What is cognitive hypnotherapy? By Muriel Bouvier

Trance or hypnosis is an everyday occurrence. In fact, most of our behaviour is done in a trance (about 90%). Anything you do automatically is done in a trance. Or if you think of someone because you’ve walked passed someone else with the same perfume, you are also in a trance. Sometimes, trance is part of what you would like to change. Do you sometimes behave against your will? Do you get scared when you know that what you are scared of is not really dangerous? A friend of mine is scared of Spain. Or do you wish you could resist something that seems irresistible?

When you work with a Cognitive Hypnotherapist, this is the kind of trance that is used – a very light one. This is the work I do on a daily basis. I help people make the changes they want in their life. And often, I need to de-hypnotise my clients from the trance that makes them behave in a way they’d rather not experience and move to what they choose instead.

I believe that all behaviour has a purpose. So anything that is labelled as a negative behaviour is in fact the wrong action with a positive intention. Sometimes, especially as children, we make mistakes in learning what to do or what to avoid.  Fortunately, the brain is able to change. It’s what scientists call brain plasticity. We always learn and change.  This is what I help my clients do. They change and take the journey to becoming the person they want to be, the person they want to look back on when they become old. Be proud of their journey. It’s like doing a software update.

And we are all different. Most hypnotherapists treat the symptoms. Cognitive hypnotherapists don’t. I believe that the work I need to do with my clients is finding out what the purpose of their behaviour is. This leads me to tailor my work to my client’s way of thinking, to design a bespoke treatment using many different techniques such as NLP, Gestalt, positive psychology, cognitive behavioural therapy as well as hypnosis.  And the work is enhanced by a unique way of creating suggestions called Wordweaving™ which accelerates the rate of improvement towards a permanent change.

The biggest difference between Quest-trained Cognitive Hypnotherapists and other hypnotherapists is that our clients are always in control of the change, helped to find ways to reach the future they want while being taught how to make that journey themselves. I rely on my clients wanting to make the change rather than having their problem taken away from them. I believe this is more empowering and also gives my clients the tools they need to finish the work by themselves.

I work with clients who want to get pregnant and are having difficulties, want to stop smoking, reduce anxiety or depressive behaviours in their lives, free themselves from phobias, reduce pain they experience, and many other issues.  If you would like to find out more, or if you are interested in experiencing this change, you can get in touch or visit my websites www.MurielBouvier.com and www.PregnancyMatters.co.uk.   I offer a free no-obligation 20-30 minute consultation in East Finchley.