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, author, and television personality.

His major 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 focused on achieving 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

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 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. This entertainment show featured audience members who volunteered to be hypnotised, to act in comedic ways that sometimes included celebrities. During this time, Paul continued to study and refine his skills in hypnosis, including studying neuro-linguistic programming with Richard Bandler, the co-creator of NLP.

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 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.

He now runs "Paul McKenna Training" and often co-presents seminars with other renound trainers such as Richard Bandler John LaValle, the President of The Society of NLP and Michael Neill, bestselling author and life coach.

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, debuted, claimed that the hypnotist was helping people lose weight.

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.

Litigation

• In 1998, Paul McKenna won a court case initiated by Christopher Gates, a man who participated in one of McKenna's stage shows who claimed hypnosis made him schizophrenic.[1] The judge ruled there was no evidence that stage hypnosis posed any risk to participants. [2]

• In 2006 he successfully sued The Daily Mirror for libel, over journalist Victor Lewis-Smith's repeatedly published claims that McKenna obtained a "bogus degree". McKenna won the case[3].

Trivia

• 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, Paul 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 Paul had told him to, which was eating a chicken wing from a rubbish bin.

• McKenna's relationship 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!"[4]

• McKenna is became a patron of Noah's Ark Trust, a charity for bereaved children in Worcestershire[5].

Published works

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

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

• McKenna's official website
• McKenna's online store
• The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna Book Review
• 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

Legal Coverage

• Justice Toulson's Judgement on Gates vs. McKenna Case
• Hypnotist McKenna sues over degree claim
• McKenna says fraud jibe "made me laughing stock"
• McKenna 'horrified' at fraud jibes
• McKenna 'wanted letters after name'
• McKenna 'ridiculed' by PhD claim
• McKenna wins 'fake degree' case
• McKenna the brave Guardian op-ed on McKenna's libel case victory.

See also

• Richard Bandler
• Hypnosis
• Neurolinguistic Programming
• Neurolinguistic programming bibliography