I was not aware of this case of Principal Kenney who hypnothised tens of his students at school, several of whom then died, after seeing how cool teenagers thought an entertainment hypnotist was and how easily they trusted them (bleurgh..... yup that an entirely normal thing for a grown adult responsible for young people's safety and futures to think and say.... bleurgh)
He violated rules of therapeutic intervention, the sacred boundary of teacher/student and basic ethics (including on informed consent/exploitation/power and more), seemingly to improve the performance and standing of the smalltown school for which he was responsible and feed his own ego and wallet.
He uses the epithet of 'Dr' gained from a PhD in 'Educational leadership' (WTF is college/uni nowadays that you can do doctorates in 'educational leadership', what is that?!?!?) to infer he is a licensed healthcare professional. He did no kind of assessment of need, risk, alternative interventions prior to hypnotising multiple teenage students. He filmed the sessions and self published books about and recordings of his exploitation of the student/teacher relationship. The videos of the sessions, well those he did not destroy when the papers got hold fo the story, show mainly teenage boys often immediately with their heads in their headteacher's lap after being put under... incredibly odd and deeply creepy.
Obviously showing direct causation between the deaths of those he hypnotised and his selfish, unethical and unprofessional actions would be extremely difficult and probable cause without reasonable doubt impossible (also there is never going to be sufficient general evidence as to whether the kinds of thing he did could cause deaths/suicides because other hypnotists, apart from PUA, follow ethical guidelines)
The documentary brings the viewpoints of students, some of whom underwent sessions with Kenney others who were friends with those who died, parents of kids including a local journo who covered the case, Dr Kenney himself, as well as licensed hypnotists and others with professional oversight on the matters covered. Its an interesting series that shows the grey areas, geographies/communities and settings that certain types of personality, who get off on power and ego, like to dance and dangle.
Some contributors whether a little naive, still under the influence, or less aware of the nuances of abuse think he was only trying to help, others wanted him to be criminally convicted coz they don't understand how the burden of proof works in the law or in scientific enquiry. The professionals (apart from a coupla from the school who presumably he also did a number on) are much more circumspect and realistic in their contributions.
He, however, did admit guilt in court, as he explains, in order to protect his pension.... I think that statement straight from the horse's mouth says all you need to know about 'Dr' George Kenney. Often these kinda folk have so little empathy that they will tell you exactly who they are, if you're prepared to hear it.
He violated rules of therapeutic intervention, the sacred boundary of teacher/student and basic ethics (including on informed consent/exploitation/power and more), seemingly to improve the performance and standing of the smalltown school for which he was responsible and feed his own ego and wallet.
He uses the epithet of 'Dr' gained from a PhD in 'Educational leadership' (WTF is college/uni nowadays that you can do doctorates in 'educational leadership', what is that?!?!?) to infer he is a licensed healthcare professional. He did no kind of assessment of need, risk, alternative interventions prior to hypnotising multiple teenage students. He filmed the sessions and self published books about and recordings of his exploitation of the student/teacher relationship. The videos of the sessions, well those he did not destroy when the papers got hold fo the story, show mainly teenage boys often immediately with their heads in their headteacher's lap after being put under... incredibly odd and deeply creepy.
Obviously showing direct causation between the deaths of those he hypnotised and his selfish, unethical and unprofessional actions would be extremely difficult and probable cause without reasonable doubt impossible (also there is never going to be sufficient general evidence as to whether the kinds of thing he did could cause deaths/suicides because other hypnotists, apart from PUA, follow ethical guidelines)
The documentary brings the viewpoints of students, some of whom underwent sessions with Kenney others who were friends with those who died, parents of kids including a local journo who covered the case, Dr Kenney himself, as well as licensed hypnotists and others with professional oversight on the matters covered. Its an interesting series that shows the grey areas, geographies/communities and settings that certain types of personality, who get off on power and ego, like to dance and dangle.
Some contributors whether a little naive, still under the influence, or less aware of the nuances of abuse think he was only trying to help, others wanted him to be criminally convicted coz they don't understand how the burden of proof works in the law or in scientific enquiry. The professionals (apart from a coupla from the school who presumably he also did a number on) are much more circumspect and realistic in their contributions.
He, however, did admit guilt in court, as he explains, in order to protect his pension.... I think that statement straight from the horse's mouth says all you need to know about 'Dr' George Kenney. Often these kinda folk have so little empathy that they will tell you exactly who they are, if you're prepared to hear it.