As a Sophrologist and Hypnosis Practicioner, I support children, adolescents, adults, through short-term counseling, in either individual or group settings, led in either French or English.

Sophrology and Hypnosis are personal development practices which take into account your body, mind and emotions. They help initiate a momentum to allow you to bypass an emotional state or modify a behavior which no longer suits you, or to move on to a new stage in life. They develop well-being and a better understanding of one-self, and enable you to activate your full potential.

Sophrology and Hypnosis apply to:

• Well-being: learn how to manage your emotions and prevent them from taking over.
  Example: manage stress, manage emotions, regulate sleep, develop self-confidence and self-esteem, enhance learning experience (improve your concentration and memory…), manage a change in your personal or professional life…

• Prepare a major event: manage apprehension, help you be aware and draw on your capacities to live the experience in the best conditions.
  Example: speeches, interviews and exams, giving birth, stage or sport performances…

• Support a medical treatment*: help you to better cope with a treatment and/or regain a good quality of life by reducing the impact of side effects, help you better deal with pain and restore a good self-image.
  Example: tinnitus, fibromyalgia, cancer...

• Support pathological behaviors *: manage phobias and impulses.
  Example: transportation phobia, agoraphobia, or other phobias, addictions (tobacco, alcohol, etc), bulimia, anorexia.

• Overcome a shock or a trauma: aggression, accident, feeling of insecurity, … thanks to RITMO® (a technique inspired by EMDR).
  
  * NB: Sophrology and Hypnosis can be used on its own, and to complement other approaches (medical or holistic), but will never replace a medical advice or treatment.

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Sophrology is a practice that can help you create a greater sense of well-being in your everyday life. It can activate your potential through a combination of breathing and relaxation exercises, mental suggestions and positive visualization methods, which can collectively address your emotions, mind and body. Sophrology empowers you with a greater understanding of yourself and the world around you; it helps you to face daily challenges, with serenity, and anchor yourself in the present moment.

Sophrology acts altogether on your body, your mind and your emotions with a combination of breathing and relaxation exercises, as well as the visualization of mental images.

There are two types of exercises:

• dynamic relaxation exercises based on smooth movements in association with breathing exercises
• sophronizations which are visualizations exercises guided by the voice of the Sophrologist.

Sophrology was created in the 1960s by Alfredo Caycedo, a neuropsychiatrist.

It brings together the best of Western and Eastern techniques such as: hypnosis, relaxation methods, positive suggestion technique, meditation, yoga, zazen…

The term Sophrology was inspired by ancient Greek and means the study of the harmonization of consciousness (sôs: harmonious; phren: spirit; logos: science).

Individual sessions

The overall therapeutic program and the intention and exercises of each individual session are tailored to your needs and to the precise objective you set out for yourself during the initial session.

Collective sessions

During collective sessions, more general themes are proposed and adapted according to the group dynamic and context in which these sessions are organized. The exercises are led in a more generic manner.

Who is Sophrology for?

Sophrology can be practiced by everybody *; exercises are adapted to your physical condition when necessary. It can be practiced anywere; no specific material or clothing is required.

* only contraindication: schizophrenia and psychosis.

Typical session

A typical session starts out with a few dynamic relaxation exercises (body stimulations associated with controlled breathing) which are followed by a sophronization exercise in a state of deep relaxation (visualizing positive images guided by the Sophrologist's voice). The session starts and ends with a dialogue between you and the Sophrologist for you to voice your needs, physical and emotional state and to articulate your experience as a way of developing your awareness.

How many sessions

I support you along a brief therapy so that you progress towards your goal that is defined during the initial appointment. A therapy lasts on average 8 to 10 sessions. A session lasts between 45 mn and 1 hour.

Training

I will always advise you to practice daily for better results: you can choose among the session exercises you want to practice a few minutes a day. Regular practice will help you develop new habits and make these exercises your own.

Hypnosis has existed in different forms in all times and all cultures. Ericksonian hypnosis is a technique developed by Milton Erickson, a North American psychiatrist in the course of the XXth century. It’s a more customized and interactive approach compared to what was traditionally practiced before him.
More information

The term Hypnosis is used both to describe a technique and the modified state of consciousness it is based on. This particular state of consciousness is one which you experience several times a day without realizing it: when you are totally absorbed in a task, a book, a film or even when you are love-struck! These are moments out of time during which you are in a different waking state during which you perceive things differently.
Since the 1990’s, this state has been identified and characterized by brain imaging (by functional MRI and PET-Scan), providing evidence of its physical existence. Scientifically, it can now be said that the state of hypnosis is a reality.
Putting oneself in the state of hypnosis or doing it with a practitioner is thus intentionally reproducing a state of consciousness to serve the objective of the counseling.
It’s a state which enables the communication between our conscious (the flow of our thoughts) and our unconscious (everything which is not conscious: our learning, conditioning, body functions…). As a tree of which we can see the trunk and branches, we are familiar with our logical conscious; whereas our roots, of which we guess the existence, they are less familiar to us, just as our unconscious.
We unconscious develop emotional states and/or behaviors in response to events, some of which one day create discomfort. This discomfort is what we will be working on with hypnosis.

