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ADVICE NOT HYPNOSIS
DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE?
From the SUN newspaper—Scottish news.
KIDS NEED ADVICE NOT HYPNOSIS
I was absolutely astounded to read on Friday that TV hypnotist Paul McKenna was paid £20,000 to give a motivational talk to unemployed Scottish teenagers.
The self-help speech was delivered to 200 jobless youngsters at Hampden Park last Friday during a Get Ready For Work event delivered by Skills Development Scotland.
The gross abuse of taxpayers' cash was rightly slammed by Scots Labour leader Iain Gray.
These youngsters don't need to be hypnotised or taught how to develop instant confidence - they need practical advice on how to find a job.
Valuable tips on how to develop their CV and how to present themselves for an interview - not a life-coaching session from an overpaid celebrity who authored a book called I Can Make You Thin.
McKenna's £20,000 fee could have been invested in a literacy or skills workshop, a CV-building course or supporting youth innovation projects.
It's enough money to fund 20 apprenticeships - that's 10 per cent of the audience who could have been given the opportunity to learn a skilled trade or profession.
I worked closely with the BBC on a special youth jobs panel where I met British youngsters to discuss their options and aspirations in the current jobs climate.
The event had a panel of experts who dedicated time to youngsters to help with their confidence, their CV, interview techniques and how to stand out from the crowd.
That practical and constructive help can make a big impact and is more beneficial and cheaper than a celebrity appearance.
For years I have given my time to advise young people and answer their concerns about employment.
As well as taking part in the BBC youth jobs panel, I have also recently judged the JCI Creative Young Entrepreneur Awards in Edinburgh and continue to develop close ties with the University of Strathclyde and Napier University.
I am just one of many innovative Scottish business leaders, entrepreneurs and academics who aren't in it for the appearance fee, but simply want to help young people get ahead in life.
If Skills Development Scotland had asked me to do it, I'd have done it for free, no question.
Mentoring and supporting youth innovation is a big part of what I do and it would have been a pleasure to help these youngsters get into work.
I'd have also brought a number of industry leaders along with me to offer a real cross-section of experience and advice.
We would have spent the best part of the day with the teenagers and wouldn't have charged a penny.
Instead, Skills Development Scotland paid the equivalent of an average year's salary for a TV hypnotist to help our youngsters find a job.
Read that statement back to yourself - it's ridiculous.
So the next time any government body decides to throw money at a celebrity speaker, I urge them to look closer to home.
We have so many business bosses with way more experience, keen to help our young people find jobs amidst what our Chancellor Alistair Darling infamously described as the worst recession in 60 years.
SDS got this badly wrong and only succeeded in sending the wrong message to our youth.
But hey, at least everyone in the audience got a signed copy of McKenna's book, Instant Confidence.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by James Hazlerig - HypnosisAustin on -
I agree that they need some good advice combined with some good hypnosis. And I agree that they could have found a less-famous hypnotist to do it for a lot less.
I don't agree with the author's apparent disdain for hypnosis, but then, you knew that. :-)
James
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Permalink Reply by Doreen Cohanim C.Ht on -
Everybody needs advice, everybody needs direction, and everybody can benefit from hypnosis, since hypnosis is to help the ones who advice is not taken in for personal limitations, and In my opinion this news is to promote personal business of the individual advice, This is way he trys to ruins it for all other hypnotists to gain the personal attention from the media.
Doreen Cohanim C.Ht,HBCE
Certified Hypnotherapist, Child Birth Practitioner & Energy Healer
www.EnterYourMind.com
www.HypnoCruise.com
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Permalink Reply by Roy Hunter on
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Hello Gil,
It must be nice to get the equivalent of over $30,000 for one presentation, but I'm certain that many competent hypnotherapists would have been willing to give a similar talk for FAR less...and maybe even for free as a public service.
Regarding your original question, I believe kids need both advice and hypnosis. Although I have worked with very few children over the years, they are easy to hypnotize and they respond very well to suggestion and imagery alone.
My associate instructor, Joni Wiley, has had terrific success working with children. Also, as I'm certain you realize, you (and those you have trained) can probably discuss numerous successes with children. So the bottom line is this: since hypnosis is so effective with children and teenagers, WHY NOT use it?
Roy
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Permalink Reply by Dennis Atkinson on -
Advice - hypnosis. Aren't they essentially the same thing? One would be suggestions given in a waking state where who knows where their mind would be focused; the other would be suggestions given while in a trance, and focused on the subject at hand. I opt for the hypnosis being more effective. As for it being a gross abuse --- hmmm, perhaps the writer is not familar with the positive effects of hypnosis, but the price tag does seem a bit steep.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on -
Hi Gil, et al,
My guess the writer's problem is more about McKenna's show biz persona and jealously than anti- hypnosis.
