So . . . Paul McKenna has sued the Mirror because he felt ridiculed when the paper called him a fraud for claiming to have a PhD when his degree comes from a diploma mill . . . McKenna ‘ridiculed’ by PhD claim . . . the university he "didn’t attend" is a well known diploma mill. He was "exempt" from classes because of his life experience. While life experience is very important, I guarantee McKenna’s so-called developments did not have same rigor of doctoral work behind them. His dissertation became his CD series? That’s not an academic work. While McKenna may not have known he was getting an unaccredited degree from a diploma mill until after the fact (although paying the tutition and not having to take any course work might be a pretty good clue), why did he continue advertizing himself as a PhD? There are a LOT of unaccredited PhDs in hypnosis . . . the thing is . . . YOU DON"T NEED TO HAVE A PHD OF ANY KIND FOR PEOPLE TO KNOW YOU’RE A GOOD HYPNOTIST! I would suggest that the folks who feel they need a PhD for people to believe they’re any good either use hypnosis to deal with that sense of insecurity and unworthiness or that they go out and get into a real program and get a real accredited PhD . . . by the way, there are no fully accredited legitimate PhDs in Hypnosis.

Paul McKenna is an important figure in NLP and Hypnosis today, really.  His popular appearances and work have become a de facto face of trance and changework in the UK.  He has done a lot in promoting the profession . . . he is one of, if not THE, top trainer in the UK and his television programs have gone a long way towards advancing the use of hypnotherapy, neurolinguistic programming, and the like to help people.

Of course, McKenna is not the only important and influential face of changework who has been seduced by the notion of academic credibility through a spurious degree.  Richard Bandler had been trading on his honorary doctorate for some time.  At least one influential NGH member used to INSIST that folks refer to him as Dr. and would get very bent out of shape when folks would call him "Mr." or by his given name. Yes, he has an unaccredited degree but even after the NGH began frowning on such degrees, his webpages still prominently display his DR credentials.

It is NOT the degree that makes one competent in hypnosis per se, it’s one’s skill, competence, and experience.  To buy a degree and then trade upon it does not improve these factors . . . but cheapens them.

I do know some very competent and very influential hypnotists who do have unaccredited degrees.  However, they pursued the programs because they had actual course work and these folks were interested in the knowledge and information they could gain from that course work.  They don’t  trade upon their unaccredited degrees, although a couple of them do mention them in their about pages with notes that they are unaccredited and unrecognized degrees.

I really hope everything works out for Paul McKenna . . . if he really wants a legitimated PhD then perhaps he should pursue one through more traditional avenues, and academic institution that is accredited.  However, I would not fault the newspapers for pointing out that his degree is unaccredited and that he has traded upon that degree.  If he knows the degree is not legitimate then perhaps he should consider that.  If he felt defrauded by the school, then he needs to take the persons behind the school to court, not the newspaper.  In my opinion . . . of course, I don’t know all of the related issues to that case beyond what is presented in the media.

Some day, there may be a reputable and accredited program towards a legitimate doctorate in hypnosis or hypnotherapy.  That day has not yet come so folks who wish such credentials need to take the unaccredited nature of the degree into account and how that might affect how others perceive them.  In all honesty, for simple hypnosis, the skillset is pretty straightforward and certainly does NOT require a doctoral level of study.  I would like to see something along the lines of a trade program or associated degree or perhaps eventually a bachelor’s level degree before folks start jumping into doctorates or whatever imagined merit.

Instead of worrying about spurious doctorates and the like, concentration of skill sets and competence will get folks going so much further.

All the best,
Brian
who does have a legitimate PhD but not in hypnosis
(mine is in Comparative Literature from National Taiwan Univeristy)