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| Paul McKenna Stage hypnotist Paul McKenna’s libel action against the European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis (EJCH), Michael Joseph and Tracie O’Keefe has settled. McKenna contributed £5,000 towards Michael Joseph’s costs - as well as £1,000 towards Dr O’Keefe’s - and also withdrew the accusation of malice against Mr Joseph as part of the settlement (see below). “McKenna, through his solicitors, even approached my wife Mary in order to persuade me to settle. I was not only horrified but actually scared for her health when he asked for a meeting with him, without my being present if necessary. McKenna, who also describes himself as a “highly respected hypnotherapist”, wrote to Mary just a few days after being informed in a Court Document that she was a stroke victim” said Michael Joseph. Sadly, this isn’t the end of the matter either. Tracie O’Keefe, in turn, has now issued libel proceedings against McKenna for his internet posting which, she claims, misrepresented the outcome of the settlement below. Statement in Open Court Read by McKenna's Solicitor Johnathan Coad in the High Court in London on June 14th 2000. "My Lord, in this libel action I represent the Claimant. The Claimant is a very well known professional hypnotist, who performs both on stage and on television in this country and abroad. The plaintiff also publishes self-help hypnotherapy tapes and videos, and has a private hypnotherapy practice which he carries on either without charging or on the basis that his clients make a donation to charity. The Defendants, Michael Joseph and Tracie O'Keefe are, respectively, the proprietor of the European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis and the author of an item which appeared on page 50 in issue 10 of the said journal entitled "Staging an Ethical Protest, EJCH was wrong to carry article on Paul McKenna says Tracie O'Keefe". The item criticised the European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis for publishing an article by an Angela Trainer which reviewed positively the Claimant's training courses she had attended. Mr McKenna however also took the item to mean that he was willing to act in a ruthless and callous manner akin to Adolf Hitler, and that he bribed or made an improper payment to the author of the article, Angela Trainer, to persuade her to write an article which was flattering of him. The Defendants make no such allegations against Mr McKenna, and Mr McKenna accepts that neither Dr O'Keefe nor Mr Joseph intended to make such allegations. In settling this action Mr McKenna makes no reflection on the professional integrity of Mr Joseph and Dr O'Keefe. Mr McKenna also accepts that Mr Joseph was not responsible, in fact, for the publication of the item and withdraws the accusation of malice against him as well as any suggestion that Mr Joseph conspired with Dr O'Keefe to print the said item. Since the parties have made their respective positions clear in this Statement they are here to bring this action to a conclusion. The Claimant has offered to contribute £1000 to Dr O'Keefe's costs which she has chosen to donate to good causes of her choice, and to contribute £5000 to Mr Joseph's costs. All parties acknowledge with thanks the part played by Mr Justice Morland and Mr Justice Eady in enabling this settlement to take place. My Lord, in these circumstances, the Claimant is content to let this matter rest and I ask for leave to withdraw the record". |
Internet Following on the success of the BSCH web site (www.bsch.org.uk), which is gaining an ever greater number of enquiries and referrals for therapists, some members have expressed an interest in advancing their Internet presence with a web page of their own. To satisfy this demand the BSCH has put together a package of inexpensive web page design and marketing with an experienced company. A major advantage is that your pages will be hosted from the BSCH domain to take advantage of the investments made in getting good rankings with the Internet search engines and they will be accessible from the BSCH front page. If you are interested call Hypnos Web Design on 01262 -670343 or e-mail them on connelly@hypnos.co.uk for further details. This is a highly discounted service so please remember to mention your membership of the BSCH. Smoking Cessation - ll Jaki Andrews writes: I completed the Postgraduate Diploma In April and since then my career has taken off in a big way. It was great to meet up with fellow students after a year to catch up on their news and share our experiences. One colleague passed on an opportunity to faciIitate a STOP SMOKING course for Torbay Hospital as, due to the dates being changed, she was unable to do it herself. It was set up to run one evening per week over 6 weeks with a charge of £10 -00. The course was advertised in the local paper by Torbay Hospital and a random selection of people were chosen. At the same time a random selection of people were treated with Nicotine Replacement Therapy. I used the stop smoking script on week 3 after a build-up of relaxation and motivation enhancement. In the following weeks I dealt with relapse and focussed on confidence building and positive thinking. Results: Under half of the participants dropped out along the way, four people gave up completely and the rest of the remaining participants had cut down dramatically. The results were, even within this set up, slightly higher than in the smoking cessation courses using HRT. The differences in outcome on other levels were amazing though. Participants in the “Stop smoking with Hypnosis” group reported lower stress levels, healthier life styles and feelings of being more in control of their lives after having done the course, while the participants in the HRT programme did not. Various agencies within the NHS setting are provided by the government with resources to help people to stop smoking and many smoking cessation trials seem to be runnIng throughout the UK. However, most of them seem not to take Hypnosis into account at all and I would advise everybody with an interest to get in touch with their Health Authorities and ask about such trials, studies and courses. We have moved The LCCH is now happily ensconced in new premises at 15 Connaught Square, Central London. The premises are larger, roomier, more central and our staff feel much happier working there - long may the good vibes last! |
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