State Laws for Hypnotherapists in Colorado

Summary

Disclaimer: The following summary is a non-legal interpretation of how the hypnotherapy authors interpret the law as it applies for hypnotherapists. This is not a substitute for legal advice.

In Colorado, practicing psychology includes activities like counseling, psychotherapy, and hypnosis, which require a license. The law does not clearly state if hypnotherapy is only for licensed psychologists, as many people use psychological principles in various fields. Unlicensed psychotherapists must register with the state, but this stopped in 2020. Hypnotherapists can still practice if they comply with alternative and complementary health-care laws, focusing on vocational and avocational self-improvement.

Many unlicensed individuals in Colorado advertise hypnotherapy services online.

Legal Case Highlights

As of the date of this publication, we were unable to find any known legal cases in this state where someone has faced legal action just for practicing hypnosis or hypnotherapy. (Unless there was a legal case in that state.)

Hypnotherapists

Important Note: Estimating the number of hypnotherapists practicing in any state is difficult if there is no state licensing or registration act in that state. This resource provides very rough estimates that are grossly under reported by Googling hypnotherapists who are actively advertising in that state.

As of 2024, there are approximately 118 hypnotherapists practicing/advertising in the State of Colorado.

Laws and Regulations

C.R.S. 12-245-303. Practice of psychology defined.

1. For the purposes of this part 3, the “practice of psychology” means the observation, description, evaluation, interpretation, or modification of human behavior by the application of psychological principles, methods, or procedures, for the purpose of:
   1. Preventing, eliminating, evaluating, assessing, or predicting symptomatic, maladaptive, or undesired behavior;
   2. Evaluating, assessing, or facilitating the enhancement of individual, group, or organizational effectiveness, including personal effectiveness, adaptive behavior, interpersonal relationships, work and life adjustment, health, and individual, group, or organizational performance; or
   3. Providing clinical information to be utilized in legal proceedings.
2. The practice of psychology includes:
   1. Psychological testing and the evaluation or assessment of personal characteristics such as intelligence; personality; cognitive, physical, or emotional abilities; skills; interests; aptitudes; and neuropsychological functioning;
   2. Counseling, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, hypnosis, biofeedback, and behavior analysis and therapy;
   3. Diagnosis, treatment, and management of behavioral, mental, or emotional health disorders or disabilities; substance use disorders; and disorders of habit or conduct, as well as of the psychological aspects of physical illness, accident, injury, or disability;
   4. Psychoeducational evaluation, therapy, and remediation;
   5. Consultation with physicians, other health-care professionals, and patients regarding all available treatment options with respect to provision of care for a specific patient or client;
   6. The provision of direct services to individuals or groups for the purpose of enhancing individual and thereby organizational effectiveness, using psychological principles, methods, or procedures to assess and evaluate individuals on personal characteristics for individual development or behavior change or for making decisions about the individual, such as selection; and
   7. The supervision of any of the practices described in this subsection (2).
3. Psychological services may be rendered to individuals, families, groups, organizations, institutions, the public, and the courts.
4. The practice of psychology shall be construed within the meaning of this definition without regard to whether payment is received for services rendered.

C.R.S. 12-245-202. Definitions.

As used in this article 245, unless the context otherwise requires:…

1. “Psychotherapy” or “psychotherapy services” means the treatment, diagnosis, testing, assessment, or counseling in a professional relationship to assist individuals or groups to alleviate behavioral and mental health disorders, understand unconscious or conscious motivation, resolve emotional, relationship, or attitudinal conflicts, or modify behaviors that interfere with effective emotional, social, or intellectual functioning. Psychotherapy follows a planned procedure of intervention that takes place on a regular basis, over a period of time, or in the cases of testing, assessment, and brief psychotherapy, psychotherapy can be a single intervention.
2. It is the intent of the general assembly that the definition of psychotherapy as used in this article 245 be interpreted in its narrowest sense to regulate only those persons who clearly fall within the definition set forth in this subsection (14).

