Aria Wichgers: From Searching for Direction to Working with Hypnosis
Sometimes a new direction in your life doesn’t start with a carefully laid-out plan, but with a phone call from your mom.
For Aria Wichgers, that phone call marked the beginning of her journey into hypnosis. Her mother, Mirjam, had been following “ Edwin Selij ” and the Hypnosis Institute of the Netherlands for quite some time on Facebook and Instagram.
They had previously attended an expert seminar together when the HIN was still located in Wormerveer. Aria found it interesting, but didn’t feel at the time that this was her path. At that point, she was still strongly focused on the idea: “I want to help children. That was my first wish.”
Years later, hypnosis came up again. This time, it was at a moment when Aria felt that something had to change. She was working as a sales manager at her father’s export company, but realized she wasn’t quite doing what her heart desired. “I want to help people,” she says. “That was actually always the core of it.”
Mirjam’s Phone Call
Then came that phone call from her mother, Mirjam. She had seen an offer for the training program at the HIN. The fact that the program could be taken in a hybrid format suddenly made it feasible. Where distance and cost had previously been barriers, there now seemed to be an opening.
“Mirjam called and basically said, ‘We can take that course with Edwin, and I think it’s time we actually did it,’” Aria explains. The practical details were worked out in consultation with her father, and not long after, mother and daughter signed up together for the Level 1.0 course, which began in January 2024.
It was immediately clear to Aria that she didn’t want to take the course just for her own personal development. “If I’m going to do this, I’m going to really make a career out of it,” she says. Not just to gain knowledge, not just to learn something interesting, but to actually help people with it.
That decision quickly became a reality. Just three months after starting the training program, Aria and Mirjam opened their practice.
Get started right away—don’t wait any longer
What really stuck with Aria from the 1.0 course ( Hypno Principles) was the encouragement not to wait until everything is perfect. According to her, Edwin quickly made it clear that after the first module, you have enough of a foundation to hypnotize people and that you should therefore go ahead and start.
“Don’t wait to open and set up a practice—start doing it right now,” is the message Aria took away from that. And that’s exactly what they did. Family members and friends were the first people they practiced on. “They all thought it was absolutely wonderful,” she says. “That helped us a great deal.”
The first module was an eye-opener for her. You walk in without knowing exactly what to expect. You wonder: Will I really be able to do this later? And then, after two days, you realize that something is already possible. “After that first module, I thought: Wow, can I already do this? Can this already have such a big impact?”
That experience built confidence—not only in the technique, but also in themselves. So, after completing Version 1.0, Version 2.0 ( Hypno Playground) quickly followed, covering topics such as regression and more advanced techniques. Then came the question of whether they would continue on to Version 3.0 ( Hypno Pathfinder).
The 3.0 Deep Dive
Aria had some doubts about version 3.0. After version 2.0, she had to write a letter of motivation to be allowed to continue, while her mother was given the green light right away. That made her feel insecure. “I panicked and thought: Am I not good enough?” In hindsight, that turned out not to be the case at all, but it did affect her.
She thought about maybe waiting a year. Mirjam saw it differently. If they went ahead now, they wouldn’t get bogged down in the material. In the meantime, they could continue to build their practice and avoid falling into a slump after the training. So they decided to go for it.
This time, they really wanted to do it in person. For eight months, Aria and Mirjam drove two hours to Assendelft, stayed overnight at Hotel Heemskerk, and drove the two hours back the next day. It was intense, but worthwhile. “We wanted to give it our all,” says Aria.
It was precisely because they were there in person that a stronger connection with the group developed. They had breakfast with their classmates, got to know each other outside of class, and as a result felt more confident during practice sessions. That was important because in Version 3.0, the techniques and exercises became more personal, intimate, and profound.
“The 3.0 program has really been great for us,” says Aria. “It’s also led us to develop our own techniques and follow our own path.” This was incredibly valuable for their practice. They not only learned to apply techniques but also grew to trust their own approach more and more.
An experience that touched her deeply
Aria herself experienced one of the most memorable moments of the training during a demonstration on pain relief. She had been struggling with endometriosis for years. Every month, she suffered from such severe cramps for days on end that she could barely function.
She signed up during the demo. In the session, they went back to where, according to her system, the pain had originated. It turned out not to stem from her early childhood, but from a miscarriage she had never come to terms with . It was an intimate and profound moment.
Then something happened that Aria herself could hardly believe. “I haven’t had any trouble with it since then,” she says. At first, she was skeptical. She had been living with this pain for ten to fifteen years. She had learned to cope with it. But a month later, the pain had been cut in half. In the months that followed, it gradually subsided until she suddenly realized she hadn’t been bothered by it for months.
