Hypnotists that are also PhDs

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Permalink Reply by GIL BOYNE on November 26, 2009 at 10:45am

"The Internet has spawned a new generation of cyber-degree mills," said Michael Lambert, executive director of the Distance Education and Training Council.

"[Diploma mills] are growing, especially on the Internet, at astonishing rates," agrees John Bear, founder of Degree.net.

Bear has witnessed the dark side of the distance-education boom up close. A former consultant, informant, and expert witness for the FBI's task force operation DipScam in the 1980s, he helped shut down a number of diploma mills over a 12-year period.

Bear estimates that diploma mills rake in an average $200 million a year, with single schools earning between $10 and $20 million annually.

And that number, he says, is conservative. He estimates that more than 300 unaccredited university sites exist, with one to two new sites cropping up each week.

Just because a university is accredited does not mean that it is legitimate. Additionally, not all unaccredited universities are fraudulent. In the United States, an accrediting agency must be recognized by either the Department of Education or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation.

The anonymity of the Internet makes it virtually impossible to find con artists who operate fake virtual universities from remote locations, such as the Grand Caymans or Costa Rica.

"The biggest problem is the ease with which a huckster with a few hundred dollars in his pocket can make a convincing appearance on the Internet," said Rodney Merrill, founder of DegreeFinders.com.

"You can easily steal the source code and graphics of a real online university and change a few things and ... boom -- you have a virtually virtual university. The Internet is ripe for con men to strike their marks by the thousands."
Harrington University is headquartered in London, but students must wire payments overseas through Western Union.

The service provides employers with transcripts and recommendation letters, all without any grades or coursework. For an additional fee, applicants may change any dates or majors within a year of purchase.

Another school, Capitol University, uses the degree-mill.com domain to offer applicants a "valid degree entirely from job experience ... within 14 days."

Students can buy a bachelor's degree for only $399, a masters for $499, or a PhD for $699. The virtual school, based in the British Virgin Islands, claims that its nontraditional degrees are accredited and therefore valid in Europe, the United States, and other countries.

Wired News was unable to contact Capitol University through the phone number listed on the website.

Some illegitimate sites use Tongan ISPs to establish anonymity. Others use the .edu domain suffix, which many people associate with legitimate educational institutions.

The Internet's ability to deliver targeted ads to consumers has also allowed illegitimate sites to thrive.

"The real villains are the media who take the ads," Bear said. "The only reason these sites prosper is because people want them."

Some say that although people who sign up for diploma mills may be defrauded, the real victims are unknowing employers and the public.

"The majority of people know what they're doing," Bear said.

A bogus degree "is like putting a time bomb in your resume," he added. "One never knows when it might go off with dire effects."

Diploma mills may also victimize the people who put their trust in physicians, psychologists, lawyers, and others with fake credentials.

Gregory Caplinger was indicted for wire fraud after claiming to be an accomplished medical doctor with two fake medical degrees and over 20 years of botched treatments.

Caplinger posed as an M.D. in North Carolina and Florida, where he was arrested and charged with practicing medicine without a license.

"There are people out there with fake degrees doing terrible things," Bear said. "The human damage can be considerable."

Fake degrees have also been found among military and government officials, Bear said. One virtual university even offers a mail-order degree in nuclear engineering safety. "Yet most people don't take [diploma mills] seriously," Bear said.


Educators and law enforcement officials are reluctant to prosecute and slow to keep up with the growing rate of online diploma mills. Additionally, accreditation laws vary across different states, and some states have lenient rules with loopholes that allow diploma mills to operate.
Bear estimates that there are more than 50 unaccredited universities in Hawaii, where accreditation rules were virtually nonexistent until recently.

"The laws are so vague that the most outrageous diploma mills can stay in business as long as they continue the pretense of being legitimate," Degree Finders.com's Merrill said.

Additionally, individuals who have been defrauded have little recourse. Perpetrators who face lawsuits may disappear, change their name, or file for bankruptcy.

