip Oystragh, also of Sydney and Dr Collison organised a meeting of interested people from the three professions, Medicine, Psychology and Dentistry. Present at this meeting were Dr Ainslie Meares of Melbourne, a past president of the International Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Dr Roddy Ruddock, Professor Gordon Hammer and others, as well as representatives of the Australian Medical Association. Consequently, the Australian Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (ASCEH) was founded, with Dr Meares as president, Dr Collison as president-elect and Dr Oystragh as secretary/treasurer. A constitution was formulated where-in it was stated that the major objectives of the Society were: “To advance the scientific study and professional practice of hypnosis and enhance the contribution of hypnosis to the promotion of the public welfare by encouraging the development of all aspects of hypnosis other than hypnosis for entertainment purposes”
In 1973 the 6th International Congress of Hypnosis and Psychological Medicine was held in Uppsala Sweden and it was at this meeting that Australia offered and was selected to host the 8th International Congress in Melbourne in 1979.
The transition to Australian Society of Hypnosis
In 1982 the ASCEH became the Australian Society of Hypnosis Ltd. (ASH) the name change being necessary to satisfy the requirements for incorporation, for which the Society had been striving almost since its inception. At that time there were approximately 1200 members in Australia and New Zealand. In 1991 New Zealand established its own independent Society of Hypnosis.
The ASH devised a distinctive logo featuring the staff of Asclepius, the Greek God of medicine and healing, with its serpent entwined, a map of Australia and the Society’s motto ‘terpnos logos’, meaning “a pleasant and suggestive turn of speech”, encircled by the name of the Society.
From the 1990s, eminent scholars including Professor Graham Burrows, Dr Barry Evans, Dr Graham Wicks, Professor Kevin McConkey and Dr Wendy Louise Walker contributed to the recognition of Clinical Hypnosis and to the research, development and publication of internationally recognised works promoting Clinical Hypnosis.
To clearly understand the history and development of hypnosis in Australia it is necessary to have some knowledge of the geographical, historical and political aspects relating to its development during the past eighty-five or so years. Australia is a country roughly the same area as mainland USA and has a population of approximately twenty four million people.
It is the smallest continent in the world or the largest island, whichever you prefer. The distance from Sydney to Perth in Western Australia is the same as from London to Saint Petersburg, approximately 4100 kilometres.
Western Australia, the largest of the six states, occupies more than one third of the total land mass and is separated from its Eastern counterparts by long distances and large areas of uninhabited desert.
This geographical isolation accounts for some of the problems experienced in the development of the Australian Society of Hypnosis and the administration and control of hypnosis throughout the country, as it has done in other areas of professional, economic and political life.
Prior to World War 2 (WW2) hypnosis in Australia was almost exclusively the province of entertainers and stage performers, some of whom would attempt to remove symptoms in amenable people by the use of direct suggestion.
Medical practitioners who were using hypnosis therapeutically at that time did so covertly and did not advertise their skills and were generally looked upon as crazy eccentrics by their professional colleagues.
Following WW2 and associated with the renewed interest in hypnosis, stimulated by its use in cases of war neurosis, particularly the so called “shell shock” victims, therapeutic hypnosis in Australia, as in other parts of the world, began to emerge more into the open, but was still considered by traditional medical authorities to be largely the province of quacks and charlatans.
Since that time therapeutic hypnosis has continued its upward climb towards a position of respect and acceptance by an increasing percentage of the public and health professionals as a legitimate tool in the management of a wide variety of medical and psychological problems.
Graham Wicks
Senior Visiting Medical Specialist (Hypnotherapy) Retired Women’s & Children’s Hospital Adelaide South Australia
Life Fellow Australian Society of Hypnosis Ltd
THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF HYPNOSIS
In December of 1970, concerned by the upsurge of non-professional hypnotherapists and stage hypnosis, Dr David Collison of Sydney, through the Australian Medical Journal, stimulated interest in the formation of a professional hypnosis society in Australia. Early in 1971, Dr Phillip Oystragh, also of Sydney and Dr Collison organised a meeting of interested people from the three professions, Medicine, Psychology and Dentistry. Present at this meeting were Dr Ainslie Meares of Melbourne, a past president of the International Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Dr Roddy Ruddock, Professor Gordon Hammer and others, as well as representatives of the Australian Medical Association. At this meeting the Australian Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (ASCEH) was founded, with Dr Meares as president, Dr Collison as president-elect and Dr Oystragh as secretary/treasurer. A constitution was formulated where-in it was stated that the major objectives of the Society were as follows:- “ To advance the scientific study and professional practice of hypnosis and enhance the contribution of hypnosis to the promotion of the public welfare by encouraging the development of all aspects of hypnosis other than hypnosis for entertainment purposes” In 1973 the 6th International Congress of Hypnosis and Psychological Medicine was held in Uppsala Sweden and it was at this meeting that Australia offered and was selected to host the 8th International Congress in Melbourne in 1979. It then became apparent that much work would be necessary to enlarge the membership and expand the activities of the ASCEH in preparation for this meeting. This task was attacked with enthusiasm by a band of willing workers and by 1978 Branches had been established in all six states of Australia. In 1981 a Branch was also established in New Zealand.
