Emma Kenny

So , I've finally managed to get back around to writing my blog. Its been an interesting couple of days, toing and froing with Wikipedia as regards changes an individual made to an article on there about my credentials. In spite of offering all my qualifications - along with my registration number approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care within the 'Psychological Therapies,' my BACP registration and many sources to validate my work these were persistently removed. In fact the only one that remained was an article that noted me as a 'pop Psychologist!'
The internet is a powerful tool and in that hands of nasty people can cause immense distress.
I have always been transparent about my qualifications, I am not a Phd (in spite of the Director of the Manchester Counselling Psychology Phd, where I lecture a couple of times a year consistently nudging me to do one), I have never felt that I needed to.
I love my work in therapy and I am very highly qualified. I am also employed as a private Psychologist and employed on screen as one.
What is my crime? Well yes, I haven't committed one, in fact I am totally transparent in my work.
The fact that an individual in Australia decided that they didn't agree with me using my legally entitled title 'Psychologist' led to what has been a couple of the most frustrating and upsetting days of my recent years.
My wonderful P.A and partner immediately contacted Wikapedia to explain that so far as we considered our page had been hacked and that libellous (thanks brother of mine who is a qualified Barrister) information including suggesting i was a 'self proclaimed psychologist' with no qualifications and an Entrepreneur (which I really wish I was) had been maliciously posted.
Well that was a mistake! Immediately my partner was attacked and told that he was in the wrong for using these terms (remember, we know nothing about the etiquette of Wikapedia and were on the 'talk' to ask for help after genuinely believing that libellous and malicious content was being posted)
What began as us believing someone would look and note that this was the case, turned into my partner staying up all night trying to put the correct info on the site; which was immediately removed and replaced by one damming article by a woman called Margaret McCartney, a G.P  who was given all my qualifications, only to omit my advanced diploma in Counselling and Masters in Counselling, instead saying i was a 'graduate' of psychology....(which i am by the way, but i have higher degrees too). In fact I am still awaiting a response from her and the BMJ as she needs to amend these facts. Even more odd is that this G.P feels she is an authority on Psychology and wrote about me in a medical journal which has nothing to do with my discipline. Mind you this is the woman who also suggested that smears for cervical cancer were a waste of time (tell that my mother who by the way survived it thanks to a smear at the age of 44).
By the way, at this point in the argument my partner was pulled up for his spelling and punctuation (considering it was at this point 3am in the morning and i was snoring i think he did bloody well).
This argument is  still going on by the way, feel free to look at the history where we offer inordinate amounts of links that counteract the claims, degrees and higher degrees, registration and awarding bodies which are immediately removed.
You see the really scary lesson I have learnt here is that somewhere in Australia, there is a very angry individual who absolutely loathes me. This individual also has a group of other angry individuals who go out of their way to discredit people. These are all editors for Wikapedia, a group of people who should have decorum, honesty and integrity at their core; don't get me wrong, before this, we found some of these individuals beyond helpful and they added vast amounts of info for me.
Also, the very odd individual who spent hours blocking our honest info also exposed my partners details, which is in direct contravention of Wikapedia ethics and also posted his Facebook, sound cloud and twitter accounts.
Whilst I have every intention of dealing with that individual, the point is that for me the event showed how even when you are completely transparent about who you are, what you do, the qualifications that you have, and the registration you can demonstrate, someone with a little bit of power can try to ruin you.
I don't hide anything, the production companies I work for, the clients I am privileged to work with, the corporate brands I help and endorse ALL have my qualifications and all think I am excellent at what I do.
I have written this article because Wikapedia is genuinely a site I fully trusted, I go on it all the time as an information base. To discover that it is controlled at times by fabulous individuals who are genuinely helpful and pleasant; no doubt wanting the company to remain credible, and at other times really nasty people has been a disturbing experience.
So, next time you log on to read about that famous celebrity, or to find out that piece of interesting history, remember anyone can edit Wikapedia ,and in my case a very nasty Australian who chooses to hide and delete the facts.