Roger Gilbert Hypnotherapy

01/07/2025

Suggestions for a more fulfilling life in June 2025 -

We live in challenging times and in today’s Suggestions I thought that I would try something new and produce a calendar of things that you can do during the month of July to enhance your wellbeing.  

09/09/2024

https://mailchi.mp/dcb8012b089a/suggestions-havening-talk-22nd-september

Put a date in your diary for Sunday the 22nd September, when I will be giving a talk on Havening at the "Invest in Yourself" conference in the Civic Hall in Leeds. There will also be talks by Dr Ron Dodzra, community and clinical psychologist, and by Jo Holloway Green, founder of Frontline Skills T...

06/07/2024

On 22nd September I will be giving a talk on Havening in the Civic Hall, Leeds - see details below.

24/03/2024

I’ve just watched Mr Bates vs The Post Office, and thought that it would be helpful to clear up some misconceptions about mediation which the series might have created.

The series is a four part dramatisation of the way the Post Office treated its sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses when the Horizon accounting software purported to show that money was missing from their accounts.

In episode 3, the Post Office agreed to engage in mediations with individual sub-postmasters and the drama portrayed what happened in one specimen mediation where a sub-postmistress, Pam Stubbs, went to present her case to the Post Office executives.

I should say that I understand, from interviews I have heard on the radio, that the writers and the producers did their best to give an accurate portrayal of what happened. While some scenes are imagined, the drama portrays actual events, and uses the actual words of the Post Office and its officers.

If the mediation as depicted is an accurate representation of what actually happend, there were a number of things about Pam Stubbs’ mediation which, as a mediator, I found very surprising.

The very first thing that stood out was that there was no mediator, so that it was not a mediation at all: the whole point of mediation is that an independent and impartial third party (ie the mediator) is involved to assist disputing parties to resolve conflict. By definition, you can’t have a mediation without a mediator!

A number of further points arise from this.

One of the principal aims and functions of a mediator is to ensure that in the mediation both (or all) parties are, so far as possible, on an equal footing and comfortable with the way the mediation is set up. This means that, for example, the meeting should take place:

in a neutral venue;
in private; and
if possible both parties should be represented by more or less the same number of people.

In the drama the “mediation” meeting took place in very swish corporate offices in London. There is nothing wrong with that, provided that both parties felt comfortable in the venue. However, if the “mediation” took place as portrayed, it would seem unlikely that Pam Stubbs would have felt comfortable in the venue.

Firstly, the room used in the drama was set up like a court room with Pam Stubbs sitting on her own facing a long desk behind which sat a row of eight or more people, presumably Post Office executives and lawyers, rather like a panel of Supreme Court judges. Such an arrangement would clearly be intimidating to anyone, whether intentionally so or not.

Secondly, the meeting took place in a room with glass walls and it was possible to see people walking past in the corridor outside, and presumably the people outside could look in. The room was not private at all.

Another function of a mediator is to encourage the parties to take part in the meeting with an open mind, to listen to the other party, and to explore possible solutions to the dispute. However, in the drama, the people representing the Post Office were not there to listen to what Pam Stubbs had to say, but saw their role as limited to explaining to her that there was no basis to her complaints. We now know that attending the mediations with an open mind could have saved the Post Office a lot of money.

I do not know if mediators were appointed in the Post Office mediations. If not, the presence of a mediator might have enabled the meetings between the Post Office to be more productive, but sadly, I think that the mediation scheme was doomed to failure from the start.

The presumption made by the Post Office and seemingly by the Judges who tried the prosecutions brought against the sub-postmasters was that the Horizon software worked perfectly. Quite plainly, for an individual defendant to challenge that presumption he or she would have had to obtain expert evidence not only from an accountant but also probably from an IT expert - if, that is, Fujitsu would have agreed to provide access to an independent expert to examine its software. The cost of obtaining such expert evidence would have been simply beyond the means of any of the Defendants.

Without such expert evidence, it is difficult to see how a mediation could succeed.

So to sum up:

A mediation should always involve an independent and impartial mediator whose role and function is to ensure that:

*as far as possible, the mediation is set up so as to promote equality between the parties; *
*the mediation meeting takes place in a neutral venue and in private;
*the parties, as far as possible, are represented by more or less the same number of people.
*the rooms used should be organised so as to place the parties in a position of equality
*the parties should attend the mediation with an open mind and be open to the possiblity that the other party has a valid point of view.
*if possible, any necessary expert evidence should be obtained before the mediation.

As a final point, the Post Office scandal raises a question about the presumptions that Judges should make when a prosecution turns on disputed computer evidence. I believe that currently the presumption is that software works as it is claimed to work. The Post Office scandal shows that the presumption is plainly wrong, and that prosecutors should be required to prove their cases by the good old fashioned method of providing documentary evidence.

This article was first published on LinkedIn.

07/03/2024

Suggestions: the Enneagram - nine paths to success? -

We come into this world without an instruction book and spend our lives trying to make sense of it, and to make our way through it as best we can.  At the same time, it is a fact that we are all very different from each other, and sometimes it can be hard to make sense of someone else's way of t...

22/12/2023

Suggestions: Seven tips for getting through or even enjoying the Christmas period! -

Everyone experiences Christmas period in different ways.  For some it can be a time of relaxation, fun and laughter: but for others it can be a time of stress, anxiety or loneliness - made worse by the media messages that everyone else is having a fantastic time! Whether you are dreading Christmas ...

03/10/2023

Resources here are inner strengths like compassion, creativity, courage, and a sense of humour. Even if we don’t have all these already, we can imagine we do or copy behaviours from people we know. Resources are also the help and support we can get from the people around us. And one very important strength or resource we have is the ability to ask for help from others.

02/10/2023

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. You should include all things in your gratitude list because they have contributed to your advancement in one way or the other!

29/09/2023

Unlock Savings by Quitting Smoking! Spending £300 a month on ci******es? That's £3,600 a year! My quit-smoking program costs only £250. Stop for just a month, and you're already in profit! Let's quit and save together!

Call me at 0113 285 7136 or 07903 462715 to book an appointment and start your journey towards a smoke-free, financially savvy life!

28/09/2023

Discover the power of hypnotherapy! This holistic approach uses relaxation and positive suggestions to help you overcome fears, habits, stress, and more. Unlock your potential and create lasting change with hypnotherapy.

17/09/2023

Are you interested in finding out more about mindfulness? Have a look at my blog to find out how mindfulness can reduce stress and improve well-being - and suggestions for a simple mindfulness exercise you can try out for yourself: https://www.rogergilbert.co.uk/blog/getting-started-with-mindfulness/

15/09/2023

Feeling overwhelmed and stressed? I can help you regain control and recover your well-being using proven techniques like hypnotherapy, Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), mBit coaching, and Havening Techniques. Contact me today to start your journey toward inner peace.