world guild of metaphysical and spiritual counsellors (w.g.m.s.c.)  www.holliance.org
incorporating the holistic alliance

«Code of Ethics  and Rules of Membership»

Preamble

We really wish to have a simple – and short – code of ethics, but in today’s world we need to take account of many factors in order to be professional. Nevertheless, we have avoided many of the unnecessary – and sometimes quite silly – restrictions  and taboos found in some other organisations.  We hope that what we have produced is fair and reasonable.  Most of it should, we believe, be common sense, and it is intended to help and not hinder the member.  We are not just a register of members that you just pay to join and to whom anybody is admitted.  The professionalism of our Guild, and the respect for it,  will rest upon our code of ethics. 

Full, Associate, Lifetime and Fellow Members shall all be known as “members” for the purpose of this code of ethics.

This code will be divided into two sections. Section A contains clauses applicable to all members. Section B contains “contingency” clauses that only apply to certain activities or certain locations, where legal, professional or other regulatory issues demand special treatment of a particular circumstance. Section B will be expanded over time to provide guidance regarding various activities.

Section A

1. Members may also be members of any other legitimate professional or trade organisation or learned society.  Membership of other bodies is encouraged and the Guild does not seek to poach members from other organisations, nor does it seek to exclude members of any other organisation. Members are encouraged to retain memberships of any other body to which they belong.

2. Members undertake to practise their particular skills and therapies to the best of their ability and should not practise beyond their level of competence.  If a member encounters an issue he or she is not qualified to handle, or beyond the member’s abilities, the member should seek to refer the client to another suitable practitioner. 

3. Members undertake to explain to clients what they practise, what it entails, how much it costs and any other relevant information. If a member offers multiple therapies, services or treatments, it is up to the client to decide which ones are chosen, although the member may recommend a course of action combining several methods or therapies. 

4. Members must keep all communications with clients and all professional records strictly confidential (unless stipulated otherwise by the law), and computerised records should be as secure as possible.  If the member wishes to describe a case in an article, book, course, etc., permission should be sought from the client and both the client’s name and any possibly identifiable details should be disguised, unless the client gives written permission for the material to be used without restriction. In the UK all records should be kept securely under the terms of the Data Protection Act, and outside the UK should conform to local legislation and/or professional guidelines. 

5. Members should not promise or guarantee to “cure” any condition and should never give a “diagnosis” in the medical sense.  Some therapists and alternative practitioners use the term “diagnosis” informally for an assessment of the situation, but that term should be avoided as it can sound as if the member is practising medicine.  

6. Members should not normally offer money-back guarantees for services, since such guarantees are not a hallmark of professional behaviour  (they are not offered by doctors, lawyers, and practitioners of the best-known complementary therapies).  Members should always charge clients for their time and not for results, as results for any complementary or alternative treatment or method cannot be guaranteed.  However, money-back guarantees can be offered for goods sold (such as CDs and other products).  If you are working in a centre or clinic whose policy permits refunds, act in accordance with the centre’s policy.  

7. Members undertake not to exploit clients in any way, including by charging unreasonably high fees for the service provided.   

8. Members undertake not to abuse clients in any way: physically, sexually or emotionally.  

9. Members should observe the ethical principles commonly found within their particular discipline. In particular, members providing professional therapies should not have sexual relationships with clients. 

10.  Members offering any form of hypnotherapy, hypnosis or past life regression must normally have a qualification in hypnotherapy or clinical hypnosis.  [The Guild regards past life regression as a form of hypnosis because it involves an induction into an altered state of consciousness, guided work while in that state, and then a de-induction or a bringing back into the normal state of awareness.]  Exceptions will be made if the Guild member is practising in a country or state where he/she is not allowed to legally practise hypnosis.  

11. In the case of  many “New Age” services, it might be common to have clients from within one’s circle of friends, acquaintances and community, and the duration of the service offered might be very limited. In such cases it is suggested that members take care to act at all times according to the best interests of the client and in accordance with the prevalent customs within one’s community.  

12. Members undertake to have public liability and professional indemnity insurance, wherever available, to over their activities. However, it is realised that cover cannot be obtained in all countries or for all forms of work that people may practice.  Where cover is not or cannot be obtained the member is responsible him/herself for any possible liability to clients and/or members of the public. The Guild will not be responsible under any circumstances whatsoever for the outcome of any action or non-action, professional or otherwise,  by any of its members.  

