Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to regulate the demonstration of hypnotic phenomena for purposes of public entertainment. |
---|---|
Citation | 15 & 16 Geo. 6 & 1 Eliz. 2. c. 46 |
Territorial extent |
|
Dates | |
Royal assent | 1 August 1952 |
Commencement | 1 April 1953 |
Status: Amended | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Hypnotism Act 1952 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Hypnotism Act 1952 (15 & 16 Geo. 6 & 1 Eliz. 2. c. 46) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. [1]
The act regulates stage hypnosis ("exhibition, demonstration or performance of hypnotism" for public entertainment).
The act has three primary parts – provisions applying to England and Wales, to Scotland, and to Great Britain as a whole.
In England and Wales, the act disallows the performance of hypnosis in a public place, unless given permission by the local authority, or they may be liable to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale, currently £1000.
In Scotland, the act gives the authority to any local authority to provide licences to theatres to allow the performance of hypnosis at that location.
In the UK (excluding NI), the act prohibits hypnosis being knowingly performed on those under 18 (originally 21) or be subject to a level 3 fine. The act also allows for any police officer to enter a location where "entertainment is held" if the officer has cause to believe this act is being contravened.
The act continues to allow for hypnosis to be used without a license if it is being used for research purposes (e.g. for the treatment of a mental or physical disease).
In 2024 the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton agreed to a request from a comedy hypnotist to overturn a policy it had introduced in the 1980s of refusing the permission required under the 1952 act. [2] The Guardian's report on the matter said that most other councils had in previous decades either stopped enforcing the act or given perfunctory approval as a matter of course. [2]
Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention, reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.
Milton Hyland Erickson was an American psychiatrist and psychologist specializing in medical hypnosis and family therapy. He was the founding president of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis. He is noted for his approach to the unconscious mind as creative and solution-generating. He is also noted for influencing brief therapy, strategic family therapy, family systems therapy, solution focused brief therapy, and neuro-linguistic programming.
James Braid was a Scottish surgeon, natural philosopher, and "gentleman scientist".
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Self-hypnosis or auto-hypnosis is a form, a process, or the result of a self-induced hypnotic state.
The Licensing Act 2003 is an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act establishes a single integrated scheme for licensing premises in England and Wales used to sell or supply of alcohol, provide regulated entertainment, or provide late night refreshment. It allows some or all of these licensable activities to be contained in a single licence—the premises licence—that replaced other schemes. Responsibility for issuing licences is given to local authorities, specifically London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs, unitary authorities, and district councils, who took over this power from the justices of the peace under a system of licensing committees. It came into effect midnight, 24 November 2005.
Roy Masters was an English-born American author, radio personality, businessman and hypnotist. He was the creator of a type of mindfulness meditation exercise, which has appeared in his books and recordings. Masters is the founder of the Oregon non-profit organization, The Foundation of Human Understanding. His forays into radio broadcasting included his own show, Advice Line, and the Talk Radio Network, a long time popular conservative talk radio syndicator.
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Stage hypnosis is hypnosis performed in front of an audience for the purposes of entertainment, usually in a theater or club. A modern stage hypnosis performance typically delivers a comedic show rather than simply a demonstration to impress an audience with powers of persuasion. Apparent effects of amnesia, mood altering and hallucination may be demonstrated in a normal presentation. Stage hypnosis performances often encourage audience members to look further into the benefits of hypnotism.
James Alexander Cannon was a British psychiatrist, occultist, hypnotist and author. He became well known in the 1930s for his occult writings and claims, and more recently for his alleged influence on King Edward VIII shortly before his abdication.
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The Hypnotist is a crime novel by the Swedish husband-wife writing team of Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril, published under the name Lars Kepler. It was first published in Sweden in 2009 and translated into English in 2011 by Ann Long. In 2012, it was adapted into a film.
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