Degree Mills and Accreditation Mills

"Diploma mill credentials devalue the legitimate degrees earned by millions of individuals through hard work, persistence and achievement." --U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Maine

Our fans are INTERNATIONAL!

In the last four hours alone, we had readers from the United States to Saudi Arabia to Burma to the UK and everywhere in between! Your support and belief in our mission is what keeps us going strong! Thank you! Happy new year to all of you (even the PhD Scam Artists)!

3 University Of District Columbia Professors Hold Degrees That Deceive: Sport Ph.D.s From 'Diploma Mills'

3 University Of District Columbia Professors Hold Degrees That Deceive: Sport Ph.D.s From 'Diploma Mills'

3 University Of District Columbia Professors Hold Degrees That Deceive: Sport Ph.D.s From 'Diploma Mills': The University of District Columbia gave three professors raises when they received Ph.D.s. That's standard in academia -- unless the degrees are worthless. UDC professors Angelyn Flowers, Sinclair Jeter and Maragaret Moore received their Ph.D.s from Commonwealth Open University -- a school that, according to Fox 5, is non-accredited, accepts most people to its online program without verifying backgrounds and doles out advanced diplomas in exchange for academic requirements that barely scratch the surface of accredited programs' requirements.

See http://diplomamillnews.blogspot.com/2012/12/3-university-of-district-columbia.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+diplomamillnews+%28Diploma+Mill+News%29

9000 Blog Views and an email from Random Hypnotist

To date, we've had almost 9,000 page views. That means 9,000 more people know who is scamming the world with fake doctorates than before we started the blog.

We received an email today from Random Hypnotist in Washington:



To answer this naysayer's questions, we are going after anybody that uses fake doctorates or endorses the practice of it. Scott Sandland allows his HypnoThoughts.com to run rampant with individuals who boast fake doctorate. AND -he is profiting from HypnoThoughts Live, a conference featuring so-called expert presenters who tout fake doctorates. These "experts" are conning this public into believing they have such credentials. He also deleted a thread on his HypnoThoughts that was serving to expose these individuals. Scott Sandland has also posted a number of testimonials from so-called (fake) doctorates as well as poorly conducted research articles these so-called (fake doctorates). He is also on the "board" of a known doctorate degree mill. He promotes the practice using fake doctorates. Plain and simple. He is equally as guilty. Once he banishes the use of fake doctorates in his professional dealing and trainings, we will retract our comments about him. Until then, the world must know that these individuals, who they are paying to teach them something, are fraudulently purporting to hold academic qualifications which they do not have.

You said yourself that Scott Sandland could have earned a PhD for free from "Alpha University." Your testament to the well-known fact that the degree mill practically gives away such "degrees" does not help the case, especially since Sandland is supposedly a "board member."

Let's see how serious Sandland is about building ethics and integrity in this hypnosis field. I challenge you, Scott Sandland of HypnoThoughts.com, to immediately stop the perpetuation of any false academic credential on your site or training sessions.

Let's talk about Richard Nongard. His boasting a PhD "on less than 5 of his many, many products" does not make it better for him. It's actually more than 5, but do we really need to count? If he is such an expert, then why must he lie about holding a PhD? We are aware that he is, indeed, a state licensed mental health practitioner. That is not our concern. Our concern is that he boasts having an illegitimate PhD. There are other state licensed mental health practitioners who we have exposed. See http://fakedoctorate.blogspot.com/2012/11/dr-keli-henault-phd-fraud-from-austin-tx.html.

"He doesn't need to help hypnotists to earn a living." Well, that's not exactly true. His marketing of numerous products geared towards hypnotists on subliminalscience.com and to psychotherapists and other professionals on fastceus.com would make a reasonable observer think differently.

Roy Hunter. If he's really that good, why must he boast a fake doctorate? Particularly from the very same degree mill, Alpha University, that wanted to give Scott Sandland a free doctorate?

We didn't ignore Jonathan Royle. And Wendy Friesen didn't claim to have earned a PhD, nor does our research find that she helps to perpetuate the practice of such.

Of course, each of these people who are called out has the opportunity to respond on this site. The comments sections are left open for this very reason. To date, there has not been a single response from any of the accused. We believe this is testimony to the accuracy of our information.

In Progress! A microscopic examination of the Board of Directors of Alpha University

A microscopic examination of the Board of Directors of the degree mill known as "Alpha University."