Everyone can experience a state of hypnosis *. As hypnosis reproduces a natural and spontaneous state, everyone can experience it; however the experience differs from one person to another, and from one experience to another. The state can be more or less deep without impacting its efficiency. However, learning the method and regularly repeating the experience allows one to go more easily and quicker into the state: just like practicing a sport, the more you do, the more you progress.

* only contraindication: people suffering from schizophrenia, paranoïa, bipolar disorder or epileptic seizures

Typical session
The first session starts with an in-depth discussion which will enable you to define your objective and enable me to know how to best counsel you. Following sessions, will start with a brief discussion to define the session’s objective. After the discussion, starts the work in a state of modified consciousness. Contrary to some received opinion, during this phase, you do not sleep; on the contrary, you act in a different way than you usually do while you are always conscious of what is happening around you.
The session ends as you return to an ordinary state and with a brief exchange.

How many sessions
There is no rule: 3 to 5 sessions can be enough to reach one’s objective. In some cases, one session is enough to unblock a situation but it can also take up to two years. It all depends on the person and the problem. A short-term therapy is not instantaneous although results can be surprising. Sessions generally take place every two weeks. The aim is that at the end of the counseling you are totally autonomous with your solution.

I am Franco-American and I have lived in France, in the United States, in England and in Belgium.

Over 25 years, first as a Design Consultant then as Internal Communication deputy Director in various business sectors (leisure and media, automobile, non-profit organizations, pharmaceutical), I was committed to listening to individual needs and was eager to contribute to people’s well-being by giving sense and meaning to their work and living environment. Despite the often tense economic and social contexts, I was particularly drawn to actions which favored exchanges among individuals, fostered human diversity among teams, offered individual and collective development opportunities and gave way to didactic information about internal policies.

Today, as a certified Sophrologist, I am eager to pursue the mission to help people which I set out for myself. I was drawn to Sophrology because it takes into account the person as a whole (body, mind and emotions); it offers tailored short-term therapies, geared towards a precisely defined goal; by the end of the therapy, the client is autonomous and equipped with a customized pack of exercises. This type of therapy provides concrete support that can be applied here and now.

I am a member of several local associations and eager to take part in developing a society more respectful of mankind and of our environment. I also follow up on thoughts and studies about child education because children are tomorrow's citizens of this world.

Where I practice

• Individual sessions in my practice
• Collective sessions in an association (La Broc'antine)
• Collective sessions at work (eg: We Work Paris | Colisée, Amicale de la Mairie de Vincennes)
• Collective sessions at school (eg: Ecole élémentaire Ouest à Vincennes)

Training and Professional Certification

• Trained as a Sophrologist at the Institut de Formation à la Sophrologie (Paris, France)  
• Holder of a French Sophrologist  Professional Certification (Répertoire National de la Certification Professionnelle)
• Trained as a Hypnosis Practioner at the Académie de Recherche et Connaissances en Hypnose Ericksonienne (Paris, France )
• Holder of a Bachelor of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, United States)

Ethic and Commitment

• As a Member of the Chambre Syndicale de Sophrologie (French Sophrology Trade Association) and as such I comply with its Code of conduct and practice within a strict ethical framework.
• As a trained Practioner from the Académie de Recherche et Connaissances en Hypnose Ericksonienne, I comply with their Code of ethic.

My practice

2 rue des Laitières, 94300 Vincennes

Sessions can also be organized in your home if you live in Vincennes or Saint-Mandé (contact me for other locations)

Appointments

Monday to Saturday, 8 am to 8 pm

Tel: 07 83 51 50 02

Make an appointment

RATES

• Individual sessions

Adults and Adolescents (1h session)  80 €

Children age 6 and above (45 min session) 65 €

• Collective sessions

Adults  (1h session)  20 € /person (min. 4 participants)

See Workshop calendar or organize a self-made up group session

For sessions at La Brocantine, annual association membership fee: 20 €

Out of respect for other clients and your therapist, consultations that not have been cancelled 48h in advance, will be still be subject to payment.

• Companies

Costs for individual or collective sessions are submitted by quotation based on specifications.

Request a quotation 

• Reimbursement

The French Social Security does not reimburse Sophrology and Hypnosis sessions.

Private health insurance:

• the Chambre Syndicale de Sophrologie (the Sophrology Trade Association) website lists private health insurances which reimburse sessions. See list
• for Hypnosis consult your private health insurance.

Contact me for further information