12-245-703. Database of unlicensed psychotherapists - unauthorized practice - penalties - data collection - rules.

1. The board shall maintain a database of all unlicensed psychotherapists. The board shall charge a fee in the same manner as authorized in section 12-20-105 for recording information in the database as required by this section. Information in the database maintained pursuant to this section is open to public inspection at all times.
2. Repealed.
3. 1. Before July 14, 2020, a person not otherwise licensed, registered, or certified pursuant to this article 245 who is practicing psychotherapy in this state shall register with the board by submitting the person’s name, current address, educational qualifications, disclosure statements, therapeutic orientation or methodology, or both, and years of experience in each specialty area. Upon receipt and review of the required information, the board may approve the psychotherapist for registration in the database required by subsection (1) of this section. An unlicensed psychotherapist shall update this information upon renewal of the practitioner’s registration and at other times and under conditions specified by the board by rule. At the time of recording the information required by this section, the unlicensed psychotherapist shall indicate whether the unlicensed psychotherapist has been convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, any felony or misdemeanor.
   2. A person registered as an unlicensed psychotherapist pursuant to this part 7 before July 14, 2020, and who meets the requirements of this section may renew his or her registration and continue to practice as an unlicensed psychotherapist.
4. An unlicensed person whose primary practice is psychotherapy or who holds himself or herself out to the public as able to practice psychotherapy for compensation shall not practice psychotherapy unless the person is registered with the board and included in the database required by this section. Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, an unlicensed psychotherapist shall not use the term “licensed”, “certified”, “clinical”, “state-approved”, or any other term or abbreviation that would falsely give the impression that the psychotherapist or the service that is being provided is recommended by the state, based solely on inclusion in the database.
5. The board shall not register a person pursuant to this section unless the person has successfully completed a jurisprudence examination developed and approved by the division.
6. Any unlicensed person who practices psychotherapy without first complying with the registration requirements of this section is subject to penalties pursuant to section 12-20-407 (1)(a).

C.R.S. 6-1-724. Unlicensed alternative health-care practitioners – deceptive trade practices – short title – legislative declaration – definitions.

