Therapeutic Taxis - the first service of it's kind in the UK!

Malcolm Hendry qualified with the NCTH at Newcastle. Malcolm has a 20 year history in transport including chauffeur to the Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne, General Manager for the Go-Ahead group plc and more recently, owner of a fleet of modern taxi vehicles.

In 2001 he became disillusioned with the conventional taxi business and decided he wanted to make a difference to impaired travellers and decided to pursue a course in performance coaching in business psychology at Newcastle college. This helped him to understand how operators can influence and provide a better service but this didn’t help the passengers directly so the quest for a proven therapy which could help, continued.

In 2005 Malcolm contacted NCTH and completed a Foundation course on the fundamentals of hypnosis before joining the Diploma course. He says ‘once enrolled the friendly team spirit made the whole experience of learning a new skill, a pleasure’. His service caters for anyone who may suffer from:

•    a flying phobia

•    travel anxiety

•    road rage 

and is currently based in Blyth just outside of Newcastle upon Tyne although a home service is also on offer.  He says: ‘Travel fear and phobia’s are a lot more common than you may think. British Airways quote an estimate of 14.5 million people worldwide who suffer from the fear of flying.  We set out to combine two unique services into one:

•    hypnosis for a positive phobia replacement

•    a regional, soon to be national, airport taxi service

Our aim is to offer the best advice, therapeutic treatment, and best after care service possible. First is a free initial confidential consultation with the client to establish an extensive case history and to ensure suitability.  We then discuss the symptoms and the proposed outcome.  Further appointments are then made’.

The model Malcolm is utilising is stage 1 - Hypnotherapy for the phobia and then stage 2 – facing the anxiety / fear in reality by introducing a visit to a local airport through the taxi service.  After treatment, when clients have booked a flight, a car and driver is used to chauffeur the client to the airport allowing plenty of time to reduce any chance of anxiety.  Clients are supplied with a personalised hypnosis CD played via headphones which will reinforce the work of the Therapeutic Hypnosis during the journey

Since launching the service many other qualified Clinical Hypnotherapists have recommended Malcolm to their clients.  Therapeutic Taxis.com is growing by word of mouth and recommendations and Malcolm is looking to expand the service nationally and is looking to involve other service providers and Hypnotherapists nationally providing they have a recognised qualification, professional liability insurance, and will abide by the code of ethics and professional conduct. Therapeutic Taxis.com are now also working with EcoCabs of Hexham who are committed to engaging in ways to become less polluting to our environment as well as reducing  reliance on fossil fuels.

The NCTH would like to congratulate Malcolm on ‘driving’ such an innovative idea forward.  He has successfully utilised his experience from past employment and incorporated his new skills and experience in a unique therapy service.  The service has been well received in the North East and now offers opportunities for partnership working with other service providers and Hypnotherapists nationally.  Well done Malcolm, we wish him all the best for his expansion ideas and can certainly recommend qualified ex-students in other area localities who might want to get involved.  If anyone is interested in finding out more contact NCTH and we will put you in touch with Malcolm.