It's been years - I'd rather stop counting - than I'm biting my nails . The observation of this snack as meticulous as permanent is ruthless on my hands. While I think I have tried everything, the will ..., the nail polish, and even the false nails, I'm told about hypnosis and its many therapeutic benefits.

Only in my entourage hypnosis allowed to stop smoking , cure depression or even some fears like agoraphobia . A much wider field of application than I thought.

And I am, it seems, the last to discover that hypnosis is sometimes practiced in hospitals for certain operations, thus avoiding general anesthesia. And it can also be used to relieve pain and strengthen the immune system .

Step 1 of the hypnosis session: let go

See you, I do not get rid of a certain skepticism.

I do not refute the benefits of hypnosis but I just do not believe it for me. The possibility of modifying a habit that is directly related to my moods seems impossible to me. But I'm still excited about the experience.

And it begins when I enter the office of my hypnotherapist, Valerie Roumanoff.

It is an immense room under high ceiling, whose walls of books frame a window of artist's studio. In the middle, sit two armchairs facing each other, and a superb grand piano ... Far from the usual benchmarks of the cabinet of my GP, the singularity of the place invites me to let go .

Step # 2: understand why do I bite my nails

The session begins with what the experts call "goal determination" which is similar to "preliminary" hypnosis.
After a series of questions: since when, when and why I eat my nails, other questions come to tickle my conscience. Why do I want to stop, why, by the way? Esthetics is not the only reason ...

A conversation that "allows to put in place all the necessary mechanisms so that the person can get where he wants to go", will explain later Valerie Roumanoff.

"Sometimes a patient comes without necessarily knowing what she wants or it is very vague, and these questions allow her, and not me hypnotherapist, to build his own path to unconsciousness."

Everyone has in him, unconsciously, the solutions to heal themselves

"Any form of addiction has positive sides, and nail biting is part of it," explains Valérie Roumanoff in the preamble.

More concretely, the hypnosis therapy appeals to our unconscious for us to heal ourselves . It is based on the fact that everyone has all the necessary resources.

"Be it anger, a reaction of fear or insomnia , behind this behavior is a positive intention that serves us." Hypnosis goes to the subconscious and its reservoir. much more information than our consciousness, other intentions that will suit us better in terms of reaction. "

This is where the work of the hypnotherapist comes in who gives us the tools of introspection , such as a gateway to our unconsciousness, to find our new solutions.

My feeling during the hypnosis session

In contrast to so-called show hypnosis, the hypnotherapy session will immerse me in a state called a trance state . A natural state that we live every 90 minutes.

"When you read a book and realize that we have not remembered anything, you were probably in a state of trance," explains Valérie Roumanoff.

During the session I hear everything that happens, I do not sleep, I do not lose consciousness. His voice speaks to me without interruption, taking the time to count - in stages - up to ten.

Apart from tingling in all the body, I do not have the impression of having captured a real thought. Images appeared to me for a few tenths of a second.

I had the impression, very surprising, to have noticed my desire to stop

End of session slightly lethargic. I feel a little difficult to leave this place became very warm.

And after, what results on my nails?

I stopped biting my nails, but only 15 days. A result that is not a failure for several reasons, listed below:

• I have never held so long without biting my nails and especially, during these 15 days, I did not feel any frustration.
• I do not eat them so much.
• I now believe that it is possible.
• I intend to return to another session.

In questioning the people for whom hypnosis was a success, I learned that it took them on average 4 sessions at the hypnotherapist.

On the site of the cabinet of Valerie Roumanoff , it is stipulated that it takes from 1 to 10 sessions depending on our problem.

This therapy can treat many areas such as difficulties encountered in working life, anxiety, insomnia, aphonia, stopping smoking, weight loss , and for children: enuresis, school difficulties and disorders some sleep.

How much does it cost ?

Price of the session (1h): 100 € but each practitioner determines its prices. Sessions are not supported by Social Security.

Hypnosis, in a few words ...

The practice of hypnosis has been partly theorized by the French philosopher and therapist François Roustang ( Never Against, First, the Presence of a Body by François Roustang and Odile Jacob).

The latter, disciple of Milton H. Erickson, whose works have opened the voice to the therapeutic use of hypnosis, has released the hypnosis of his "shackles, by the poverty of the techniques and undirected of the" I want everything and right away. " * His vision is that of the stripping by hypnosis of all that encloses the human being to open him up to" the slightest perceptions when, in a different state of consciousness, the body 'awake to all possible'

* Nathalie Roudil-Paolucci, Director Neosis Hypnotherapy Institute

Thanks to Valérie Roumanoff, hypnotherapist / [email protected]