-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Website of Michael Heap --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to the web pages of :


BSc MSc MSc PhD C.Psychol

CHARTERED CLINICAL FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST

 

EXPERT WITNESS

If you wish to post comments, criticisms, advice, relevant anecdotes, and so on on this website, please go to the Comments Page for further details.

My preferred email address is mailto:m.heap@sheffield.ac.uk. I have also joined 'Facebook'.

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS AND SPECIALITIES

I am a clinical and a forensic psychologist. I started out in clinical psychology in 1974. Before then, I worked (from 1970) as a research psychologist in a hospital for patients with brain damage. I have also held part-time teaching and lecturing posts at universities. In 2001 I qualified in forensic psychology and worked over 9 years in a medium secure hospital. I now work exclusively in private practice.

In my professional work I have developed the following areas of knowledge and expertise:

  • Hypnosis (theory, research, clinical practice and forensic and legal issues). I have published several books and many papers on this subject over the past 25 years or more.

  • The preparation of expert witness reports on defendants (pre-trial and pre-sentence) for the criminal courts.

  • The preparation of expert witness reports for the civil courts. I have considerable experience in the psychological effects of road traffic accidents.

  • The assessment and treatment of people with psychological problems and disorders, notably patients who are compulsorily detained under the Mental Health Act.

LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON HYPNOSIS?

Most information about hypnosis that you read in books and on the internet and that is portrayed in the media is unreliable and misleading. I would not even recommend the entries in Wikipedia, which are of indifferent quality. I have penned an account of hypnosis on this website in which I have tried to summarise what scientific enquiry into the subject is now telling us. This article, which I revised on 23.11.08, provides an introduction to a report that my colleagues and I prepared for the British Psychological Society in 2001. This report can be accessed on the BPS website. I also recommend the following website that is being constantly updated: Hypnosis and Suggestion. For titles and many abstracts of thousands of papers and publications on hypnosis, including research, click on 'Scientific Hypnosis Home Page'.

INTEREST IN SCEPTICISM

I am the Chairman/Secretary and a founder member of ASKE, the Association for Skeptical Enquiry. This is a society for people from all walks of life who wish to promote rational thinking and enquiry, particularly concerning unusual phenomena, and who are opposed to the proliferation and misuse of irrational and unscientific ideas and practices. I am editor of ASKE’s quarterly newsletter Skeptical Adversaria and its annual magazine Skeptical Intelligencer.
 
I enjoy giving talks to schools and other institutions and groups on my work and on scepticism (e.g. 'Science and the Paranormal').

To find out more about ASKE, visit our webiste at http://www.aske-skeptics.org.uk/. If you share our ideas and concerns why not join for just £10 a year?

Also visit Doug Weller's Archaeological website at: http://www.ramtops.co.uk

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL DETAILS

MORE CONTENTS

MORE SCEPTICAL ESSAYS

SOME SIMPLE PUZZLES

RECENT ADDITIONS TO CONTENTS

The following articles have been added since November 23, 2008

'Hypnosis: The Modern Scientific Perspective' (revised)

The need to tell a good story (featuring the psychic dog)

A new paper on NLP

Reflections on 'Recovered Memories'

 

 

 

 

PLACEBO THERAPY: HOW TO DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE AND ETHICAL QUACK TREATMENT
'An outstanding contribution to Alternative and Complementary Medicine.'

HYPNOSIS: THE MODERN SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE (revised)

PATHOLOGICAL BELIEFS AND ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA

HYPNOSIS AND FLYING SAUCERS
(BY HB GIBSON)

HEALING AND THERAPY IN THE AGE OF MASS AFFLUENCE

'COMPENSATION CULTURE' AND 'NIMBYISM'

MEDICALISATION OF MISFORTUNE

LET'S WAVE GOODBYE TO THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND

SCIENCE
AND POWER

SCEPTICISM AND HUMOUR

NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING

UNDERSTANDING YOUR DREAMS: A SIMPLE TECHNIQUE

A THEORY OF
THE SOUL
Why was I born the
person I am?......

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF CLAIMANTS IN ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

THE NEED TO TELL A GOOD STORY
Featuring the
psychic dog...

REFLECTIONS ON 'RECOVERED MEMORIES'