State Laws for Hypnotherapists in Georgia

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 Georgia, the only regulation related to hypnosis is a statute that allows local governments to charge a regulatory fee to businesses or practitioners, including hypnotists, if they perform inspections or investigations to protect public health, safety, or welfare. This fee cannot be used to raise general revenue and must reflect the cost of regulatory activities.

Many unlicensed individuals in Georgia 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 92 hypnotherapists practicing/advertising in the State of Georgia.

Laws and Regulations

The only Georgia statute or regulation regarding hypnosis that research revealed was:

Ga. Code § 48-13-9

Limitation on authority of local government to impose regulatory fee; examples of those which may be subject to fees; individuals and entities not subject to fees; general laws not repealed.

1. A local government is authorized to require a business or practitioner of a profession or occupation to pay a regulatory fee only if the local government customarily performs investigation or inspection of such businesses or practitioners of such profession or occupation as protection of the public health, safety, or welfare or in the course of enforcing a state or local building, health, or safety code, but no local government is authorized to use regulatory fees as a means of raising revenue for general purposes; provided that the amount of a regulatory fee shall approximate the reasonable cost of the actual regulatory activity performed by the local government.
2. Examples of businesses or practitioners of professions or occupations which may be subject to regulatory fees of local governments include, but are expressly not limited to, the following:…

14. Hypnotists…

Notes

1. We are not aware of any cases in which a person in Georgia has gotten into legal trouble just for practicing hypnosis or hypnotherapy.
2. Google searches reveal a number of unlicensed individuals advertising hypnotherapy services in Georgia.