“That’s just really special,” she says. “That even with those kinds of problems, something can change.” For Aria, this made it even clearer how deeply hypnosis can work on issues that have remained stuck beneath the surface.
Helping adults let go of old baggage and set new goals
In her practice, Aria works primarily with adults. The issues people seek help with vary widely. Sometimes she sees people around retirement age who have been dealing with certain feelings or patterns for thirty years. They may have learned to live with them, but no longer want to carry that burden with them.
“People say, ‘I just want to be able to live my life freely,’” Aria explains. “I want to clear out that old baggage.” Often, this involves issues related to upbringing, past events, or beliefs that have been influencing them in the background for years.
At other times, she works with young people on the verge of burnout , people with relationship problems, or clients with entirely different goals. For example, Aria also coaches a top athlete who couldn’t master one specific trick. In that case, it’s not about solving a problem, but about focus, confidence, and breaking through an inner barrier.
It’s precisely that variety that Aria loves. “It’s so broad,” she says. “And that’s what makes this whole field so enjoyable.” For her, hypnosis isn’t a fixed protocol that you apply the same way to everyone, but a way of observing, listening, and attuning.
Helping Children Through Healing Stories
Although Aria works primarily with adults, her desire to help children has never faded. That desire simply took on a different form: healing stories.
It all started with her own son. He was nervous about going to camp on his own. Aria wrote three healing stories for him. They were so well-received that he talked about them at school. After that, other children came up to her and asked if she would write a story like that for them, too.
Together with her son Ian, she then wrote a twelve-chapter story to read aloud about a red panda who was afraid to go exploring on his own. She read the story aloud at school, and the children loved it. Afterward, parents also came to her with questions: Could Aria perhaps write healing stories about being afraid of the dark, allergies, insecurity, or bedwetting?
In these stories, Aria uses hypnotic language and suggestions. The child consciously listens to the main character’s adventure, while the subconscious mind absorbs new possibilities in the process. “This works very well with children when they see themselves in the story,” she explains. “The main character changes, and subconsciously, something changes in the child as well.”
She also saw great results with bedwetting. A story that worked for one child was adapted for another. There, too, the bedwetting stopped. Aria remains down-to-earth about it. Maybe it’s because of the story, or maybe it’s because of the moment of connection between parent and child while reading aloud. “I have no idea,” she says, “but the combination certainly works very well.”
Together with her mother, Mirjam
An important part of Aria’s story is her collaboration with her mother. Mirjam has followed the same path: the same training, the same start, the same practice. “It’s really about starting out together and doing it together,” Aria explains. She believes this makes it more intimate and personal.
Sessions are usually conducted individually, but they do collaborate on developing protocols and techniques. They are also exploring ways to occasionally work together with a single client—for example, with people who have difficulty “turning off” their minds. In such cases, one leads the session while the other offers suggestions in a softer voice that are more focused on the subconscious.
In addition, they see opportunities in addressing parent-child issues. For example, if a mother and her young adult child have been at odds for years, Mirjam can work with the mother while Aria works with the child. This allows progress to be made on both sides.
That collaboration is wonderful, but sometimes also intense. As mother and daughter, they know each other well—perhaps sometimes too well. Yet that depth is also a strength. “We’re on such a deep level that we know a lot about each other,” says Aria. “We pick up on each other’s feelings more quickly.”
For her, it’s “a difficult but beautiful, intimate bond.” Precisely because they know each other so well, they can bounce ideas off each other, set boundaries, and continue to grow together.
Why hypnosis continues to fascinate her
What continues to fascinate Aria about hypnosis is that change sometimes occurs before a person even realizes it. She tells the story of a woman with a fear of flying who would panic weeks before a flight. After a session, the woman thought nothing had changed—until Aria asked her more questions.
Whereas panic used to set in weeks in advance, it now only arose upon boarding. To the client, it felt as though the problem was still there, but in reality, a lot had already shifted. “People often only realize afterward that something has changed,” says Aria. “Even when they think it’s not working, sometimes it works anyway.”
That’s what makes hypnosis so special to her. You don’t just work with someone’s conscious narrative, but also with what lies beneath it. Sometimes you see the change right away. Sometimes it takes longer. But that’s exactly what makes Aria’s work vibrant, surprising, and valuable.
What began as a search for the right training program grew into a practice, a collaboration with her mother, and a way to help both adults and children. For Aria, it feels as though the pieces of the puzzle have finally fallen into place.
Aria and Mirjam find
Aria and Mirjam work together at their practice, Mir-a-Gaia. There, they provide hypnotherapy to adults, and Aria also writes healing stories for children. Their approach is personal, in-depth, and constantly evolving.
You can find Aria and Mirjam at www.mir-a-gaia.nl. They’re also active on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn under the name Mir-a-Gaia.
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