Membership of the ASCEH was restricted to graduates in medicine, dentistry and psychology, who were legally qualified to practise their profession in the States in which they worked, with provision made for the training of some undergraduates who were not yet fully qualified. In June of 1982 the ASCEH became the Australian Society of Hypnosis Ltd. (ASH) the name change being necessary to satisfy the requirements for incorporation, for which the Society had been striving almost since its inception. At that time there were approximately 1200 members in Australia and New Zealand. In 1991 New Zealand established its own independent Society of Hypnosis. The ASH devised a distinctive logo featuring the staff of Asclepius, the Greek God of medicine and healing, with its serpent entwined, a map of Australia and the Society’s motto ‘terpnos logos’, meaning “a pleasant and suggestive turn of speech”, encircled by the name of the Society.
LEGAL AND POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Until 1965, when the first Psychological Practices Act was introduced in Victoria, hypnotherapy was still largely practiced by non-professionals and various Societies were formed, such as the South Australian Association of Hypnotherapists Inc. in 1965 and the Australian Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists based in NSW in 1972. These societies did of course and still do have professionals amongst their membership. Prior to the formation of the ASCEH the training courses of such Societies, where they existed, provided the only means of learning the techniques of hypnosis, apart from individual tuition and self-teaching. In 1965 legislation was introduced in Victoria designed, among other things to prohibit the practice of Scientology in that State. This legislation was called The Psychological Practices Act 1965 and included a section designed to control the use of hypnosis. Similar legislation followed in all states excepting NSW and in essence the legislation limited the use of hypnosis to legally qualified psychologists, medical practitioners and dentists in the ordinary course of their practice and to certain prescribed persons, usually those who had
derived the bulk of their income from hypnotherapy for at least two years before the Act came into force. NSW has never had a Psychological Practices Act.
In 1994 the Victorian Branch of the ASH, having foreseen the likelihood of legislation designed to deregulate the practice of hypnosis, drafted an Act to adequately define and control the use of hypnosis throughout the country. It was intended that this legislation would be entirely separate from other Psychological Practices Acts. Unfortunately it was never accepted or adopted by any of the Health legislators in any Australian State. In April of 1995 the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments signed a Competition Principles Agreement. This was one of three agreements designed to give effect to the National Competition Policy, and clause 5 of this agreement concerns the review and where appropriate, reform of legislation which restricts competition. In relation to psychological practices legislation the guiding principle is that it should not restrict competition unless: (a) the benefits of the restriction to the community outweigh the costs and (b) the objectives of the legislation can only be achieved by restricting competition.
In the State of Victoria the practice of hypnosis was then controlled by the Psychologists Registration Act 1987, which effectively limited its use to medical practitioners, psychologists and dentists in the course of their normal clinical work and to certain prescribed persons, as was also the case in SA, QLD and WA with some provision for stage hypnosis in the latter two States. Under the “sunset” provisions of the Victorian Act, which lapsed at the end of 1997, the practice of hypnosis would then become unregulated in Victoria. The Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council set up a working group to advise on criteria and process for assessment of regulatory requirements for unregulated health occupations. In 1996 the ASH and the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Melbourne presented a joint submission to this group in an attempt to convince the Health Ministers of the potential dangers associated with the deregulation of the practice of hypnosis. In spite of the preparation and presentation of a very extensive, well researched and well documented submission, along with some intense lobbying in appropriate quarters, the legislators were unconvinced and the practice of hypnosis in Victoria has been unregulated since the end of 1997. It should be mentioned that a great deal of time and effort was put into the preparation of this submission by many people, but in particular by Professor Graham Burrows, Mr Robb Stanley and Dr Wendy Louise Walker. In 1998 in SA a similar discussion paper was circulated to review the Psychological Practices Act 1973 and the ASH/Melbourne University submission was presented to the Competition Policy review committee in SA. Once again this submission fell upon deaf ears and the drafting of legislation to deregulate the practice of hypnosis in SA was soon initiated. Subsequently, the practice of hypnosis was been deregulated throughout Australia: Victoria deregulated in 1998, Queensland in 2002, WA in 2005 and SA in 2010.
