Medical Referrals – A Necessary Precaution

Recently I have been contacted by several clients who have gone to other hypnotists for help with losing weight, over 100 pounds in some cases. I asked those clients for the name and phone number of their primary physician, so I could get a referral to treat their weight issues. The clients questioned why I needed a referral when other hypnotists did need the referral. Here is a story about a hypnotist who was a neighbor of an accountant working during tax season. The accountant was suffering from a constant headache and called the hypnotist to relieve the headache. The hypnotist resolved the headache. A few days later, a deputy sheriff arrested the hypnotist for practicing medicine without a license.

What happened? The accountant's headache was due to an aneurism. A doctor might have treated the aneurism, but the hypnotist alleviated the symptom, and the accountant died.

Now, you see why I ask for referrals on anything that has the potential for a medical etiology.

Suppose you are less than 20 pounds over your ideal weight. In that case, most medical professionals consider 20 pounds or less to be vanity weight, and I do not necessarily ask for a referral. However, I regularly ask for medical referrals if you are more than the 20-pound cutoff. Once I receive them, the doctor's recommendation for hypnosis services covers me. It is the right and ethical thing to do.