The Provocative Archive

The Provocative Archive is now live

When I first met Frank Farrelly, the creator of Provocative Therapy almost two decades ago, I was fascinated by his work and wanted to know more. To my amazement, the only available information on the globe was the original book ‘Provocative Therapy”, which is now out of print. Frank kept records of all his events, and as his PA said, “Frank never throws anything away”

Frank left instructions with his son Tim to leave his archive in my hands for safekeeping when he passed. There’s a huge amount of information dating back to the 1960s, including radio interviews, articles, audio, and video. Most of the video was shot on NTSC video 8 format, so the first challenge was how to get this material digitised for viewing.

Maintaining the true spirit of Provocative work

One of the main reasons for launching this facility was to protect Frank’s legacy and showcase the PCW model. Since Frank’s passing, there have been the inevitable attempts by some people to try and become authorities on his original work. I’ve had to shut down characters trying to offer Provocative Therapy certifications in one country who were even flogging merch with Frank’s photo without permission! This behaviour is the opposite of what Frank wanted with his approach. Regarding Provocative Change Works, I’m mindful that I can’t afford to be associated with individuals who don’t maintain the true spirit of working provocatively. It’s not about being comedic or improvisation; there’s so much more to share. The archive showcases how both Provocative Therapy and PCW work in a multi-layered manner, and it takes time to learn and develop these skills. Finally, for the first time, there’s a body of material that can be used for study purposes.

Enter Roni Matar, the creator of the new platform

In addition to owning the Frank Farrelly archive, I have almost two decades of my Provocative Change Works material from all over the globe. Fortunately, this is all in digital format, so there’s no need for digitisation. The challenge has been how best to make this available to those wanting to learn these provocative skills. My initial idea was to upload everything to unlisted viewing on YouTube, but this has a host of limitations including an upload limit. The other consideration is how make this available in a way that people would value it.

Fortunately, one of my colleagues, Roni Matar, suggested a solution and started to build what has become the Provocative Archive, which includes both classic Provocative Therapy and Provocative Change Works material.

A Goldmine of Provocative material from the source

The archive can be found here with a variety of affordable membership options. For the first time, the wider public can not only access previously unreleased Frank Farrelly material, but also Provocative Change Works material from across the globe. We are in the early stages of adding material, but there are already over 150 hours of material.