13. Members should not make private or public attacks upon the personality or reputation of any other member.  

14. Members are personally responsible as individuals for their conduct and for what and how they practise. The Guild does not normally supervise its members and is not responsible for how they conduct their activities or practices.  Many forms of metaphysical or spiritual work do not have supervision arrangements so we cannot make supervision mandatory. The Guild does not examine its members for competence in their particular skills or arts, unless the Guild offers a specific training programme.   

15. Members should not use Guild membership as a justification or rationale for using any particular practice. Therefore one cannot say, “I am allowed to work this way because I am a Guild member.” Rather, members bring to the Guild their existing diverse ways of working.   

16. Members undertake not to use their Guild membership in any way to endorse any CD, remedy, book, download, or other product that they manufacture, distribute or sell, without written permission from the Guild. The Guild cannot undertake to test and evaluate health-related products.  

17. Members should conduct all their activities subject to the relevant laws of the countries or places in which they operate. If a person provides services across borders and they are legal in one country and not in another, this should be made clear by the provider (for example, radionics for treating people is illegal in the USA but legal in Canada and the UK).  

18. Members working with children or vulnerable adults should be appropriately registered and vetted by the authorities in countries (such as the UK) where appropriate vetting and registration schemes exist, whether or not they are compulsory.  Also, when treating children or vulnerable adults there should always be another person present who is either the client’s parent or guardian, or another responsible person who is also appropriately registered and vetted. Any appropriate laws should be followed strictly at all times. 

19. Members should not touch clients in any way that could be misinterpreted. If your therapy or practice involves the use of touch you should have appropriate professional insurance for that therapy and should explain to clients in advance what you are going to do and why.  

20. Members undertake to be explicit to clients about their involvement in any metaphysical or spiritual organisation or sect when this has an impact on their practice, for example if they teach meditation or spiritual philosophy according to the teachings or practice of a particular sect, this should be made clear.  Clients should not be discouraged from discovering other similar or alternative practices on their own.  Members should not present or teach their method as “the only correct” way of meditating or doing any other spiritual activity.   

21. Members undertake not to use Guild membership for the purposes of recruiting clients or members of the public to any religion or sect.  If a client knows that the member belongs to a certain sect and wishes to learn more about it, the client should be referred to another member of the sect to deal with the enquiry, or be given the relevant general contact details.  Reiki is not considered to be a sect or religion for the purpose of this clause.  

22. Members who also belong to other organisations should work according to the ethics of those other organisations when engaged in any relevant activity.  If the codes of ethics of more than one organisation make conflicting demands on the practitioner, he/she should seek clarification and advice from the organisations concerned.  If a practitioner belongs to two or more organisations that make rules about the same behaviour, but having different levels of strictness, the strictest approach should be followed. 

23. Members are encouraged to further their continuing professional development in as many ways as possible. The true professional never stops learning.  

24. Members should not participate in any activity that involves cruelty or harm to animals.  Any animal materials used for healing purposes, etc. should be obtained from humane sources.  Healing for animals should only be offered as a complementary service and not as a substitute for veterinary care.  Owners of ill or diseased animals should always be advised to consult a veterinarian. Healers should not attempt to treat skin conditions in animals as they can be symptoms of serious and/or contagious illnesses, some of which might pose risk to humans. 

25. Members should not administer any remedy that is ingested, applied to the skin, or physically absorbed in any way unless they are suitably qualified in the relevant therapy and insured for the use of those particular remedies.  Members are reminded that the Guild is not an organisation for “physical”  therapists of any kind, and such practitioners should be members of suitable professional bodies, though such practitioners are welcome to join the Guild in addition if their work has a spiritual or metaphysical dimension. 

26. Members should only work with clients if they are fluent in the client’s language or if the client is fluent in the therapist’s language, unless a competent translator is present who has a working knowledge of the relevant therapy.   

27. Members agree to report immediately to the Guild any of the following concerning themselves: allegations of any therapy-related offence or misconduct by the member;  allegations of any criminal offence by the member (except minor motoring or other minor offences for which fixed penalty fines are issued); any other convictions (except those regarded as “spent” by law); any public liability or professional indemnity insurance claims lodged by the member; and being struck off from membership of any professional body.  If you are in doubt whether something should be reported, then it should be reported.  Members who fail to do any of these risk immediate suspension or cancellation of membership and must immediately cease to use the Guild qualifications, logo and certificates until advised otherwise.

