What do an art gallery, special education, quitting smoking, and hypnotherapy have in common? Surprisingly, quite a lot in Mirjam Wichgers’ life. All these experiences brought her one step closer to the work she does today: guiding people through change using hypnosis.
Together with her daughter Aria , she runs the Mir-a-Gaia practice, while also remaining active as an artist and gallery owner.
“I’m very much a natural person,” Mirjam says with a laugh. She enjoys a variety of activities but is seeing more and more clearly how everything is interconnected.
In the future, she even wants to combine her art with hypnotherapy. She doesn’t yet know exactly how she’ll do that. She expressly does not want to become an occupational therapist or a creative therapist, but is looking for a form that truly suits her.
“I have every confidence that this will continue to develop on its own,” she says. That confidence characterizes her approach: she doesn’t try to map out everything in advance, but follows the direction that emerges along the way.
From art and education to personal development
Mirjam has long been involved in the arts, education, and personal growth. She completed various training programs, became a Reiki master, and earned her NLP certification in 2009. She also taught in Rotterdam and worked in special education.
Her interactions with teenagers, in particular, got her thinking. She saw young people with a wide range of problems and noticed how easily their behavior or symptoms were pigeonholed.
According to Mirjam, it’s often more valuable to look deeper into what lies behind that behavior. “With teenagers, you discover so many issues where you think: something needs to be done about this, and something can actually be done about it,” she explains.
That curiosity was a key impetus for her to delve deeper into NLP and, later, hypnotherapy. Looking back, she realizes that all her experiences were slowly steering her in the same direction. “It’s all those little things that add up, eventually leading you in a certain direction.”
Art taught her to see things differently, education taught her to listen to what isn’t immediately spoken, and personal development allowed her to experience that change is possible. These elements now come together in her work as a hypnotherapist.
Her interest in hypnosis has always been there
During her NLP training, Mirjam was first introduced to hypnosis and the work of Milton Erickson. She found it immediately interesting and wanted to explore it further. However, she wasn’t able to pursue it at the time. Her children were still young, and her life was filled with other responsibilities. Yet her interest never completely faded.
“It just stuck with me,” says Mirjam. It was likely years later that she came across Edwin Selij and the Hypnosis Institute of the Netherlands (HIN) on social media. She began following him and, together with Aria, attended an HIN open house in 2016. The day made a big impression on her.
They listened to various instructors and gained a better understanding of the possibilities of hypnosis.
Mirjam immediately felt that she wanted to learn these skills herself. “I thought even then: this is something I want to be able to do.” Yet the time wasn’t right yet. At the time, the training took place mainly in Wormerveer, which was a long commute. Moreover, Mirjam wasn’t keen on going through the entire program on her own.
Quitting smoking was the deciding factor
In 2018, her interest turned into a deeper conviction. Mirjam participated in a group session to quit smoking, led by Marcel Borst and Bianca L’Abee. Together with about thirty other participants, she underwent hypnosis.
She was impressed not only by the session itself, but also by the preliminary contact, the instructions, and the way she was guided step by step. Mirjam calls it “a truly beautiful journey” that ultimately lasted only a few hours. Afterward, she never smoked again.
Of course, she still noticed that old habits lingered in her thoughts. While cooking or after a meal, the idea of having a cigarette might briefly cross her mind. “Then I’d think about it, and then I’d think: Oh right, no, I don’t do that anymore.” The urge no longer dictated her behavior.
The ease with which that change came about touched her deeply. “After two hours, I had stopped smoking, and then I thought: if this is possible, then I want to be able to do this too.” Quitting smoking thus became the moment when hypnosis shifted for Mirjam from an interesting topic to something she wanted to learn to apply herself.
Start your journey with HIN alongside Aria
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many things came to a standstill, but Mirjam continued to follow Edwin and the Hypnosis Institute of the Netherlands. Her conviction grew stronger and stronger: she really wanted to get started with hypnosis now. She had already discussed the idea with Aria, but at the time, her daughter was still pursuing a different course of study and had just started a young family.
Eventually, there came a moment when they asked themselves together what their next step would be. With the support of Mirjam’s husband, they were able to raise the necessary funds, and mother and daughter decided to start the training program together. “That journey together has been so unique, and I’m still incredibly happy about it,” says Mirjam.
Her husband’s support meant a lot to her. They’ve known each other since they were fifteen and have now been married for 35 years. Within their relationship, they’ve always given each other the space to grow. “Respect for each other and for each other’s growth is one of the most important things,” she says.
The hypnosis training also changed Mirjam herself. She became more articulate, learned to listen differently, and noticed that words resonated with her in a new way. As a result, she sometimes had to be careful not to constantly slip into her role as a therapist at home.
Awe-Inspiring Hypnosis 1.0 and 2.0
For Mirjam, the Hypno Principles 1.0 course was one big journey of discovery. She and Aria took the classes online and were regularly amazed as they sat in front of their screens. “We just sat there with our mouths open, thinking, ‘Is this possible? Does this really work?’” she recalls.