The state of Louisiana shut down Columbia State University for defrauding students. The correspondence school's founder has since fled the country and allegedly remains a fugitive.

"Anyone who sues a diploma mill will most likely be sued themselves," Merrill said. "The law favors diploma mill operators, not the people who want to shut them down."

Diploma mills also threaten legitimate distance-learning institutions, whose reputations and enrollments may suffer as they lose students to bogus schools.

"The public begins to lose confidence in higher education and higher education's ability to police itself," said the Distance Education and Training Council's Lambert. "I think that's the ultimate threat."

Public education, in addition to tough regulation by both schools and government officials, is a possible remedy for diploma mills, Lambert said.

"An enlightened public is our best hope," agreed Bear. "I really think that public awareness can help."

But people shouldn't be discouraged from seeking virtual degrees, Bear said. Prospective students can easily distinguish the good schools from the bad, simply by verifying that the accrediting agency is recognized by either by either the Department of Education or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation.

"I want people to become a little more skeptical," Bear said.

He tells people that the next time they go to the doctor's office, check the degree on the wall. "It doesn't hurt to ask.

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Permalink Reply by GIL BOYNE on November 26, 2009 at 11:11am

UNRECOGNIZED ACCREDITING AGENCIES

Officials at unaccredited institutions have established dozens of accrediting bodies that are not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Many of the officials hope that creating accrediting bodies will help them gain legitimacy, even if they lack the infrastructure and standards that they would need for official recognition from the Department of Education. Here are a few of them, along with critiques from Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press, 2001). The co-author, John Bear, has tracked distance-learning institutions for more than 20 years:

American Council of Private Colleges and Universities
http://www.acpcu.org
Accredits Hamilton University
Self description: "The American Council of Private Colleges and Universities is a private accrediting association founded to serve small to medium-size nonprofit institutions of higher learning. The mission of the association is to establish and enforce strict academic, ethical, financial, and evaluative standards for member schools."
Bears' Guide: "A fake accrediting agency set up by the Wyoming-based diploma mill, Hamilton University."
Response: Hamilton University officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Association for Online Academic Excellence
http://www.aoaex.org/pbo.htm
Accredits Trinity College & University and others
Self description: "The Association for Online Academic Excellence is a professional accrediting association that provides employers with a resource of acceptability of college degrees attained through nontraditional means."
Bears' Guide: "An unrecognized accrediting agency claimed by Trinity College & University."
Response: Trinity College & University officials did not return calls requesting comment.

World Association of Universities and Colleges
http://www.web-hed.com/wauc
Accredits Cambridge State University, Columbus University, and others
Self description: "Selecting a W.A.U.C. accredited school is a good choice for students since the member schools of this organization must meet rigid accreditation requirements which are noted on this Web site. W.A.U.C. schools are also constantly monitored for quality control. In short, W.A.U.C., in existence since 1993, is the only valid global accreditation association which stands behind its schools, guaranteeing quality of instruction and reliability."
Bears' Guide: "Established in 1992 ... and run from a secretarial service in Nevada. Accredits a long list of nonwonderful institutions."
Response: "The World Association of Universities and Colleges uses an executive suite in Henderson, Nev., only for its messages and faxes. ... W.A.U.C. has many excellent member and accredited member schools. ... W.A.U.C. primarily serves universities overseas of high caliber and holds an annual meeting with all of its presidents," the association said in a written statement to The Chronicle.

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on November 26, 2009 at 11:23am

Just out of curiousity I clicked on to http://www.aoaex.org. At the top of the page is a "fraud alert" which leads to this:

It has come to our attention that New England State University is claiming membership in AOAEx. This is a false claim. They are not members. They have not applied for membership, and would not qualify. They fraudulently plagiarized copyrighted images and text from other legitimate websites. They are not members of any of the organizations they list on their website. If you have been victimized by New England State University, please contact your local authorities.