We have previously written about the degree mill known as "Alpha University," which "issues" (in other words...sells) fake, non-accredited doctorates in hypnosis (see http://fakedoctorate.blogspot.com/2012/12/alpha-university-degree-mill.html). We will soon provide an analysis of the scam artists who are allegedly affiliated with this organization, with particular interest on those who falsely purport to have earned a degree. There are a lot of people involved in this scam! Stay tuned!

Conrad Adams

Conrad Adams of Baton Rouge, LA is the next to find his way into our walk of shame. We found him by accident when we were tipped off about some other individuals who we previously wrote about. Conrad, who poses on the left as the Dos Equis man, claims to have a Doctorate in Natural Medicine and a PhD in Behavior Science with a major in hypnotherapy. Of course, he doesn't state FROM WHERE he earned these so-called degrees.

This fraud claims to be the vice-president of the International Medical & Dental Hypnotherapy Association (although their website make no mention of a vice-president, or even a president and, if somehow he is the vice-president, he is violating their own so-called Code of Ethics by fraudulently misrepresenting himself. But who's checking?). He is also the founder and Dean of an unaccredited "university" called Alpha University, which delivers fake PhD credentials to other con artists from his one room suite located in an office building in Baton Rouge, LA (See http://fakedoctorate.blogspot.com/2012/11/roy-hunter-phd-fraud-scam-artist.html for more information about "Alpha University"). Adams' wife happens to be the "Dean of Admissions."

I am willing to bet that he earned his "degree" from Alpha University.

Jenifer Debosier

Records show that Jenifer Debosier is really Jenifer-Debosier Adams. Looks like she's related to Conrad Adams and Steven Adams.  

 We also find that Jenifer claims to have a (bogus) Doctor of Natural Medicine:

Scott Sandland

We have written extensively about Sandland, owner of the blog site HypnoThoughts. He has not falsely claimed to have earned a doctorate. However, his support of those who do is appalling. We understand that Sandland is financially motivated to create hypnosis training programs. His association with such individuals to present at these trainings, and his membership on this so-called board, only clarifies his intention to perpetuate the use of fake doctorates.

 

Roger Moore

Roger Moore of Roger Moore's Counseling and Hypnotherapy of Bainbridge Island, WA, claims to have earned a "Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy." Readers of this blog KNOW that there is no such thing, yet he holds legitimate undergraduate and master's degrees. Why would somebody with a solid set of degrees, and from what we're told, is apparently a nice guy, want to tarnish his name and profession with false credentials such as a fake PhD? We have been unable to find a single reference as to where his "PhD" was earned but since we know that there are no accredited PhD programs in Clinical Hypnotherapy, we affirm that Mr. Moore's is fraudently asserting that he holds a PhD. We hope that this person will reconsider his use of the terms "Doctor" or PhD."

Roger Moore is a member of the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association, the International Association of Counselors and Therapists and the International Hypnosis Federation.

**************************

UPDATE

**************************

The above screen shot shows Healthy Life Centers, owned by Mark Barrus of Fountain View, CA, featuring Roger Moore as "Dr. Roger Moore." The question is, who is deceiving who? Is Mark Barrus deceiving the public into believing that this hypnotist, whom he will receive commission from every client that he refers to Roger Moore, really holds a doctorate? Or is Roger Moore deceiving Mark Barrus? Or does it even matter. The public is being deceived no matter which way you look at it.

Steven E. Adams, J.D.

He really is a lawyer. We assume that Steven Adams is related to Conrad Adams and Jenifer Debosier-Adams. I wonder how he feels, having earned a bonafide juris doctorate, about "Alpha University" giving away phony doctorates.

 Deborah Broussard

Rong Seng-Cheng

David Li-Wei Ho

Gilbert Wong

John S. Jester

Anthony G. Ziagos

*******************

Ralph Allocco, Hicksville & Bethpage, NY - Fake Doctorate Alert!

Ralph Allocco of the CHt Hypnosis Center and owner of C & B Archery, both in Hicksville, NY is the next hypno-PhD scam artist to grace our blog. Ralph holds nothing more than a high school diploma. He claims to be an instructor at "Alpha University," a known degree mill (see http://fakedoctorate.blogspot.com/2012/12/alpha-university-degree-mill.html). Ralph is a proud member of the equally unethical organization, the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association/International Association of Counselors and Therapists -the hybrid organization owned by Robert Otto where fake PhD's run rampant (read our many other blogs).

He advertises with a firm called Jewish Marketing Solutions.