28. Expressions of any form of racism, hatred, encitement  to violence, or anti-Semitism shall be grounds for dismissal from membership and cancellation of all certifications issued, without refund. A relevant public statement may be made on the Guild website. 

29. The Guild will not take disciplinary action where the member is already under investigation by another body (or the law enforcement authorities) for the same alleged conduct.  Instead the Guild may decide to suspend the member pending the outcome, when the Guild will decide what action to take.  

30. The Guild reserves the right to refuse membership to any person without giving a reason.

31. All certificates and qualifications issued by the Guild shall remain Guild property and may be used as long as the member is in good standing.  In the case of alleged breach of discipline or other circumstance requiring the Guild to request the return of certificates, they must be returned promptly.  Members should not alter their certificates or add to them in any way.  The certificate designs are Guild copyright – photographs or scans of your certificates must not be published on your website or in your literature without permission in writing from the Guild. 

32. If a course receives accreditation from the Guild, it must be made clear in the course literature and in the school/college literature that the accreditation is private and not government-recognised.

33. Members agree to be responsible for their own welfare and to stop or temporarily cease providing services to clients if they are unable to do so because of illness or changes in circumstances that would interfere with their practice.

34. We will check Members’ email addresses at intervals of approx. one year.  Members should advise the Guild if they intend to be unavailable for a significant period of time (a reason need not be given).  If a member fails to respond to emails and/or emails bounce over a period of a month, and we have not heard from the member for a year, we will delete the member’s entry. 

35. Members agree to be subscribed to an email newsletter which will be the main means of conveying general news and announcements to members.  The member’s entry may be deleted if a news email bounces, but can be reinstated on request when we have the member’s new email address. The newsletter may contain advertising of possible interest to members, and members may announce their own courses, services and products via this newsletter when its readership is large enough.  However your email address will not be sold or used for spam purposes.

36. This code of ethics is a work in progress and may change over time.  

 go to top

Section B – Special Circumstances

(i)            Psychic phone lines and premium numbers

Members should not own, run or be employed in any enterprise that offers psychic telephone lines using premium rate numbers.  However, self-employed members may offer advice, guidance and counselling services using 07-type personal numbers or mobile numbers where appropriate, but not premium rate (09-type) numbers.  The definition of premium rate number shall be the one applied by the telecommunications company or network or any relevant telecommunications watchdog, regulatory, Trading Standards or consumer protection body.

(ii)           Predictions

Members should never make any predictions of death, disaster or accident under any circumstances.  In particular, you should be aware that predictions of crashes, explosions, etc. are irresponsible.  In today’s security-conscious climate, such announcements may cause panic and security alerts, and may be thought to be hoaxes likely to attract maximum attention from law enforcement authorities and possibly criminal penalties.  If you seriously believe, on the basis of your intuition,  that a client should not go on a particular journey, your advice should be given in a roundabout way without making any specific prediction.

(iii)         Members providing entertainment or broadcasting

Guild membership and Guild-awarded certificates (Guild Certified awards) should not be used in connection with any form of public or private entertainment including stage hypnosis, parties, stag or hen nights, pub psychic evenings, cruise ship shows, radio or television broadcasting (including religious shows), corporate events, competitions, etc.  The mention of religious shows is because the Guild includes many paths, and wishes to avoid the impression, which could be given by a Guild-linked religious show, that the Guild supports or is linked with one particular religion or the opinions of one particular broadcaster or interviewee. 

(iv)          Use of Symbols

Members are asked to realise that certain symbols or expressions they might favour using may not be well received by clients from different cultural backgrounds, and care should be taken not to use such sensitive expressions when inappropriate (for example, non-Christians should not be requested to ask Jesus for help;  Hindu or pagan deities should not be invoked for Christians, and the cross should never be used as a healing symbol for Jews; the name “Jehovah” is only used by some Christians, and not by Jews. Muslims do not appeal to any power or guide except Allah.)  If any procedure involves a form of prayer or a request to the Supreme Being for help, the client should be asked initially what sacred names or phrases would be appropriate to use.  Members should ascertain that the client is comfortable with their approach and answer any questions regarding it.  Members should not assume that the client practises or believes in any particular faith (if in doubt – ask.)  Clients will vary in their degree of observance of their own faith or tradition, and their openness to other views and models.  Some clients have eclectic spiritual beliefs or even have an outlook that combines two or more faiths. It should be noted, though, that in an altered state of consciousness (e.g. trance or regression) clients may perceive symbols or figures that are outside their conscious culture.