I suggest a letter to the editor campaign that respectfully speaks to the fact that hypnosis is well established as an effective tool for motivating people, inspiring hope and building confidence. I'd make the point that the young audience is much more likely to be responsive to a celebrity speaker like McKenna than other lesser known experts.
FYI- According to the US think tank The Conference Board - A well written letter to the editor is often more effective than paid advertising--
If I were the paid speaker I would have donated 1/3 or 1/2 my speaker's fee to support the good work of the organization that hired me.
Michael E.
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Permalink Reply by Henxy on -
Crikey; we've sunk as low as giving a toss as to what the sun (undeserving of a capital letter) tabloid rag thinks? This is a 'paper' which sells because it has young ladies showing their tits; not because the 'reader' is deemed to have any political savvy.
Perhaps Mr Mc could have done it cheaper/for free; but in these days of celebrity culture; I think anyone who was less famous or overtly successful would have had less of an impact on the audience.
The 'author' (and I use the term reservedly) misses the point that a confident youth with inner life skills will have the ability to find out how to write a good CV for themselves, be able to present themselves calmly and effectively at interviews and as a result of developing better emotional intelligence and confidence, will be able to stand out in the crowd for all the right reasons... AND with their clothes on (which is more than the sun's page 3 girls can manage).
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Permalink Reply by Rick Collingwood on -
I guess thats why he's got a 21 million dollar house in LA. In my opinion if he had any genuine interest in this he would have paid at least half the fee to a childrens charity, and perhaps he did.
All of the advice in the world won't help a kid stuck in the environment of under privalaged UK. They need motivation and a burning desire to escape the place and do the hard yards in the real world that it requires for any person to create a success of themselves.
I'm not sure I agree with the use of his style of hypnosis to motivate kids but there is no mention of his using hypnosis in the article, however if just 1 kid read his book and it changed them and set them on a better path for a life of success then thats got to be a positive thing and worth a lot more than 20 thousand pounds. I think Paul cops a hard time in general but he's sold a lot of books tapes and CDs and it must help a lot of people therefore he has done a lot of good whether his motivations are money fame or to help, or a combination of all three.
I think he is walking his talk and it would be a bit cynical on his behalf if he wasn't the success he has become and I take my hat off to him he has spread the word about hypnosis and its validity from one end of the planet to the other. I'm about to finish ten with a huge celebrity in LA who paid me a lot more money than that for a full time on call 24 hours 10 days of therapy, but it has helped then to overcome some significant cahllenges and get their balance back so why should I charge $150 an hour. However I have always given a lot of money to childrens and other under privilaged charities at a grass roots level, personally I get a bigger buzz seeing a childrens hospital or such get some funding than my bank account swelling. Money is like horse crap, "Pile it up in a corner and it stinks - Spread it around and it makes things grow"
The important thing I think is to ensure that a result is attained, and in this instance I do wonder at the validity of charging so much money for lecturing children stuck in such an often negative and challenging environment, but all it would have taken is for Paul to give the appropriate decision maker an hypnotic experience. To keep it in perspective George Clooney or Leonardo Di Capprio wouldn't do a major film for 200,000 dollars, they would want between 5 and 20 million just to sign on because they did the hard yards and learned their craft but they both give away a lot of their money, lets hope Paul was in a charitable mood that evening.
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Permalink Reply by GIL BOYNE on
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Hello Michael, I think you will agree that advice should play a very small part in therapy. Advice is generally,
" I think you SHOULD" (non-therapeutic). Friends give advice, neighbors give advice, ministers give advice, family gives advice, many talk therapists give advice. What's wrong with advice? The person receiving the advice has two choices; follow the advice or ignore it. If it is followed and was poor advice (poor result) the advice giver is to blame. If there is a good result the recipient knows who to ask for ADVICE the next time a conflict emerges.
The answer is always within! It is up to the therapist to help the client discover his inner resources that will help him to cope. The CLIENT must always be free to make their own choices and deal with the consequences. Advice says, " I know better--listen to me---and everything will get better. Hogwash !
Michael Ellner said:Hi Gil, et al,
My guess the writer's problem is more about McKenna's show biz persona and jealously than anti- hypnosis.
I suggest a letter to the editor campaign that respectfully speaks to the fact that hypnosis is well established as an effective tool for motivating people, inspiring hope and building confidence. I'd make the point that the young audience is much more likely to be responsive to a celebrity speaker like McKenna than other lesser known experts.
FYI- According to the US think tank The Conference Board - A well written letter to the editor is often more effective than paid advertising--
If I were the paid speaker I would have donated 1/3 or 1/2 my speaker's fee to support the good work of the organization that hired me.
Michael E.
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