Funny how the Jewish Directory, JewishYellow.com advises people to beware of scams and frauds, yet they allow this one to advertise just below the warning:

Ralph also lists Bethpage, NY as a home city.

Richard Nongard, PhD, Scottsdale, AZ - FAKE PhD

Richard Nongard of Scottsdale, AZ owns Subliminal Science, the "Hypnosis Superstore," Peachtree Professional Education, Inc., the NLP Certification Board, and the International Certification Board of Clinical Hypnotherapy (of which he claims to be a member in good standing -duh, it's his business).   This guy refers to himself as Richard Nongard, PhD but provides absolutely NO EVIDENCE that he has earned one. In fact, after "mistakenly" using the terms PhD on several products, he removed it altogether (except from his "Super Store." See below.).

In 2009, a reader on the Hypnothoughts Blog called Nongard out on this (see below). His response attempted to skirt the issue and he wrote that he only uses degrees when marketing to psychotherapy professionals. In other words, it appears that he is conning licensed medical professionals into believe that he holds the academic qualification of "Doctor," which he does not.

Coming soon! Jennifer Eve Alexander of Duncan, BC Canada

Jennifer Eve Alexander of the Full Circle Hypnosis Training College and Results Therapy International, in Vancouver, BC, Canada claims to have earned a PhD in Behavioral Sciences from the degree mill known as "Alpha University." See http://fakedoctorate.blogspot.com/2012/12/alpha-university-degree-mill.html. She likes to write the word "Dr." everywhere she can. Know everybody knows the truth.

Coming soon: Terri Lee Cooper, Edmonton Alberta, Canada

Terri Lee Cooper of Hypnosis For Life in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Coming soon!

Barry Seedman, Sedona, Arizona and New York, FAKE Doctorate,

We found this guy after we busted Wayson Lee for falsely purporting to have a doctorate from the degree mill known as Albert University (See http://fakedoctorate.blogspot.com/2012/11/wayson-lee-washington-dc-fake-doctorate.html).

This chump claims to be the "leading hypnotherapy instructor in the United States." That's about as accurate as his "PhD."

He claims to hold a PhD in Clinical Hypnotherapy from American State University. Folks who follow our blog know to look at our degree mill resource guide here: http://fakedoctorate.blogspot.com/2012/11/known-diploma-mills-resource-guide.html

A very interesting blog post that another blogger wrote about Seedman:

Today, I saw a tiny ad in the back of Natural Health magazine for "Albert University", offering doctoral degrees in hypnotherapy and "alternative healing".
The President of this fine institution, "Dr." Barry Seedman, "earned" his degree from American State U, one of the worst diploma mills, and one of the very few to be shut down by Hawaii authorities.
"Dr." Seedman modestly reports that he has won "almost every major award in his field", and goes on to list awards by a bunch of organizations I've never heard of, but no awards from any of the legitimate hypnotherapy groups. Big surprise.
The school offers mail-order Ph.D degrees, which are described as "Technical degrees, similar to Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Chiropractic, and not academic degrees". (!)
Apparently, for the hypnotherapy degree, one submits one's trance inductions on a cassette tape for review. And it's a little frightening that they offer courses that clearly fall in the realm of things that only a licensed psychotherapist should be doing. Not cool.
Oh... and there's almost a full page of accreditation apologia -- the standard stuff, probably ripped from ASU 's site. The school claims to be accredited by the probably nonexistent and almost certainly fraudulent Government Accrediting Association of Delaware.
And when you download the PDF application to the school, we find that it's campus is (surprise!) a PMB address which turns out to also belong to "JW Doan Hypnotherapy."
(That's a new one... a combination Mailboxes Etc and hypnotherapy service...)
However, you are supposed to send your application and $500 fee to the "Eastern office" which, conveniently, is in New York, where "Dr." Seedman lives.
I was hoping that this was one of those well-meaning but clueless holistic folks, but I don't think so. The $6000 fee, and very misleading statements on the value of the degree and the fraudulent accreditation make it pretty clear that the guy is out to scam people.
The amazing thing is that anyone is actually dumb enough to sign up for a program like this. 


=http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/2323-new-phony-albert-university.html

Shelley Stockwell, of the International Hypnosis Federation, FAKE PhD *UPDATED*

Shelley Stockwell-Nicholas, president, owner, member, and founder of the International Hypnosis Federation in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. Shelley liberally throws around the title PhD and Dr. Shelly for herself. Yet, she is entirely elusive as to the from where and in what, which is typical of people claiming to have FAKE PhD's in this field.