NSW and the NT have never had legislation controlling the use of hypnosis. Because of the lack of control in NSW, Victoria and pending in Queensland and SA a number of ASH members became very concerned that a situation would soon develop in which other tertiary trained health professionals, who were not members of the
three professions previously mentioned, would be legally permitted to use hypnosis in their clinical work, but would not be eligible for membership of ASH. It was considered that these people would also need a professional organisation which could provide them with basic and advanced training in the principles and practice of hypnosis, ongoing post-graduate training and education, professional and political status and advice and affiliation with other ethical professional hypnosis societies throughout the world. If the ASH was unable to provide such facilities they would look to other organisations or individuals for training, which may well be of a much lower standard and in some cases just a week-end course. They may also form new organisations to satisfy these needs, thus further fragmenting the unity and control of professional hypnosis in Australia. As a result of these considerations a motion was put before Federal Council in April 1999 which read as follows: “That in addition to current requirements criteria for membership of the ASH be expanded to allow for the admission of other tertiary qualified health professionals as approved by the Federal Council and in accordance with the memorandum and articles and by-laws of the ASH”. This motion was accepted at a special general meeting in 2010.
MEMBERSHIP AND TRAINING
Currently, membership of the ASH is open to the following health care professionals.
Medical Practitioners, Dentists, Psychologists, Midwives, Nurses, Physiotherapists, Osteopaths, Occupational Therapists, Optometrists, Podiatrists, Chiropractors, Counsellors, Social Workers, Speech Pathologists and other health professionals registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). All of these practitioners are members of AHPRA or have membership of their leading professional body. Initially they join as Associate Members and become Full Members by completing an approved training program and/or the Society’s assessment process. According to the revised Constitution which was approved at the 2016 AGM, provision is also made for Life Fellows, Honorary Members, Fellows, Corresponding Members, Student (undergraduate) Members and such other grades of membership as may be determined from time to time by the Society in general meeting.
In 1978 the Federal Council of the ASCEH approved a national syllabus to govern the training for full membership of the Society and a Board of Education was established. Following the Board’s recommendation to Council in 1979 a national policy on training and education was adopted and criteria were established for full membership of the Society. The criteria for Associate membership remained as previously stated, being available to any suitably qualified health professional with an interest in hypnosis. In order to proceed to Full membership and the award of the completion of the program, Associate members joining the Society after January 1st 1980 were required to complete an approved course of training extending over two years, complete two case histories for assessment, pass a written examination and then sit for a Viva. This training course is now conducted over a period of one year and includes not less than 190 hours of instruction with ongoing assessment and practical training. The written examination has been phased out in favour of ongoing assessment during training. The further assessment process also includes the presentation of a detailed case report and a Viva which includes a demonstration of practical competence in the preparation for, induction control and termination of hypnosis. Candidates must satisfy the examiners in all sections of the assessment process,
ASH recognises the validity of experience gained in overseas centres of repute or in other hypnosis training courses conducted in Australia and reserves the right to confer full membership on professionals who have undergone training courses of a comparable standard to those required by ASH and who may be asked to submit two case reports and undertake a Viva. ASH aims to continue the current revision and conduct of the training program to ensure optimal training outcomes and the pursuit of excellence in Clinical Hypnosis practice.
National Congress
ASH conducts a national congress every two years. Each Congress presents workshops by local and international experts, scientific papers and a social program for registrants and their partners. Training of professionals by the ASH in Australia is largely carried out at the post graduate level, although provision is made to train provisionally registered health professionals. Introductory lectures have also been given to senior students in medicine, psychology and dentistry in some universities. In the 1980’s a compulsory section on hypnosis was introduced into the Dental schools in one or two universities in New South Wales. Until recent times, ASH has been the only national, professional hypnosis society in the country.
DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAM
One of the problems in training members has always been the tyranny of distance and attempts have been made from time to time to establish a Distance Education Program (DEP), to cater for members living in regional and remote areas away from the capital cities in which training courses are normally conducted. In the nineteen eighties, Dr Wendy Louise Walker put together an excellent training manual and a series of audio and video tapes, which provided a training base for some of these members. Some years later Dr Barry Evans, then Chairman of Publications, devoted a great deal of time and energy into expanding this information base to more completely cover the full curriculum of the training program. He reviewed the training audio and video tapes used by State Branches, commissioned the preparation of new ones where necessary and organised the presentation of basic workshops in regional centres in Victoria and New South Wales for interested practitioners. As a result of these initiatives there was an influx of some 30 to 50 new members. This program was later discontinued, but Hypnosis Training Australia, also under the guidance of Dr Evans, conducted a face to face training course which is used by the Victorian Branch of the ASH and has RPL approval. HTA has also developed an Online Clinical Hypnosis Training Course (OCHTC) which also has RPL approval towards the ASH Diploma and in effect replaces the old DEP. The Victorian Branch proposes to offer its own face to face training in 2017. In the mid nineteen eighties the national membership total was over 1200 but by the year 2000 this had fallen to about 800 and in spite of some increase over the next few years it has now fallen, in 2016, to about 500.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASPECTS
The affairs of the Society are administered by a Federal Council which consists of the Office Bearers, namely the President, President Elect, Secretary, Treasurer and the Immediate Past President (all of whom are Directors of the Company), plus the Chairperson of the Board of Education, the Chairperson of the Publications Committee and the Chairperson of any other committee appointed by the Federal Council, plus a representative from each State Branch Committee.
Each State
Branch is also administered by a similarly constituted Executive Committee.
FINANCIAL ASPECTS
Being a limited company under the Company’s Act, the ASH is subject to an annual audit.
To preserve costs for ASH member webinars and workshops, the Federal Office of ASH is now located in Melbourne.
The financial status of the Society has always been dependent on the income generated from its membership subscriptions and training activities. The goal of ASH at the federal level is to support the membership and provide leadership in the practice of Hypnosis within Australia and internationally whilst being mindful of a balanced budget.
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF HYPNOSIS
No discussion about the development of the ASH would be complete without reference to its relationship with the International Society of Hypnosis (ISH).
Since its inception, the ASH has always had a close association with and has been a Constituent Society of the International Society of Hypnosis, along with more than thirty other professional hypnosis societies throughout the world. The ASH has also adopted the Code of Ethics of the ISH, with some modifications to accommodate local conditions and all members should be acquainted with this code. Members of the ASH have taken an active part in the activities of the ISH and have hosted two International Congresses in Australia; in 1979 and 1994, both in Melbourne. ASH members have provided three presidents of the International Society, Dr Ainsley Meares from 1960-1962, when it was the International Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Dr David Collison 1985-1988 and Professor Graham Burrows 1991-1994. The ISH Secretariat operated from Melbourne for many years from 1987, with Mr Robb Stanley as administrative officer and later secretary/treasurer until Professor Burrows took over as interim secretary/treasurer in 2000. Under the then Constitution membership of the ISH was restricted to members of Constituent Societies, where such Societies existed. Prior to 1989, members of the ASH, where they wished to do so, joined the ISH on an individual basis and paid subscriptions directly to the ISH. In 1989 an agreement was reached between the Federal Council of the ASH and the ISH for a reduced membership fee to be incorporated into the ASH annual subscription. As a result of this, all ASH members automatically became members of the ISH. Consequently, of a total ISH membership of some 1800-1900, over 1100 of these were ASH members.
In 2000, an ASH member challenged the legality of the ASH insisting that all members also become members of the ISH and pay an extra subscription, albeit a discounted one. Expert legal opinion considered that this provision may contravene section 47 of the Trade Practices Act relating to ‘exclusive dealing’ and in view of the legal costs involved in a Court challenge, which might well be lost, the ASH withdrew this provision for automatic ISH membership. This action immediately reduced the ISH membership dramatically and now members of the ASH who wish to be members of the ISH must do so on an individual basis, which involves the payment of a higher subscription. It should be noted that the original group membership did not include the International Journal, which individual members now receive. It should also be noted that in 1998 the ISH withdrew the requirement that ISH members must be members of a Constituent Society, but must only be eligible for such membership.
