Provocative Therapy Blog

Frank Farrelly first created Provocative Therapy in 1963 over a decade before the emergence of NLP. He was referenced in “Frogs into Princes” and in my view was a big influence on the co creators of NLP. The term “provocative” has been greatly misunderstood and misused by many talk therapists and especially NLPers who frequently confuse the ability to be provocative –“to call forth from-within” with the ability to be aggressive. Anyone can be aggressive and doing so requires no real skill. However the ability to provoke useful responses for the client that produce long lasting change requires a great deal of skill and of course Frank is a master of these skills. His original book remains a classic reference for any talk therapist and his recent videos highlight how he works with a wonderful lightness of touch and dedication towards helping troubled clients.

Of course just as with NLP and Hypnosis, there is an unfortunate inevitability about some individuals recently using the term “provocative” with no insight or understanding of Frank Farrelly’s (the creator of Provocative Therapy in 1963) work. With Frank’s permission I set up The Association for Provocative Therapy to promote professional standards. I also created Provocative Change Works which also captures the spirit of Frank’s approach and also maintains a proper professional duty of care towards clients.

Frank is eighty years old this year and continues to be a great example of how to provoke responses with humour and by building a degree of rapport with clients many other trainers would truly envy. When people reference Frank as an inspiration for their work but then boast about throwing things at clients and admitting that their clients want to punch them in the face, this is a far cry from the spirit and eloquence of Frank’s work and a dreadful advert for therapy.

Posted by Nick Kemp at 21:31