She is the author of "How to Put a Smile on Your face and $$ In Your Pocket." Could that have something to do with fabricating a fake doctorate and duping gullible hypnotists into joining your organization?

Shelley is considered to be an "expert" and will be presenting at Scott Sandland's HypnoThoughts Live.

***************************

UPDATE

***************************

Shelley "the FAKE PhD" Stockwell-Nicholas sent us a lovely email. Here it is:

Dear Lady Who Falsely Purports To Have A PhD,

It's not slander if it's true. 

Unless you confirm that you have earned a legitimate PhD, this information will remain here for eternity.

Sincerely,
The Truth

Patti Scott, Patricia Scott, Palm Harbor, FL - FAKE Doctorate

We thank Scott Sandland and his HypnoThoughts Live for this referral as well. Patti Scott, aka Patricia Scott, of Unlimited Possibilities Hypnosis, Inc. in Palm Harbor, FL claims to have earned a PhD in Behavioral Science (Major-Hypnosis) "with" Alpha University. Read here about the diploma mill known as Alpha University: http://fakedoctorate.blogspot.com/2012/12/alpha-university-degree-mill.html

Patti joins the ranks of Terence Watts, Roy Hunter, and Patti Conklin...all who have fraudulently claimed to have earned doctorates from there. Welcome to the FAKE DEGREE CLUB, Patricia Scott.

Degree Mill = No Degree = No Doctorate

Oh how elusive Patti is. We found another source that says she earned a B.S. in Clinical Hypnotherapy and is a PhD Candidate with American Pacific University.

And here we have yet another degree mill. See http://fakedoctorate.blogspot.com/2012/11/known-diploma-mills-resource-guide.html

Once again:

Degree Mill = No Degree = No Doctorate

Robert Otto, Owner of IMDHA and IACT, FAKE PhD!

When we saw this guy was presenting at Scott Sandland's HypnoThoughts Live, we decided to take a closer look. Robert Otto, owner of the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association and the International Association of Counselors and Therapists....purports to have a FAKE PhD, in violation of his own Code of Ethics. This is a fantastic explanation of why all of these fake doctors are allowed to run rampant throughout the IMDHA and the IACT.

Liberal use of "Dr. Robert Otto" and "Robert Otto, PhD" without a single source to indicate from where or in what. How convenient, Bob.

What's the matter, Bob? Is there something lacking in your life that you have to make up for with a FAKE PhD? The voice of the IMDHA and the IACT, Ladies and Gentlemen.

William Mitchell, Springfield, IL - FAKE Doctorate

William Mitchell of Springfield, Illinois claims to have earned a "Professional Doctorate of Hypnotherapy" from Madison University. According to our resource guide, Madison University is a degree mill (See http://fakedoctorate.blogspot.com/2012/11/known-diploma-mills-resource-guide.html). Degree mill = No Degree.

William Mitchell is a featured "expert" presenter for Scott Sandland's HypnoThoughts Live, a member of the National Guild of Hypnotists, and a member of Robert Otto's International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association.

Marla Brucker - San Diego, CA - FAKE Doctorate!

Meet Marla Brucker of the San Diego Hypnosis Center. We would like to thank Scott Sandland's HypnoThoughts Live for tipping us off on this lady who claims to have a Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy. She is extremely elusive about where she supposedly earned this degree. We wonder why! That's because there is no such degree.

Marla is a proud member of Robert Otto's International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association and the International Hypnosis Federation.

How Many FAKE Doctorates Will Be Presenting At Scott Sandland's HypnoThoughts Live?

Over the next few days, we will be pointing out those with FAKE doctorates who are scheduled to present at Scott Sandland's HypnoThought's Live. Could THIS be the reason why he shut down any discussion about fake doctorates on his website? Could this be part of that self-serving agenda we wrote about earlier?

To quote Romper Room's Miss Sally and her Magic Mirror...And I see the following people who are SO FANTASTIC AT WHAT THEY DO, THEY HAVE TO LIE ABOUT HAVING A DOCTORATE....there's Roy Hunter, Nancy Barwick, Roger Moore and Anne Spencer (remember Scott Sandland's testimonials?), Robert Otto, Melissa Tiers, Marla Brucker, William Mitchell, Shelley Stockwell, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Interestingly, there are at least three individuals with real, bonafide doctorates presenting here. How must Kweethia Neill, Don Pelles, and Brian David Phillips, who actually did the legitimate doctoral work, feel about their cohorts who LIE about their academic credentials?

Do you know a FAKE Doctor? Let us know!