Because they participated together, they were able to discuss what they’d learned and bounce ideas off each other right away during breaks. That made the intensive online training days even more valuable. The program began in February, and by June or July, they had already completed it. Still, they didn’t want to just sit back and wait before putting their knowledge to use.
They asked acquaintances if they could practice on them, and Mirjam soon began working with a woman in her seventies who had become afraid to go outside. According to the client, that fear manifested itself, among other things, in symptoms related to sensitivity to sunlight and light.
After three sessions, Mirjam noticed that the woman was becoming happier again, feeling less gloomy, and daring to go outside once more. “Then you think: how wonderful is it that you can give someone this?” It is precisely the gratitude she experiences from clients that makes her work so special. Hypnosis Playground 2.0 then provided further depth, both professionally and personally.
Hypnosis 3.0 meant learning to look within oneself
After completing Hypnosis 2.0 , Mirjam wanted to move straight on to Hypno Pathfinder 3.0. She knows herself well enough to realize that, for her, procrastination easily makes way for other plans. Moreover, she didn’t want to feel like she was missing out on knowledge that would help her better assist her clients. “When I do something, I do it fully and I do it well,” she explains.
For Hypno 1.0 and 2.0, Mirjam and Aria had mainly been sitting at home in front of their screens. For Hypno 3.0, they drove from Zeeland to Assendelft almost every weekend. The interaction with fellow students helped Mirjam step outside her comfort zone.
She found recording and submitting sessions particularly challenging. “It was very stressful, but it taught me to look inward and listen to myself.” She still applies that lesson in her work today.
Continue learning by reviewing past sessions
Mirjam still regularly records sessions with her clients’ permission. Not every session, but especially the conversations where she wants to review afterward to see what could be improved or done differently. When a previous session didn’t go quite as planned, she consciously uses the next recording as a learning opportunity. “I look back afterward to see what I could improve,” she says.
In doing so, she continues to apply one of the most important lessons from Hypnosis 3.0 on a daily basis. She doesn’t want to rely solely on her intuition, but also wants to maintain a critical eye on her coaching approach.
Another highlight of the training was the charity day. During this day, participants were able to use their skills to make a difference for others in a short amount of time. Mirjam saw how, sometimes within just a few minutes, a change began to take place.
This not only gave the participants a special experience but also boosted her own confidence. “You get a real boost yourself when you realize that it makes a difference even in such a short time.” For her, this was one of the most special moments at the HIN.
A mother-and-daughter hypnosis practice
Mirjam and Aria now run Mir-a-Gaia together. They can bounce ideas off each other, serve as each other’s backup, and divide clients based on preference and compatibility. “The way this came about and how it’s going now is just perfect,” says Mirjam.
The collaboration also benefits clients from their own community. People can choose the person with whom they feel most at ease. For example, one client deliberately chose Mirjam because she saw Aria at school every day and therefore preferred not to discuss everything with her. “Clients can switch more easily because they can choose between mother and daughter.”
Although Mirjam and Aria run a practice together, they have each developed their own approach. Aria works with healing stories for children, among other things, while Mirjam has developed her own narrative method for adults. It is precisely because they are different that they can complement each other and continue to learn from one another.
Trance Narrative Therapy as a unique approach
Mirjam calls her own approach “Trance Narrative Therapy.” Before beginning, she asks clients in detail what their problem is and what they hope to achieve. Using a special questionnaire, she gathers information to write a completely personalized story. “It’s written purely based on that client’s specific problem,” she explains.
During a session lasting about an hour and a half, she tells this story while the client is under hypnosis. The guidance remains interactive, allowing Mirjam to respond to whatever is happening in the moment.
In her approach, she combines narrative hypnosis with ideas and techniques she has studied in depth. She listens not only to what someone says literally, but also to what emerges between the lines.
For example, with a client experiencing trauma , she incorporated the fight, flight, and freeze responses into the narrative. “Often, between the lines, you’ve already picked up on things you can build on.” Her intuition plays an important role in this process. As a result, each session is unique to the client, tailored to their story and specific needs.
Toward a connection between hypnosis and art
At the same time, the artist within her remains active. Mirjam ultimately wants to create a connection between hypnosis and art, though she doesn’t yet know exactly what form that will take. She doesn’t want to copy an existing form, but rather develop something that truly suits her.
“I still need to figure that out, but I trust that it will develop on its own.” Perhaps that is the common thread running through her story. This path never emerged from a single major decision, but rather from curiosity, experiences, and small steps that built upon one another. Now Mirjam helps others take their own steps forward, while her own development continues.
More information about Mirjam and her practice can be found at mir-a-gaia.nl. Mir-a-Gaia is also active on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Would you like to help people with hypnosis, just like Mirjam?
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