It has come to our attention that Carlton College & University is claiming membership in AOAEx. This is a false claim. They are not members. They have not applied for membership, and would not qualify. They fraudulently plagiarized copyrighted images and text from other legitimate websites. They are not members of any of the organizations they list on their website. If you have been victimized by Carlton College, please contact your local authorities.


I guess the coyote doesn't like it when wolves steal from HIS chicken coop. This is a well-known ploy to gain a sense of credibility among cheats.

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Permalink Reply by Conrad Cook on November 26, 2009 at 5:51pm

Don Gibbons, Ph.D. said:

Got the M.A. and Ph.D. at Claremont Graduate School (now Claremont Graduate University), 1964 and 1968 respectively. But it's changed so much since then that I wouldn't want to characterize the Department now. (Don't even recognize the names in the alumni Newsletter that they send me with ever-increasing regularity as I get older, hoping that I will remember them in my will.) Don.

Yet another important difference between legitimate institutions of higher learning and degree mills.

I find your "pigeon punisher" comment profoundly funny, by the way. Sounds like a super-hero.

Conrad.

ps - An odd thought about authenticity of education --

I'm in Cambodia, having left one job as an English teacher. I'm looking for a new one in a different city.

As far as I know, there's no accreditation process of any kind here. The schools probably have to file paperwork to operate as businesses, and pay fees.

Schools establish their authenticity by hiring white teachers. And that is the criteria -- not having English as your mother tongue. My impression is that schools here would rather hire a German who speaks English passably well than a black American who speaks English flawlessly, because the German "looks right."

Kind of funny -- teacher as accreditation.

When I applied to my last job, I gave the supervisor copies of my paperwork:

A big, elaborate document that said I was "certified" to teach English;

A small, unpretentious document that said I had my B.A.;

A horrible, badly-mimeographed form letter ungrammatically proclaiming that the town government of my legal residence had no criminal record on me.

The document that I didn't give them, the hypnosis cert I have, is even bigger and more elaborate than my English teaching doc.

Image in inverse proportion to authority.

C.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on November 26, 2009 at 6:52pm

John, et al,

In my opinion, any one using a PhD to suggest expertise in hypnosis is full of *@!% no matter how or where they obtained their PhDs.

Michael E
A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.
- Ben Franklin

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Permalink Reply by Hugh Cole on November 26, 2009 at 7:20pm

So while we are on the subject ,,, of things that go bump in the night in the hypnosis world. Who or what is the International Hypnosis Association (LLC) http://www.hypnosiscredentials.com/index.html and What do they do besides give out Hypnosis Book of the year awards, Is there such a thing as an award mill to supplement the Diploma mills ? Or are credential mills and diploma mills the same thing?

Hugh Cole
The Pretty Goodest Hypnotist on the Planet.

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Permalink Reply by Reg Blackwood - The Quicknotist on November 26, 2009 at 8:23pm

Hi Michael,
Are you suggesting that if someone has a PhD they should not use the designation once they choose to be a Hypnotist?
I've seen you referred to as "Reverend Doctor" sometimes just Doctor with the letter designations PhD DD CHt MSH.
Reg


Michael Ellner said:

John, et al,

In my opinion, any one using a PhD to suggest expertise in hypnosis is full of *@!% no matter how or where they obtained their PhDs.

Michael E
A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.
- Ben Franklin

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Permalink Reply by Leshem Yosef on November 26, 2009 at 10:55pm

I don’t really understand the impotency of this discussion
Doctorate it’s a kind of admiration illusion that people fix there mind on
If someone have any doctorate degree and use it as title
Way he does it?
Probably because he wants the clients to feel more comfortable with him and have a good rapport by getting there trust
Doctor is a good trick to promote your biz and make the clients respect you more and then you can hypnotize them mach easier
So we need to be honest and clean this negative suggestion of our mind
And then we won't be so zealot about the subject
So as long your title don’t opposing the low enjoy the benefit of it
With respect
Yosef

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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on November 27, 2009 at 5:03am

Hi Reg,

Knowing what I know now and if "I could turn back the hands of time" - I would simply use CHt in regard to my hypnosis practice. I decided to use an non-academic PhD based on the advice of a publisher's lawyer, believing that my responsibilty was simply to indicate the PhD was a religious title (Rev Dr) and not a academic degree, I have regretted doing so.