1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Colorado Natural Health Consumer Protection Act”.
2. The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:
   1. According to a July 2009 report from the national institute of health’s national center for complementary and alternative medicine, which was based on 2007 survey data:
      1. Thirty-eight percent of Americans use complementary and alternative medicine; and
      2. Americans spent nearly thirty-four billion dollars in out-of-pocket costs in a twelve-month period for complementary and alternative medicine;
   2. It is estimated that more than one million five hundred thousand Coloradans currently receive a substantial volume of health-care services from complementary and alternative health-care practitioners;
   3. Those studies further indicate that individuals who use complementary and alternative health-care services represent a wide variety of age, ethnic, socioeconomic, and other demographic categories;
   4. Although complementary and alternative health-care practitioners are not regulated by the state and are not required to obtain a state-issued license, certification, or registration, the provision of alternative health-care services in some circumstances may be interpreted as the provision of a health-care service that only a professional who is licensed or otherwise regulated by the state may perform, thereby subjecting complementary and alternative health-care practitioners to potential fines, penalties, and restrictions of their practices even though their practices do not pose an imminent and discernable risk of significant harm to public health and safety;
   5. Because the state recognizes and values the freedom of consumers to choose their health-care providers, including the ability to choose a person who is not regulated by the state, the intent of this section is to protect consumer choice and, in consideration of the public’s health and safety, to remove technical barriers to access to unregulated health-care practitioners and include appropriate consumer protections and disclosures as required in this section; and
   6. Nothing in this section:
      1. Requires a person engaged in complementary and alternative health care to obtain a license, certification, or registration from the state as long as the person practices within the parameters of this section;
      2. Limits the public’s right to access complementary and alternative health-care practitioners or the right of an unregulated complementary and alternative health-care practitioner to practice.
3. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
   1. “Complementary and alternative health-care practitioner” means a person who provides complementary and alternative health-care services in accordance with this section and who is not licensed, certified, or registered by the state as a health-care professional.
   2. 1. “Complementary and alternative health-care services” means advice and services:
         1. Within the broad domain of health-care and healing arts therapies and methods that are based on complementary and alternative theories of health and wellness, including those that are traditional, cultural, religious, or integrative; and
         2. That are not prohibited by subsection (6) of this section.
      2. “Complementary and alternative health-care services” include:
         1. Healing practices using food; food extracts; dietary supplements, as defined in the federal “Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994”, Pub.L. 103-417; nutrients; homeopathic remedies and preparations; and the physical forces of heat, cold, water, touch, sound, and light;
         2. Stress reduction healing practices; and
         3. Mind-body and energetic healing practices.
            3. “Health-care professional” means a person engaged in a health-care profession for which the state requires the person to obtain a license, certification, or registration under title 12, C.R.S., in order to engage in the health-care profession.
4. This section applies to any person who is not licensed, certified, or registered by the state as a health-care professional and who is practicing complementary and alternative health-care services.
5. 1. A person who is not licensed, certified, or registered by the state as a health-care professional and who is practicing complementary and alternative health-care services consistent with this section does not violate any statute relating to a health-care profession or professional practice act unless the person:
      1. Engages in an activity prohibited in subsection (6) of this section; or
      2. Fails to fulfill the disclosure duties specified in subsection (7) of this section.
   2. A complementary and alternative health-care practitioner who engages in an activity prohibited by subsection (6) of this section is subject to the enforcement provisions, civil penalties, and damages specified in part 1 of this article, is no longer exempt from laws regulating the practice of health-care professionals under title 12, C.R.S., and may be subject to penalties for unauthorized practice of a state-regulated health-care profession.
   3. A person who fails to comply with subsection (7) of this section is subject to the enforcement provisions, civil penalties, and damages specified in part 1 of this article.
6. A complementary and alternative health-care practitioner providing complementary and alternative health-care services under this section who is not licensed, certified, or registered by the state shall not:
   1. Perform surgery or any invasive procedure, including a procedure that requires entry into the body through skin, puncture, mucosa, incision, or other intrusive method, except as permitted under paragraph (g) of this subsection (6);
   2. Administer or prescribe X ray radiation to another person;
   3. Prescribe, administer, inject, dispense, suggest, or recommend a prescription or legend drug or a controlled substance or device identified in the federal “Controlled Substances Act”, 21 U.S.C. sec. 801 et seq., as amended;
   4. Use general or spinal anesthetics, other than topical anesthetics;
   5. Administer ionizing radioactive substances for therapeutic purposes;
   6. Use a laser device that punctures the skin, incises the body, or is otherwise used as an invasive instrument. If a complementary and alternative health-care practitioner uses a laser device as a noninvasive instrument, the laser device must be cleared by the federal food and drug administration for over-the-counter use.
   7. Perform enemas or colonic irrigation unless the complementary and alternative health-care practitioner:
      1. Maintains board certification through the international association of colon hydrotherapy or the national board for colon hydrotherapy or their successor entities;
      2. Discloses that he or she is not a physician licensed pursuant to article 240 of title 12; and
      3. Recommends that the client have a relationship with a licensed physician;
   8. Practice midwifery;
   9. Practice psychotherapy, as defined in section 12-245-202 (14);
   10. Perform spinal adjustment, manipulation, or mobilization;
   11. Provide optometric procedures or interventions that constitute the practice of optometry, as defined in article 275 of title 12;
