We did it! Skirmish Won...Battle Not Over

Thank you to all who joined in the effort to defeat HB4039 in Florida. This could have been devastating to our profession. Obviously, as shown below, it has suddenly become unpopular to keep the original stance. We showed our lawmakers that we are professionals, take pride in our work and have no intention of going down without a fight. Now he is trying to help us?? Read on. We will continue to keep our eyes open here in Florida for any other stealth bills. We will continue toward the goal of Hypnotism as a respected, stand-alone profession that needs no connection with any other mental health areas, such as psychotherapy and psychiatry.

Here is the letter all who wrote to Rep. Diaz received this morning.

February 1, 2011

To whom it may concern:

First of all, I want to thank you for contacting me
regarding HB 4039. If you are receiving this email, it is because you have recently contacted me to express your concerns about my proposed legislation.

I have received dozens of emails from concerned citizens who would like to know what my intentions were with HB 4039. As I have mentioned to several of you over the telephone, this year, the Florida House was tasked with cleaning up our statutes to make sure that there were no duplicative, superfluous, or excessive regulations. I proposed HB 4039 to help de-regulate what I felt was an over-complicated and excessive regulation, which currently criminalizes the practice of hypnosis without a medical degree (or under the supervision of same).

My proposed legislation originally intended to only get rid of Chapter 485, but the deletion of that chapter also affected Fla. Stat. 491, which has had the possible unintended consequence of further limiting the practice of hypnosis. That was never my intent.

Though there are several other references to hypnosis in Florida Statute and in the Florida Administrative Code, I would like to point out that Chapter 485, which was the main subject of my proposal, severely limits hypnosis and makes the practice of same illegal for almost anyone who is not a licensed medical doctor, psychiatrist, dentist, chiropractor, etc. The only exception is that someone can practice hypnosis under the supervision and legal responsibility of those certain medical practitioners. See Fla. Stat. 485.003(3) for complete list.

My understanding is that the fear of malpractice, civil liability, and revocation of licenses make it a rare occurrence for many of these medical practitioners to refer such work out to lay hypnotists and/or hypnotists with national certifications. In fact, there appears to be no licensing in Florida for lay hypnotists.

In these rough economic times, I know how important it is to preserve Florida's work force. As I mentioned before, my intent was never to threaten anyone's career or profession. It is for all these reasons that I am going to withdraw HB 4039. I certainly do not wish to cause any further strife or confusion. I applaud you for your diligent grassroots efforts and wish you luck in all your future endeavors.

Kind regards,

Jose Felix Diaz
State Representative, District 115
jose.diaz@myfloridahouse.gov

Links for those interested in FL Law to Prohibit the Practice of Hypnotism by non psychologists

You can download a PDF copy of the legislative change that has been requested at http://www.ngh.net/downloads/HB4039FL.pdf (HB 4039) - It would wipe out your ability to practice your profession in your state.

Here's a link to get the information on the Health and Human Services Subcommittee which has email links to each member:

http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Committees/committeesdetail.aspx?SessionId=66&CommitteeId=2612

When you click on the link to the above website, you will then need to click on the individual representative to get the email link. You send your email from there.

It has also been suggested that we contact the Speaker of the House to bring more attention to this action. Here is the link:

http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/contentViewer.aspx?Category=SpeakersMessage&File=contact.htm

Florida Hypnotists in Danger of Losing Their Right to Practice!

Once again, someone is trying to take away our right to practice in the State of Florida. I even saw a website where the mention of the law was to create a situation that would exclude those "crack hypnotists". We need the voters in the State of Florida to realize that now, even if they want to stop smoking or biting their fingernails, or improve their golf swing, they are going to have to get an appointment with a psychologist. Of course, health insurance is not going to want to cover those issues or your fear of public speaking, but fees will be higher and sessions will be shorter, and good luck finding a psychologist who has put in the time to train and do all the continuing education that National Guild of Hypnotists members do.

Below is some information on the new bill and an exerpt from a letter sent to members by the NGH. If you are a client of a hypnotist or a Professional Hypnotist, contact your State Representative now! In my next post, I will provide the links you can use to even just send a quick email.

As filed by Jose-Felix Diaz, Republican out of Miami-Dade county, district 115.

It is currently in the Health & Human Services Quality Subcommittee of the Health & Human Services Committee. Diaz is on the subcommittee, but not on the committee.

Title: Repeals Hypnosis Law.

The bill number is 4039. You may track it here.

Below is an exerpt from a communication sent by the National Guild of Hypnotists.

On 1/27/11 2:04 PM, GFKein wrote:
National Guild of Hypnotists
Member Notice

Attn: NGH Florida Hypnotists
Sent:
January 27, 2011

NGH Communications Department

NGH President
Dr. Dwight Damon

Greetings,

As the old saying goes, there is good news and there is bad news. In this case the good news is that we received word about the bad news as soon as it started, thanks to an alert member, James Carnes.

There is a submitted change in the Florida legislature to the exemption that we now practice under. You can download a PDF copy of the legislative change that has been requested at http://www.ngh.net/downloads/HB4039FL.pdf (HB 4039) - It would wipe out your ability to practice your profession in your state...............................................


................Through the years, starting with Orlando's Joe B. McCawley legislative battles in the 60's, there have been a lot of roadblocks thrown at us in Florida, but we persevered and came out on top.
Dr. Dwight Damon

Dr. Dwight F. Damon, President
NFH local 104, OPEIU, AFL/CIO, CLC