FYI- I have dropped the PhD and continue to use Rev Dr. in conjunction with QUANTUM FOCUSING which uses Guided Self-hypnosis for Spritual Practice and development.

Live and learn...

Michael E.



I believe that Rev Dr.

Reg Blackwood - The Quicknotist said:

Hi Michael,
Are you suggesting that if someone has a PhD they should not use the designation once they choose to be a Hypnotist? I've seen you referred to as "Reverend Doctor" sometimes just Doctor with the letter designations PhD DD CHt MSH. Reg


Michael Ellner said:

John, et al,

In my opinion, any one using a PhD to suggest expertise in hypnosis is full of *@!% no matter how or where they obtained their PhDs.

Michael E
A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.
- Ben Franklin

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Permalink Reply by Don Gibbons, Ph.D. on November 27, 2009 at 5:09am

Hugh Cole said:

. I hope we all understand the fine line you walk when you openly participate in our discussion groups, , , , .
Hugh Cole The Pretty Goodest Hypnotist on the Planet.

These groups are where the creativity is. Their academic journals are typically dry as sawdust and, as my wife said, they even manage to make sex boring!

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Permalink Reply by Don Gibbons, Ph.D. on November 27, 2009 at 5:22am

Well, there is still a practical use for having a legitimate Ph.D.if you are willing to pay your "pound of flesh" to get one. It's called money. I

If you have a doctorate from an institution which is recognized by the appropriate regional body that accredits such programs, and if you have the additional internship and/or supervision hours specified by your respective State or Canadian Province, you can hang out a shingle which states that you are licensed to provide psycological services. This in turn allows you to accept insurance company reimbursement when and if the managed care companies are willing to pay you or the client (They are "equal-opportunity deniers". -- but that's another story.)

As for its effectiveness, there is research which shows that it isn't the degree on the wall that matters, or whether it says Psychitry, Psychology, or Social Work, it's the relationship that you have with the client. As Irving Yalom, M.D., put it:in his book, Love's Executioner, "It's the relationship that heals. It's the relationship that heals. It's the relationship that heals. My professional rosary."

Amen.

Don

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Permalink Reply by Don Gibbons, Ph.D. on November 27, 2009 at 5:28am

Roy Hunter said:

I believe the hypnotherapy profession in the U.K. is more advanced that we are in the United States. In June of 2006 I presented a two-day masterclass on parts therapy at the London College of Clinical Hypnosis.

In the USA the ASCH would probably consider me a "lay hypnotist" even though many hypnosis schools around the world use one or more of my books for their students. However, the participants at my presentation at the LCCH included a number of psychologists and psychotherapists, a psychiatrist, and several hypnotherapists. It was cosponsored by both Crown House Publishing and the British Medical Hypnosis Association.

Prior to the workshop, my article on parts therapy was published in the European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. I've also been published in the Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.

It is my hope that we can build more bridges between the professional artists of hypnosis and mainstream healthcare.

Roy Hunter, M.S., FAPHP
Author: THE ART OF HYPNOTHERAPY and other books
www.royhunter.com
Don Gibbons, Ph.D. said:

Henxy said:

Hi James,

I have been allocated mentor for 4 psychology graduates who are learning hypnosis... All very positive so far!

James Hazlerig said:

Don,

Can you comment on how a psychology student interested in hypnosis would be received in the current day?

Thanks,

James

Roy,

You and I have been friends for several years now -- long enough for me to know how hard you worked to achieve your dream. Congratulations and bravo! It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Don

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