   12. Directly administer medical protocols to a pregnant woman or to a client who has cancer;
   13. Treat a child who is under two years of age;
   14. Treat a child who is two years of age or older but less than eight years of age unless the complementary and alternative health-care practitioner:
       1. Obtains the written, signed consent of the child’s parent or legal guardian;
       2. Discloses that he or she is not a physician licensed pursuant to article 240 of title 12;
       3. Recommends that the child have a relationship with a licensed pediatric health-care provider; and
       4. Requests permission from the parent or legal guardian for the complementary and alternative health-care practitioner to attempt to develop and maintain a collaborative relationship with the child’s licensed pediatric health-care provider, if the child has a relationship with a licensed pediatric health-care provider;
   15. Provide dental procedures or interventions that constitute the practice of dentistry, as defined in article 220 of title 12;
   16. Set fractures;
   17. Practice or represent that he or she is practicing massage or massage therapy as defined in article 235 of title 12;
   18. Provide a conventional medical disease diagnosis to a client;
   19. Recommend the discontinuation of a course of care, including a prescription drug, that was recommended or prescribed by a health-care professional; or
   20. Hold oneself out as, state, indicate, advertise, or imply to a client or prospective client that he or she is a physician, surgeon, or both, or that he or she is a health-care professional who is licensed, certified, or registered by the state.
7. 1. Any person providing complementary and alternative health-care services in this state who is not licensed, certified, or registered by the state as a health-care professional is not regulated by a professional board or the division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory agencies pursuant to title 12, C.R.S., and is advertising or charging a fee for health-care services shall provide to each client during the initial client contact the following information in a plainly worded written statement:
      1. The complementary and alternative health-care practitioner’s name, business address, telephone number, and any other contact information for the practitioner;
      2. The fact that the complementary and alternative health-care practitioner is not licensed, certified, or registered by the state as a health-care professional;
      3. The nature of the complementary and alternative health-care services to be provided;
      4. A listing of any degrees, training, experience, credentials, or other qualifications the person holds regarding the complementary and alternative health-care services he or she provides;
      5. A statement that the client should discuss any recommendations made by the complementary and alternative health-care practitioner with the client’s primary care physician, obstetrician, gynecologist, oncologist, cardiologist, pediatrician, or other board-certified physician; and
      6. A statement indicating whether or not the complementary and alternative health-care practitioner is covered by liability insurance applicable to any injury caused by an act or omission of the complementary and alternative health-care practitioner in providing complementary and alternative health-care services pursuant to this section.
   2. Before a complementary and alternative health-care practitioner provides complementary and alternative health-care services for the first time to a client, the complementary and alternative health-care practitioner shall obtain a written, signed acknowledgment from the client stating that the client has received the information described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (7). The complementary and alternative health-care practitioner shall give a copy of the acknowledgment to the client and shall retain the original or a copy of the acknowledgment for at least two years after the last date of service.
   3. A complementary and alternative health-care practitioner shall not represent in any advertisement for complementary and alternative health-care services that the complementary and alternative health-care practitioner is licensed, certified, or registered by the state as a health-care professional.
8. The following persons shall not provide complementary and alternative health-care services pursuant to this section:
   1. A health-care professional whose state-issued license, certification, or registration has been revoked or suspended by the state and has not been reinstated;
   2. A person who has been convicted of a felony for a crime against a person or a felony related to health care and who has not satisfied the terms of the sentence imposed for the crime. As used in this paragraph (b), “convicted” includes entering a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or the imposition of a deferred sentence.
   3. A person who has been deemed mentally incompetent by a court of law.
9. 1. A complementary and alternative health-care practitioner who renders complementary and alternative health-care services consistent with this section is not engaging in the practice of medicine, as defined in article 240 of title 12, and is not violating the “Colorado Medical Practice Act”, article 240 of title 12, as long as the complementary and alternative health-care practitioner does not engage in an act prohibited in subsection (6) of this section.
   2. Nothing otherwise authorizes a complementary and alternative health-care practitioner practicing within the scope of practice in this section to engage in the practice of medicine.
10. This section does not apply to or prohibit:
    1. Any licensed, certified, or registered health-care professional from practicing his or her regulated profession;
    2. The practice of health-care services that are exempt from state regulation or the provision of health-care services by a person who is exempt from state regulation; or
    3. A person from selling dietary supplements as stipulated under the federal “Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994”, Pub.L. 103-417, or other natural health-care products or advising, educating, or counseling about the structure and function of the human body and the use of natural health-care products to support health and wellness.
11. This section does not limit the right of any person to seek relief under this article or any other available civil or common law remedy for damages resulting from the negligence of a person providing complementary and alternative health-care services.
12. Nothing in this section relieves a licensed, certified, or registered health-care professional from liability arising from any injury caused by the health-care professional in the course of providing complementary or alternative health-care services.
13. Nothing in this section prevents a consumer from obtaining nutritional information from a nutritionist employed by or under contract with a health food store or wellness center or the nutritionist from providing nutritional information to the consumer.
14. A violation of this section constitutes a deceptive trade practice under this article.

