When Frank passed, he instructed his estate to pass over his archive of work to me for safekeeping. He had very specific requests regarding his work, and I was mindful that there are always characters who will seek to try to claim all manner of associations for commercial gain. In recent years, I have had to fire warning shots across the bow to such characters to maintain the integrity of Frank’s work. In an era of social media, it seems that many characters feel they can make all manner of claims with zero accountability…
Frank discussions about his work across the globe
When I first met Frank, I was astonished by his level of skill, and equally astonished at the lack of marketing for his work. His website was a year out of date and he ran a small number of events each year. The concentration of these was mostly in Germany and also in Austria, but in some cases these were not open to the wider public and in some instances you needed a therapeutic qualification to apply. He had also run a few events in Australia, but there was very little coordinated marketing to spread the word.
In the UK, Sue Knight, a well-known NLP trainer, would host Frank, and I would drive Frank to these events, and he stayed at my house in Leeds. The events were primarily marketed to Sue’s existing NLP group, so many of the attendees asked questions from that “NLP mindset” which made for some interesting exchanges. Two of Frank’s longest UK enthusiasts both proclaimed so his work could reach a wider audience.
Frank was so pleased with this new energy into hosting his events and finally creating some products that he called me “The Can-do kid”
When I asked Frank about contacting more countries, he mentioned he’d run events in Holland. Still, he was unimpressed when the NLP-based Dutch hosts tried to certify his work and make attendees take exams for certification!
Attempts to build status by association
Neither Frank nor I have the exclusive right to use “provocative.” Still, I take exception when these characters seek to build their imagined status by linking my and Frank’s reputations to their activities. I have had to repeatedly request one company in Poland to remove any references to myself after it was clear that they were misrepresenting Frank’s work and trying to boost their status by associating it with mine. After being caught out trying to sell “provocative therapy certifications,”, they reworded their activities, now talking about “provocativeness”, which seems to embrace all manner of approaches, many of which are the polar opposite of what Frank would have approved.
I agreed to present my own PCW model to this company in Warsaw a few year’s ago, but the experience was so bad that I blacklisted them from any future training.
Amazingly, the actual company host threw a tantrum within the first 30 minutes of the training, shouting at those online complaining they didn’t have their cameras switched on, much to the amazement of the 70 people in the room, including myself and the translator! In 40 years of training, I’ve never seen such unprofessional and erratic behaviour, and I nearly headed for the airport there and then.
I had to ask all the attendees to leave the room while I had a quiet word” explaining basic good manners and professional behaviour. She was not then present for 90% of the remaining training time, and I felt sorry for many of the assistants who were embarrassed by her behaviour. The same host didn’t even bother to attend the event, which made for a very odd dynamic in the room, especially when they appeared in the last 20 minutes of the three days to pose for photos and give applause. When asked why she chose not even to attend the event she was promoting, to my amazement, she commented
“As an organizer, I was not at the training as a participant. I didn’t know that you wanted me to be.“
Can you imagine bringing in a host from overseas for a major event and not even bothering to be present? It’s a whole new level of the village idiot, and I know exactly what Frank would say about such behaviour.
I’ve had to spend more time chasing down such characters to maintain Frank’s work’s integrity and promote my Provocative Change Works model. Fortunately, Frank made a statement many years ago that endorsed me as a trainer in his work and that I maintained a suitable standard of ethics. Frank was truly brilliant as both a therapist and a human being. He deserves respect and I take very seriously the task of protecting his legacy.
Spotting bogus trainers
Here are a few quick tips to spot bogus trainers claiming to be ‘provocative” and trying to scam the public with no real awareness of Frank Farrelly’s work
They are never trained with Frank Farrelly or any trainers endorsed by him
They usually steal cotyrighted materials when try to promote their own events
They generally have a total lack of any precision and call “Provocative Therapy” “Provocative Psychotherapy”
They sometimes claim to have “studied with person X” but really they may have attended a single class and have no trainer endorsement
When challenged about stealing Frank’s work, they become abusive and make threats
They are generally pretty unpleasant individuals who are trying to present themselves as “experts in a range of approaches, while having no real skills or abilities. This is called “scamming the public” Many such characters are blacklisted from trainings around the world including my trainings. A number of international trainers are now working together to stop this unethical behaviour and hold these individuals to account.
The blacklist for individuals and companies in respect to Provocative Therapy can be found here