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An Auckland "psychic" who claims to heal sex abuse victims is accused of lacing his consultations with sexual remarks, telling women how attracted he is to them and making derogatory and inaccurate "predictions".
But John Clarke, who charges $60 an hour for "acupressure, internal health, emotional problems, spiritual
readings, distant healing, or horse and greyhound advice", denies his behaviour is inappropriate.
The Herald on Sunday began an investigation when unsuspecting client Pia Drewet left a spiritual reading in tears.
"Clarke told me that my granddad was telling him to stop looking at me," Drewet, 24, said. "He told me how attractive I was and said 'your granddad is telling me to keep my hands off you'.
"He then spoke about his Japanese girlfriend and divorce after 25 years of marriage. He said he was turned on when he did a reading with another woman - whom he believes he'll have a future relationship with."
Drewet felt uncomfortable and upset by Clarke's comments, but the enormity of what he said didn't hit her until after she left the flat in Auckland's Mission Bay.
"He told me my granddad thought my dad was a w*****," she said. "He said my current relationship would fail, and he insinuated that I sleep around."
Two Herald on Sunday reporters posing as clients separately visited Clarke at the brick block of flats where he is house sitting. Both women felt Clarke's sexual comments were out of line.
However some of his clients sing his praises. Former New Zealand Women's Golf Champion Kaye Maxwell said Clarke had always been above board in his dealings with her.
She had been so impressed with him she had invited the healer to her golf retreat to help clients be free of tension for their golf swing. She said she "couldn't believe" what she was now hearing.
Clarke told both Herald on Sunday reporters that he helped rape and molestation victims because he could "pick up their pain and grief".
Reporter Jane Phare posed as a recently separated woman. Clarke told her four times during their 80-minute consultation how attracted he was to her. He told Phare her 'ex-husband' was a "w*****" and an "a******".
"You're a very attractive woman ... If I wasn't in a relationship, I'd ask you out because I think we'd have a good time," he said.
Both reporters noted Clarke's 'psychic' readings were incorrect. The 52-year-old told the first reporter her grandfather's dead brother was giving him messages. However, neither of the reporter's grandfathers have a brother.
"He kept twirling a pendulum crystal hanging on a short black cord," Phare said. "While he was thinking, he would chew the cord, and a couple of times he poked it in his ear. He kept saying he was getting emotional and would wipe his watery eyes.
"He also kept referring to a paperback book on numerology and giving me passages to read, but what he was saying was garbled.
"I suspect he didn't have the first clue what he was talking about."
Phare became uncomfortable when Clarke told her he did healing and started pressing his fingers into the back of her left shoulder.
"He said 'I love touching women'."
Clarke assured Phare she would feel better after the acupressure.
"He stood behind me to look at my hips," Phare said. "He put his hands either side and sort of groaned, and said 'oh my God, you are a very attractive woman'. He manipulated my hips, dug into the left side and then said 'that's everything'."
Phare paid $60 and was walking towards the front door when Clarke said she had been "neglected in bed".
"He then gave me a long, close hug and said 'oooh, you're a very attractive woman'," she said. "Clarke said 'I've got to go and take a cold shower'."
Clarke called the other Herald on Sunday reporter a "little bitch" three times.
"You can be a little bitch at times," he said during the reading.
The self-acclaimed spiritual guru asked the reporter how hot her boyfriend's hands felt when he massaged her back. He also asked if her boyfriend was "oversexed".
"When he makes love to you, he's not making love to you as a man," Clarke said.
He claimed the reporter was very mature for her age: "I couldn't be saying this to other 25-year-old girls I have here." He also talked about how he had felt "aroused" during a reading for one woman client, and she had also, but they didn't do anything.
When the Herald on Sunday put these statements to Clarke last week he "couldn't remember" seeing the reporters - even though Phare's visit was just days before - or saying anything inappropriate.
"Did you come and see me?" he asked. "I was not doing anything wrong. I have very high values. I'm embarrassed. I'm sorry if people interpret it that way but I've never played up in my life. I was married for 25 years and now I've got a partner.
"I'm not a conman. When I touch anybody it's solely for healing purposes. I always warn the person before I do anything."
But Phare said she was not warned before he started massaging her, nor did she ask to be "healed".
Clarke said he had a gift but avoided questions about inconsistencies in his readings and numerology.
"I'm sorry that I've upset people," he said. "This is very new to me. I haven't done it intentionally. When I do it, it's just to encourage the person about how they're feeling.
"I have quite a lot of women who have low self-esteem coming in and I just reassure them."
Clarke has no qualifications and does not belong to a natural health association.
How 'healer' was exposed
The Herald on Sunday broke the story of North Shore counsellor and healer Geoffrey Mogridge who is alleged to have had sex with paying women clients last year.
Two women have told the Human Rights Tribunal that Mogridge told them they needed to have sex to get over earlier sexual abuse. One of the women says she was duped into an ongoing affair with Mogridge, who was also counselling her husband at the same time.
Mogridge is currently before the Human Rights Review Tribunal facing damages claims totalling $175,000.
Healers need proper boundaries
The rules governing psychics and healers fall into a grey area. According to Patrick Fahy of the New Zealand Charter of Health Practitioners, if someone is charging a fee and professing to be a healer they are responsible under the Health and Disability Commissioner Act, and the Privacy and Consumer Guarantee Act.
"People who practise psychic healing and aren't members of any particular register don't adhere to any code of ethics until such time as something goes wrong," Fahy said. "Some people have real psychic ability, but there are some whose practises are possibly questionable. It's quite a lucrative type business for some of these people."
The Health and Disability Commissioner Act covered alternative and complementary practitioners, deputy health commissioner Tania Thomas said.
"We will accept a complaint from anyone who has felt concerned and uncomfortable in any way with the consultation that they've gone to," she said. "Often, with alternative practitioners, we get issues around sexual and financial exploitation. I'm thinking of one case that I did the opinion on was the healer Geoffrey Mogridge. Healers really have to watch boundaries."
Glynn Lorrigan of the Natural Health Council said anyone could call themselves a healer, and without regulations in place there would always be problems.
"If a healer belongs to an association, or our council then there are scopes of practice and conduct processes. But nobody has to belong to a group at the moment," she said.
"I would advise you go to healers that someone has recommended. It's absolutely awful because questionable practitioners do so much harm to clients, and harm to the whole profession of people who are registered. I don't know how we'll ever stop it."
Health officials say there are some questions you can ask practitioners to ascertain their suitability:
* Where did you train?
* How long did it take you to qualify?
* Do you belong to any kind of professional association for your healing therapy?
* Do you have peer review?
* What should I expect from your therapies?