Notes

1. It is unclear whether hypnotherapy involves “the application of psychological principles, methods or procedures” – which is required to be part of the “practice of psychology” under C.R.S. 12-245-303. Also, the phrase “the application of psychological principles, methods or procedures” is vague and broad so that it is unreasonable to assume that this is exclusively the domain of licensed psychologists. Almost everyone uses basic application of psychological principles in fields, for example, like advertising, human resources, training programs, etc.
2. It cannot be the case that the things listed under C.R.S. 12-245-303 – such as hypnosis – are meant to be exclusively reserved to licensed psychologists. Otherwise, only licensed psychologists would be permitted to evaluate intelligence (something teachers also do), assess abilities (something coaches, counselors, art critics, and many others do), etc.
3. We are not aware of any cases in which a person in Colorado has gotten into legal trouble just for practicing hypnosis or hypnotherapy.
4. Google searches reveal a number of unlicensed individuals advertising hypnotherapy services in Colorado.
5. C.R.S. 12-245-303 is a “Titling Act” that outlines what licensed psychologists can do. It does not outline what everyone else other than licensed psychologists can and cannot do.

6. Colorado changed its law regarding the registration of unlicensed psychotherapists in 2020. See 12-245-703 above. Prior to that, hypnotherapists were allowed to (although it does not seem were required to) register with the state of Colorado as “unlicensed psychotherapists” and, then, they could even do what was referred to as “psychotherapy” (perhaps in addition to vocational and avocational self-improvement). In 2020, Colorado stopped allowing any more unlicensed hypnotherapists to register as “unlicensed psychotherapists.”When we wrote to the relevant state agency (the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies) about this, the reply seems to indicate that unlicensed hypnotherapists (who were not previously registered prior to 2020 as unlicensed psychotherapists) can no longer do “psychotherapy” – but they can do other things (vocational and avocational self-improvement?) if they comply with Colorado’s alternative and complementary health-care laws disclosure and other requirements. See C.R.S. 6-1-724 above.

   It is true that prior to 2020, the Colorado application packet for the registration of unlicensed psychotherapists did include “hypnotherapy” in a sample “summary of current psychotherapies.” However, the definition of “hypnotherapy” contained in that application packet was so narrow that it would appear not to include hypnosis for vocational and avocational self- improvement:

   “Current Psychotherapies:… 1. Psychoanalysis:…. 10. Hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is a mechanism that effectively lifts repression, uncovers memories, encourages abreactions (the re-experiencing of a previous emotional event) and dreaming (in terms of affective experiencing), enhances both motivation and a working alliance, and is also effective in activating a rapid transference reaction. Hypnotherapy can also be defined as a deepening of a normal psychophysiological phenomenon through an intense focusing of attention upon a specific inner or outer stimulus …”. So, it seems reasonable to interpret Colorado law to continue to allow unlicensed hypnotherapists to do hypnosis/hypnotherapy for issues – such as vocational and avocational self-improvement – that do not rise to the level of being “psychotherapy” for emotional and mental disorders.

7. It would seem to make sense that hypnotherapy could fall under – and be allowed under – Colorado’s alternative and complementary health-care Law. See C.R.S. 6-1-724 above. Even Harvard Medical School considers hypnotherapy to be “alternative” and “complementary”. See: https://www.health.harvard.edu/alternative-and-integrative-health/could-hypnotherapy-help-you Also, the Mayo Clinic calls hypnosis a “safe complementary and alternative medical treatment.” See: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/hypnosis/about/pac-20394405