Paul McKenna

This article is about the British hypnotist. For the British footballer, see Paul McKenna (footballer).

Paul McKenna (born 8 November 1963, in Enfield, Middlesex, England) is a British hypnotist, and television personality. He is also currently Britain's leading non-fiction author.

His activities include self-improvement television shows, giving seminars through his company Paul McKenna Training, producing books and multimedia products and performing hypnosis, neuro-linguistic programming and other personal development techniques. Many of his training courses and products are for general life improvement - examples are his book Change your life in 7 days and NLP Practitioner courses. Other products and training are more specific, such as his course for assisting weight loss.

Professional career

File:Mc7days.jpg

Bestseller Change Your Life

At 15 he worked as a DJ in Top Shop and then as a radio broadcaster joining Radio Caroline in 1984 before moving to Chiltern Radio in the mid-1980s and Capital Radio in London.

It was during a radio show in which he interviewed a hypnotist that he became fascinated by hypnosis. His original interest was hypnosis for self-improvement, although he also demonstrated how it could be used for entertainment. Whilst working as a DJ, he began experimenting with small hypnotic shows. The early performances were first for the amusement of friends, then for paying audiences in pubs and clubs. He promoted his shows on Capital and soon played large theaters in the UK, USA and Ireland. While the primary focus of his hypnotic shows was entertainment, he began to gain clients for professional one-to-one hypnotherapy.

In the early 1990s, he left Capital Radio and briefly joined BBC Radio One, before leaving radio to concentrate exclusively on hypnosis. In 1993, his TV series, The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna, aired on ITV. The programme was shown in 42 countries and attracted an audience of 200 million. This entertainment show featured audience members who volunteered to be hypnotised, to act in comedic ways that sometimes included celebrities. Guest stars included Gloria Estefan, Bobby Womack, Lulu, The Bee Gees and many more. The programme was nominated for the Golden Rose of Montreaux in 1994 & 1995.

During this time, McKenna continued to study hypnosis, and neuro-linguistic programming with Richard Bandler, the co-creator of NLP.

He also made a television series called The Paranormal World of Paul McKenna where he interviewed and explored the claims of people described as having unusual skills or powers.

Another television show in 1997 Hyp the Streets, used similar sketches applied in his stage shows in street settings.

In mid 1990s Paul McKenna set up a training company, McKenna Breen Ltd with Michael Breen. Through this training company Paul McKenna co-presented seminars on neuro-linguistic programming and hypnosis. Paul McKenna has released a range of hypnotic tapesets and videos.

He now runs "Paul McKenna Training" and often co-presents seminars with trainers such as Richard Bandler, John LaValle, the president of The Society of NLP, and Michael Neill, author and life coach. Paul McKenna Training is the largest NLP training organisation in the world.

In 1996, after 2 years of study on a 70,000 word thesis McKenna was granted a Ph.D from LaSalle University (Louisiana). LaSalle was properly licenced by the state of Louisiana, but falsely claimed to be an accredited university. After the principal of LaSalle pleaded guilty to fraud, McKenna, along with thousands of other students, was awarded compensation from the US government ^[1].

In 2004, McKenna gained a UK accredited PhD from the business school International Management Centres Association (IMCA) Link 1 Link 2, accredited by The British Accreditation Council The BAC The title of his thesis was "The Effects of Fixed Action Patterns and Neuro-Linguistic Programming in Determining Outcomes in Human Behaviour". His examiners were Dr Richard Dobbins (IMCA) Dr Brian Edwards, University of Sheffield and Dr Robert Parkinson, London Guildhall University.

In 2005, McKenna's Sky One show, I Can Change Your Life, showed him applying hypnosis, neuro-linguistic programming, and other techniques to assist people with phobias, such as agoraphobia and addictions to gambling and shopping. In 2006, another Sky One programme, I Can Make You Thin, claimed that the hypnotist was helping people lose weight.^{[citation needed]}

McKenna’s weight loss programme is claimed to be the most successful in the world, “with a 71 per cent success rate”. ^{[citation needed]}

McKenna has produced a range of self-help cassettes and books. In addition to UK best sellers such as Change Your Life in 7 Days, he offers several training programmes on weight loss and NLP seminars with Richard Bandler and Michael Neill.

A woman who thought she could not have children conceived after a consultation with McKenna. Link

McKenna claims to have helped many celebrities link. Recently he 'helped Ellen DeGeneres to quit smoking' Sun link. He 'helped David Walliams with a time distortion technique' to help with swimming the English Channel link 1 link 2.

Litigation

IN BRIEF

In 1998[1], Paul McKenna won a court case initiated by Christopher Gates, a man who participated in one of McKenna's stage shows. In the commentary within the ruling, Justice Toulson, summarised: 'The defendant provided what was intended to be a form of family entertainment, in which the plaintiff willingly participated. I do not believe he can be fairly criticised for his conduct of the show"

IN BRIEF

In 2006 he successfully sued The Daily Mirror for libel, over journalist Victor Lewis-Smith's published claims that McKenna obtained a "bogus degree" for the price of $2,615 to deliberately defraud the public (the degree was from LaSalle University (Louisiana)). McKenna won the case and substantial damages.[2] Victor Lewis Smith wrote about his "bogus degree" even though he knew that Paul McKenna had since earned a fully accredited UK Ph.D.

