Terms and conditions for a hypnotherapist

A hypnotherapy practice needs terms that deal with the matters clients dispute: blocks of sessions paid in advance and abandoned, stop smoking results that did not last, bespoke recordings shared online, and clients who disclose a diagnosis only after treatment has started. I draft those terms for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Clinical and solution focused hypnotherapists in England and Wales, working from a clinic room, from home, at the client's home or by video. Almost all of your clients are consumers, with the protections that brings. Some of you also invoice employers for stop smoking or stress programmes, and that work is business to business, so one set of terms needs to handle both.

What matters in a hypnotherapist's terms

Session blocks, prepayments and missed appointments

Most hypnotherapy is sold as a block: four sessions for smoking, six for anxiety or weight, paid in advance. The terms need to say whether the block expires, what happens when a client stops after the second session, and on what basis anything is refunded. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, keeping a prepayment on cancellation without a matching obligation on your side is on the grey list of terms that may be unfair, and so is a default charge out of proportion to your actual loss. A late cancellation fee is defensible if the notice period is stated before booking rather than only in a confirmation email.

What you can and cannot promise about results

Hypnotherapy is sold on outcomes, which is where terms and marketing can conflict. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats information the client relies on as binding, so a claim on your website about success rates or a permanent result can become a term of the contract you then have to meet. Your terms should commit you to sessions delivered with reasonable care and skill, record that results depend on the client's engagement between sessions, and make clear that hypnotherapy is not medical treatment and is not a substitute for advice from a GP. If you do offer a money back promise, it needs written boundaries.

Clients who book online, by phone or at their home

A booking taken through your website, by telephone or at the client's kitchen table is a distance or off-premises contract under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. The client has fourteen days to cancel, which will often cover the first session. You can lawfully work inside that period, but only at the client's express request, and a client who then cancels pays a proportionate amount for what you delivered. If the cancellation information is never given, the period can extend by up to twelve months. Your booking form, your confirmation email and your terms have to say the same thing.

Screening, disclosure and clients you should not treat

Your intake form is part of the contract. The terms should oblige the client to disclose medication, diagnoses such as epilepsy or psychosis, pregnancy and any current mental health care, and should give you the right to decline or stop treatment if what you are told, or not told, makes hypnotherapy inappropriate. Say what happens to fees in that situation. Cover attending under the influence of alcohol, and driving or operating machinery after a session. No set of terms can exclude liability for personal injury caused by your own negligence, so this section works by allocating responsibility for information, not by disclaiming care.

Recordings, scripts and confidentiality

Many hypnotherapists send the client a bespoke audio recording between sessions. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 that recording and your scripts belong to you unless you agree otherwise, and the terms should give the client a personal, non-transferable licence to use it, with no sharing, uploading or resale. If the recording is digital content supplied within the cancellation period, regulation 37 of the 2013 Regulations requires the client's express consent and acknowledgement. The same section should set out confidentiality, the limited circumstances in which you would break it, and the fact that detail about your records is dealt with in your privacy notice.

Employer-funded work, complaints and the details you must publish

Where an employer pays for sessions for its staff, you have two relationships: a business customer on payment terms and an individual in the chair who still owes you disclosure and attendance. The terms should separate them, say who receives what information, and use payment terms that allow interest and fixed compensation for late payment under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. The Provision of Services Regulations 2009 require you to make available your trading name and address, your professional body and your insurance details, and to deal with complaints promptly. A complaints route also sits alongside your duty under section 308 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, in force since 6 April 2026, to tell a client, when you give them the outcome of a complaint, about any dispute resolution scheme you are obliged to use.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted for your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want them checked and brought up to date. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of bespoke terms drafted for your business, reflecting the legal requirements that apply to your business and sector
• A note in plain English explaining the terms I have drafted for you
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions that protect your position and are drafted to withstand scrutiny from the other side
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly
• Your questions and comments answered by email or phone
• One round of amendments to finalise the terms ready for use

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers (I am happy to quote for this as an additional service if required)
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country
• Tax advice

Questions I am often asked

Can I advertise a money back guarantee for stop smoking sessions?

You can, provided you are prepared to honour it as written. A promise made in your advertising can bind you as a contract term, so the guarantee needs conditions set out before the client books: attendance at every session, use of the recording, and a defined window for claiming. Conditions added after a claim is made will not help you.

I see clients by video who live abroad. Does that change my terms?

It can. I draft terms governed by the law of England and Wales, which is what I am qualified to advise on. A consumer sitting in another country may still have protections there that apply whatever your terms say, so if overseas clients are a large part of your practice, that is worth taking local advice on before you market to them.

A client wants to record our sessions on their phone. Should I allow it?

That is a decision to make in the terms rather than in the room. Many hypnotherapists permit recording for the client's own use only, with no publishing or sharing, and require written agreement in advance. If you record for your own notes, say so and obtain consent. Either way, silence on the point causes problems later.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Data protection agreements and privacy terms, £795
• Ask Caesar, £495 a month
• Terms and conditions for a massage or complementary therapist

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.