WHERE ARE WE NOW
I have discussed the history and development of the ASH up to the present time (2016) and it is clear that the Society is facing a number of challenges associated with the changes which have occurred over the past twenty five years. The most significant of these has been the deregulation of the use of hypnosis throughout Australia and the growth of for profit organisations and individuals offering training in clinical hypnosis. While the expansion of the membership base to include all health professionals registered with AHPRA, plus some other disciplines has opened the doors, the competition of other training providers has been strong. Other significant changes have occurred within the Society itself, the most important being the reduction in membership from a high of over 1200 to the current level of about 500. There are a number of reasons why this has happened, one of the most important being the fact that most State Branches no longer conduct their own
training courses for full membership of the ASH and the Society’s Diploma of Clinical Hypnosis. Other factors include the loss of the New Zealand membership and the changing needs and priorities of health professionals throughout the country. Also, with deregulation anyone can, in theory, learn the techniques and set up practice as a hypnotherapist. Consequently, numerous training courses, run by other organisations and individuals, operate in competition throughout the country. The ASH Board of Education has established stringent guidelines for the approval of other training courses under their ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ policy and the extra ASH supervised training necessary to attain Full membership of the ASH and the Society’s Diploma of Clinical Hypnosis. The whole membership structure has also changed over the years, even before deregulation. In 1979 a survey conducted by Sheehan and McConkey showed that in June 1978, of the total membership, approximately 40% were males, 60% were females, 60% were medical graduates, 20% psychologists and 20% dentists. In 2001 there were about 60% psychologists, 25% medical graduates and 15% dentists and the female to male ratio was still about 60/40. With the changes in membership eligibility the professional mix has changed and there are now about twenty midwives, fifteen social workers and five counsellors, the bulk of the membership still being psychologists in the majority, medicos and some dentists. It is interesting to note that, at the time of writing, Victoria has the largest State membership with 171, South Australia 150, NSW 82, Queensland 52, WA 34, Tasmania, ACT and the Northern Territory 2 or 3 each and 4 or 5 overseas members. It is also interesting to note that South Australia and Victoria are the only States which have continued to conduct or outsource a Diploma approved training course.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
The objectives of the ASH have always been and should always be as stated in the Constitution, namely “To advance the scientific study and professional practice of hypnosis and to enhance the contribution of hypnosis in the promotion of the public welfare by encouraging the development of all aspects of hypnosis other than for entertainment purposes”. This is to say that we are first and foremost an educational organisation, which means we have a responsibility to educate our membership in the principles and practice of hypnosis to a high level of competency and to encourage research in both the clinical and academic environment; but also to educate the public and very importantly other health professions in their understanding and acceptance of hypnosis as a safe legitimate therapeutic tool, which should be used by well-trained health professionals within the confines of their professional expertise, to enhance and facilitate the more traditional approaches and at times as a treatment of first choice. Implicit in these objectives is the assumption, indeed the obligation, for all members to rigidly adhere to the ethical standards of the ASH and to those of their own professional association. The real strength of any organisation rests with its membership base and in general terms the larger the membership the stronger and more influential is the organisation. How to attract more members? What do members want from an association such as the ASH? I believe they want firstly, to feel they are receiving tangible benefits from their membership of the Association and in the case of the ASH this means having exposure to high quality training at both basic and advanced levels, ongoing access to continuing education and instruction and exposure to the most up to date research work and therapeutic techniques from around the world. In the past the ASH has fulfilled these requirements to a greater or lesser degree through State Branches providing basic and advanced training courses and ongoing education, and an annual Congress with workshops and scientific sessions by local and international experts. One of the attractions of the ASH has been its multidisciplinary membership, allowing members to interact with other disciplines and exchange different therapeutic approaches and perspectives, as well as enjoying the benefits of interdisciplinary socialisation. With the recent expansion of the membership criteria to include a much wider membership base these aspects of membership will be further enhanced. It is not so much the loss of members through death, retirement and subsequent resignation which is so important, as this has always occurred. It is the ability to retain existing active members and to attract new members, which is crucial to maintaining and increasing the membership base. It is true to say that interest in professional hypnosis in Australia, its acceptance and utilisation has run a fluctuating course over the past century, having been on an upward curve from the mid-fifties to the mid-eighties. Since that time, interest by health practitioners has diminished, judging by the decline in membership of the ASH and some of the reasons for this have been discussed above. It remains to be seen whether there will be a resurgence of interest and enthusiasm following the deregulation of hypnosis throughout the country and the ongoing efforts of the ASH to promote and popularise this extremely valuable therapeutic modality.
REFERENCES Wicks, G.R. (2001). The History of the Australian Society of Hypnosis. Keynote speech. 31st National Congress Australian Society of Hypnosis. The Victorian Psychological Practices Act 1965. The Western Australian Psychologists Registration Act, 1976. The South Australian Psychological Practices Act, 1973.