We intend to post the identity of each and every individual who falsely purports to have a doctorate. If you know of one, let us know. Contrary to somebody's comment, WE DO NOT PLAY FAVORITES. All who lie about their academic credentials are guilty.

Feel free to email us either from your own email address (your information is kept confidential and deleted upon receipt) or from an anonymous email address.

Melissa Tiers, New York, NY - FAKE DOCTORATE AND BACHELORS

Melissa Tiers of The Center for Integrative Hypnosis in New York City is committing degree fraud as she purports to have earned a Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy and Alternative Healing through Albert University. She also claims to have earned a B.S. degree in Metaphysics from the American Institute of Holistic Theology.

Melissa Tiers is a member and instructor for the so-called ethical (NOT!) National Guild of Hypnotists and the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association.

Albert University and the American Institute of Holistic Theology are new ones for us. So we decided to investigate.

We initially searched our own resource for degree mills at http://fakedoctorate.blogspot.com/2012/11/known-diploma-mills-resource-guide.html and found that, yes indeed, Albert University is a known degree mill. On DegreeMill.com, the administrator wrote:

"A New Phony! Albert University Today, I saw a tiny ad in the back of Natural Health magazine for "Albert University", offering doctoral degrees in hypnotherapy and "alternative healing".

The President of this fine institution, "Dr." Barry Seedman, "earned" his degree from American State U, one of the worst diploma mills, and one of the very few to be shut down by Hawaii authorities.

"Dr." Seedman modestly reports that he has won "almost every major award in his field", and goes on to list awards by a bunch of organizations I've never heard of, but no awards from any of the legitimate hypnotherapy groups. Big surprise.

The school offers mail-order Ph.D degrees, which are described as "Technical degrees, similar to Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Chiropractic, and not academic degrees". (!)

Apparently, for the hypnotherapy degree, one submits one's trance inductions on a cassette tape for review. And it's a little frightening that they offer courses that clearly fall in the realm of things that only a licensed psychotherapist should be doing. Not cool.

Oh... and there's almost a full page of accreditation apologia -- the standard stuff, probably ripped from ASU 's site. The school claims to be accredited by the probably nonexistent and almost certainly fraudulent Government Accrediting Association of Delaware.

And when you download the PDF application to the school, we find that it's campus is (surprise!) a PMB address which turns out to also belong to "JW Doan Hypnotherapy."

(That's a new one... a combination Mailboxes Etc and hypnotherapy service...)

However, you are supposed to send your application and $500 fee to the "Eastern office" which, conveniently, is in New York, where "Dr." Seedman lives.

I was hoping that this was one of those well-meaning but clueless holistic folks, but I don't think so. The $6000 fee, and very misleading statements on the value of the degree and the fraudulent accreditation make it pretty clear that the guy is out to scam people.

The amazing thing is that anyone is actually dumb enough to sign up for a program like this.
See http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/2323-new-phony-albert-university.html

We then turned our attention to the undergraduate degree she boasts. While one's undergraduate education goes beyond the scope of this blog, we will sometimes take a look at it if something seems out of place, particularly since the term "metaphysics" is used. We couldn't find much of anything regarding the American Institute of Holistic Theology. We looked on their website at http://www.aiht.edu and found that not only do they not have any kind of accreditation, they boldly announce that they chose "not to seek traditional accreditation" -semantics for "we wouldn't get it if we applied for it."

Therefore we affirm that Melissa Tiers of New York, NY has NO ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS WHATSOEVER.

Hans-Peter Zimmermann speaks out on the American Institute of Hypnotherapy

We found this blog by former American Institute of Hypnotherapy "student" and "degree recipient" Hans-Peter Zimmermann, who come forward regarding the lack of validity of the the degrees conferred by the American Institute of Hypnotherapy. We give Mr. Zimmermann TWO THUMBS UP and a HIGH FIVE for his decision to stop using the title DCH and Doctor.

You can read the about Mr. Zimmermann and his blog here: http://www.hpz.com/hypnosis-doctoral-papers/

Jennifer Johnson, Fairfax, VA - FAKE Doctorate!

Jennifer P. Johnson, of Johnson Hypnotherapy and http://www.beahealthynonsmoker.com/ in Fairfax, Virginia, claims to have earned a Doctor of Clinical Hypnotherapy from the American Institute of Hypnosis. Readers of this blog know that the American Institute of Hypnosis is nothing more than a degree mill. Sorry, but any degree received from a degree mill is the same as having NO degree.