(v)           Use of Titles

After much thought, it has been decided that the Guild will not list members’ titles (such as Doctor, Professor, Reverend, Swami, Sensei, etc.) in any public lists of members, and will only list Guild membership letters and Guild-certified awards after the member’s name.  In this way, the Guild is acting in a similar way to certain other UK and US therapy organisations, and is only providing information on its own qualifications. 

This policy avoids us having to verify and find out about thousands of possible titles and qualifications and to constantly update our records as people’s qualifications change or are affected by laws and regulations elsewhere.  Also, it avoids various dilemmas and legal minefields for an international organisation – if a qualification is legal to use in one country or state but not in another, or for one therapy and not another, should it be displayed and will this lead to problems for the member or for the Guild?

The policy will also avoid the existence of any “class system” within the Guild based upon having higher academic or theological qualifications which often bear no relation to the spiritual gifts and/or talents of the member.  It will also avoid the situation of a member without a degree being in awe of another member introducing himself/herself as “Professor Doctor” or “Reverend Doctor”, or one member insisting that (s)he is entitled to a specific high form of address whilst another member with similar status is quite relaxed about just using his/her name.   

We urge the style of communication between members to be informal wherever possible, using first names, as is common in English-speaking countries and increasingly in international contacts.  However we do recognise that certain cultures preserve a greater degree of formality.

Members will still be asked to supply details of their qualifications when applying for membership, as naturally we are interested in your knowledge and achievements and they are an essential part of your application.  Many of us will have higher degrees and titles, but the Guild will strive to be a guild of equals with different gifts.

You will also be free to use whatever qualifications you have on your own website and in your own business literature and advertising, etc, alongside the Guild membership letters, as long as they are reasonable and not misleading.  And by all means, you are encouraged to earn more qualifications! 

However, it is your responsibility to be aware of any relevant restrictions within your state, country or profession and to use your qualifications in a way that is fair.  For example in the UK, in January 2008 a voluntary regulatory body for hypnotherapists voted to restrict use of the titles Doctor, Reverend and Professor.  If you are a hypnotherapist in the UK who might be affected by this decision, you should look out for guidance on this matter from your professional hypnotherapy organisation.

In the UK, unless you are medically qualified and registered to practise medicine, the title “Doctor” should not be used in any way that could suggest it is a medical qualification, and an explanation should be given for the use of the title.  We recommend avoiding the use of the title “Doctor” before the name, and giving an explanation of any doctoral initials used after the name, such as “Doctor of Philosophy in…” or “Honorary Doctor of Divinity”.  In the UK, doctorates from non-UK universities should also be noted as such, for example, “holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from an overseas university”.

Knighthoods, medals and aristocratic titles should not be used in connection with therapy or metaphysical practice, even if they are issued by a religious or esoteric organisation.

The matter of use of tiles, initials, etc. will be kept under review as various professional groups and/or authorities issue guidelines from time to time.

These guidelines do not mean that we disapprove of titles.  The Guild has no collective opinion about them. However we wish to be responsive to indications about the issue from within the world of therapies and complementary medicine especially in the UK where the Guild is based at present and where we hope to have a growing membership.

Disciplinary Action

Where a possible breach of the code of ethics or an allegation of gross misconduct is brought to the attention of the Guild, the Guild Executive will first seek an informal explanation from the Member.  If this is not satisfactory, or if the Guild decides that an investigation is necessary, the Guild may co-opt an ad-hoc committee consisting of Founder Members which may convene by any feasible means (including teleconferencing or a secure Internet link) to consider the matter.

If the committee considers there is a case to answer, the Member will be advised of the procedures.  Members against whom an infringement is reported will be responsible for bearing the cost of any expenses relating to any investigation of their conduct, though every attempt will be made to minimise such expenses.  If expenses are likely to be significant the member will be presented with an estimate, and will have the opportunity to decide whether to proceed or whether to withdraw from the Guild.  Members will be bound by the decisions of the Guild. 

A fuller statement on disciplinary action will be elaborated at a later date.

 go to top