THE STORY

Having asked the Daily Mirror to withdraw the claim, they continued to reprint the accusation. McKenna felt he had no choice other than to pursue legal action in an attempt to stop the damning effect such claims were having on his reputation. McKenna 'reluctantly' took action - The Independent, 29th July 2006

McKenna was represented by Desmond Brown QC who explained to the court that his client was awarded the hypnotherapy doctorate from Lasalle University, Louisiana after studying for 18 months. He added that his client was a "victim of deception" because the body which accredited Lasalle's course was discovered to be fraudulent by the FBI and Department of Justice - Hello, 25th July 2006

Mr Justice Eady said, "Mr McKenna was not in my judgment dishonest...it would not be accurate to describe the degree as bogus". Evening Standard, 28th July 2006. The judge also said that one of the clearest indications of Mr. McKenna's sincerity was his determination to pursue the legal case - The Independent, 29th July 2006

After years of battle McKenna emerged victorious on the 28th July 2006. The Daily Mirror was ordered to pay an interim of £75,000 towards McKenna's costs with damages around £20,000 - Evening Standard, 28th July 2006

In response to McKenna's success he said, "I am delighted with the verdict and very relieved that this matter has finally been put to rest" - The Sun, 29th July 2006

The work McKenna carried out during his degree took more than 500 hours on a 70,000 word thesis. This thesis was to become the best selling book, 'Change Your Life in 7 Days' - The Sunday Times, 30th July 2006.

Trivia

McKenna has sold in excess of 3 million books, more than any other UK non-fiction author.^{[citation needed]}

McKenna claims to have trained 50,000 people in the past decade, half of them business people - Director Magazine, November 2006 Times link

Carpenter Ray Mash lost his sight in 1997 after falling at work and hitting his head. Doctors thought his sight would return within days, however after a year there was no improvement. Mr. Marsh was told he would never see again. 8 years later, McKenna worked with him. He claimed his eyes began to receive information, shades of grey, shapes and some colours were visible.^{[citation needed]}

The Paranormal World of Paul McKenna and The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna attracted 12 million viewers an episode throughout the 1990’s.

McKenna has an impressive celebrity following. He has helped Sophie Dahl drop three dress sizes and Jerry Hall quit smoking.^{[citation needed]} He worked with Sugababes' Heidi Range, to boost her confidence and overcome her fear of flying. ^{[citation needed]} The list of McKenna devotees also includes Stephen Fry, Robbie Williams, George Michael and Courtney Love. ^{[citation needed]}

When he was invited by the BBC2 motoring show Top Gear to be the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car, McKenna was also set the task of hypnotising one of the three presenters. McKenna's victim was Richard Hammond. Hammond had his knowledge of how to drive a car removed. He looked truly confused as he was asked to drive an Alfa Romeo around the track. Later, in the studio, he was tricked into believing that a pedal car was his brand new Porsche 911 Turbo. McKenna set a time of 1:48 in the Suzuki Liana, tying with 5 other people.

He appeared on the BBC series Little Britain spin off, Little Britain abroad, where he met hypnotist character Kenny Craig, who asked to be hypnotised into a good hypnotist, McKenna proceeded to used the very same phrase that Kenny does: "Look into my eyes, look into my eyes, the eyes not around the don't look around the eyes look into my eyes." Kenny then did exactly what McKenna had told him to, which was eating a chicken wing from a rubbish bin.

McKenna's girlfriend Liz Fuller ended their relationship during a live TV broadcast. In June, 2004, Fuller sent McKenna a text message asking him to watch her show on Auction World.tv. During a sale of engagement rings, she turned to the camera and told McKenna she was leaving him. Then, as she closed the bidding on one item, she said, "Going, going, gone - like you!"[1]

McKenna became a patron of Noah's Ark Trust, a charity for bereaved children in Worcestershire [2].

McKenna was named, ‘Paul’ (and his brother, John) as a result of their mother’s love for the Beatles - The Daily Mail, Weekend, June 25th 2005

A school report once read: “If he continues the way he’s going he’ll never amount to anything” - Daily Mail, Weekend, 25th June 2005

Published works

Quit Smoking Today Without Gaining Weight , Bantam Press: 2007. ISBN 0-593-05536-5
Instant Confidence, Bantam Press: 2006. ISBN 0-593-05535-7
I Can Make You Thin, Bantam Press: 2005. ISBN 0-593-05054-1
Change Your Life in Seven Days, 2005 (with Hugh Willbourn) ISBN 0-593-05053-3
How to Mend Your Broken Heart, Bantam Press: 2003. ISBN 0-593-05055-X
The Power to Influence, Nightingale-Conant: 1998. ISBN 1-905453-56-6 (audiobook with Michael Breen)
The Paranormal World of Paul McKenna, Faber and Faber: 1997. ISBN 0-571-19245-9
Paul McKenna's Hypnotic Secrets , Boxtree: 1995. ISBN 0-7522-0192-1 (with Peter Willis and Clare Staples)
The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna, Faber and Faber: 1994. ISBN 0-571-16802-7

McKenna has also released a number of audio recordings including Sleep Like a Log, Eliminate Stress, and Stop Smoking for Good. He also wrote the foreword to Nikolic, Seka and Sarah Tay, You Can Heal Yourself: Bio-energy and the Power of Self-healing, Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd.: 2006. ISBN 0-283-07038-2.

Sources and further reading

General

Paul McKenna at IMDb
Student Review of a Paul McKenna NLP Training
Interview with Paul McKenna about his work with NLP and Hypnosis
Guardian interview with McKenna

Book Reviews

Legal Coverage

1998 Case Against Christopher Gates

2006 Case Against The Daily Mirror

^ Paul McKenna v MGN Ltd., 2006 EWHC 1996 (QB) (2006), Text.