Monique Verhagen (55) lives in Boekel, recently became a grandmother, and is building a practice with Papillon Therapy & Coaching that is all about real change. Not by endlessly talking or analyzing, but by working with the unconscious. And above all: by helping parents, so that children benefit along with them.
Her story begins not in the world of hypnosis, but in childcare. For years, Monique worked with children and even ran her own childcare organization. That went well: through-via, a large network, and parents who "just wanted" to put their child somewhere safe.
But over time, she noticed that she became less and less happy with all that was involved. It wasn't the children that were the problem, but the hassle around it: administration, staff, illness, arranging, putting out fires.
She asked herself a simple question: what do I really like about this work? The answer came quickly. Monique loves children because they are still open. They come into the world uninhibited, without the filters and patterns that adults often carry.
And she loved that very coaching, helping lay that foundation. Not just for the child, but also for the family: relieving parents, while giving children a safe place to grow.
In 2017, she sold her childcare business. She was ready for a different kind of work, one in which she could get closer to her passion again.
From energetic work to the search for something "tangible"
During her time in childcare, Monique also worked on herself. She dove into personal development and took training as an energetic therapist, among other things. She found it wildly interesting that there is "more" out there: how experiences carry through into the body and mind, how energy and emotions are connected to complaints, how patterns linger in systems.
Only she ran into something very practical: the label "energetic therapist" sounds vague to many people. In Monique's own words, "People know you as 'Monique from daycare' and suddenly you have to explain what you do as a therapist." Something that quickly feels spiritual and elusive to outsiders."
In childcare, people came naturally, but as a therapist , she had to become visible and build trust in a totally different way. With her large network, she thought it would be easy, but this was "different cake."
She took further courses: psychosocial basics, baby coaching, deepening family systems and trauma. Especially that last one attracted her more and more: the influence of what happens even before a child is born. Conception, pregnancy, birth, and everything a family system carries.
In doing so, Monique also mentions something personal: she herself has experienced how early (womb) trauma can affect your life. That gave extra weight to her quest.
In baby coaching, she found that she kept coming back to the same core. She didn't just want to "give feedback" to parents, but she wanted to help the parents themselves.
Because, says Monique, "When parents are doing well, it has a direct effect on the child. Children show behavior that is not necessarily "in the child," but is often a reaction to circumstances. Stress at home, tension, insecurity, things that happened during pregnancy or birth. All of these can have an impact, but a parent who stands firm can cope with a lot."
And that's where her main thrust arose: helping parents, so children get better.
2020: grief, COVID and an unexpected caper
In 2020, Monique's mother passed away in the middle of the COVID period. While they were busy arranging the funeral at home, she received a phone call: someone from Hypnosis Institute Netherlands (HIN) called her asking if hypnotherapy was something for her, and that it could also be done online.
Monique immediately felt something. She had long felt she was missing a "coat rack": a clear form, a clear name, a method to which she could hang all her knowledge.
"Hypnotherapy is more recognizable to many people than "energetic therapist." Less vague, more tangible," said Monique.
And the fact that it was available online made it extra attractive. Monique is highly sensitive and traveling takes a lot of her energy. Taking online classes from home was not only practical, but also gave her immediate experience with working online, something she now benefits from in her practice.
Also nice to note. She didn't come in as someone who had been a fan of a well-known name for years.
She had never heard of Edwin Selij .
Indeed, she didn't know HIN at all. She had once heard something about hypnosis through a friend, went googling, came across the HIN and made a "call me back" appointment. Then she got a call back. It was only later, when she was already in training, that she heard everywhere, "Edwin, Edwin, Edwin" and thought, who is that anyway?
That's exactly what makes her story relatable to people still outside the hypnosis world: you don't have to already know everything to get started. Curiosity is enough.
Studying at HIN: do it right away
Monique does not describe the training as a "classical study." Above all, it felt practical. Hands-on. And straight to work.
She remembers the first class well: explanation, theory, a demo ... and then straight into the breakout rooms with: "go do it." Her first reaction was "huh?" but at the same time she loved it. "You learn it not only with your head, but by doing it. And that first technique worked, too." That gave her confidence.
Moreover, what struck her was that much of the theory connected to what she already knew from energetic work, but translated into techniques she could more easily use and explain. It felt like her previous knowledge finally got a structure that "made sense" in practice.
Why hypnosis has its grip: Don't get stuck in talking
Monique says something many people recognize: talking doesn't always help. She herself has been to a psychologist, threw everything out, and then thought: okay ... now what? Nothing was solved. She said it sharply: " that could also have been with a friend".
For her, the value of hypnosis was right there: "You don't have to be able to articulate everything. You don't have to know perfectly what the cause is. You go to a deeper layer, the unconscious, and that's where you can change the charge."
She calls it explicit: disconnecting emotions from the event, making that mindshift, creating space. That's where her interest lies, and also her "profit": people don't have to talk, but something essential is touched.
Meanwhile, she wrote a book: www.degebruiksaanwijzingvanjekind.nl Here, by discovering themselves first, parents can find out what their child needs and thus create their own use case that doesn't come with it after birth. With practical tips and inspiration you get to work with yourself. Every child is unique and therefore many tips given are not necessarily appropriate for every child.
3.0 as a tipping point: feedback, depth and Edwin
After 1.0 and 2.0, Monique initially thought she might not learn as much new in 3.0 because she already knew many "deeper" topics. But the 3.0 kept coming along, And she doesn't believe so much in coincidences.
What won her over was mainly the feedback and coaching piece. You can learn a lot online, but Monique sometimes missed the clear feeling: am I really doing it right?
In 3.0, she found that. She could see videos of colleagues, hear feedback, and also learn by mirroring: when another person receives feedback, you often recognize your own pitfalls or, conversely, your strengths.
In addition, 3.0 for her was also about deepening: techniques around origins, conception (egg/sperm), mirror image, past lives, and additional modules Edwin taught online. Last year she got her diploma and thought: now I can do it, now it will fly.
But then came reality: her practice was not yet running the way she wanted.
From "everything" to focus: parents as target audience
Monique got quite a few clients through Hypnosis Care. That was valuable: she could practice, gain meters, and build experience. But it also had a downside. They were "all kinds" of questions, and she had to work hard for a relatively small amount of money. More importantly, many of those clients didn't fit her mission.
During the class, Edwin asked a question that lingered, "What do you want to focus on? Do you want action people or ritual people?"
Monique felt immediately: the clients she was getting through Hypnosis Care were often action people, whereas she wants to help parents, because she believes that has the greatest effect on children.
Temporarily, she worked briefly again in childcare, where she was able to use her techniques: with staff who were stuck, in conversations with parents, and in her language. Subtle, "watchful," conversational, but with effect: turning the positive, asking different questions, getting to the point faster.
ADHD/autism: "you don't have it, you do"
Monique also works through a knowledge center with clients who have diagnoses around ADHD or autism. She aligns with the vision she learned at HIN: "you don't have it, you do it." She respects that clients often believe strongly in their diagnosis, so she doesn't go into battle. But she does help them look at their problems differently, and uses techniques (sometimes including hypnosis) that help people become more independent.
She cites the difference that energizes her: people who have been with a coach for years, and with her change so much within six months to a year that they no longer need her.
Colleagues ask: how do you do it? For Monique, the answer lies in going back to the origin, changing the load there, and teaching the brain to "respond differently," so to speak.
She becomes happy when someone walks out the door confident again and no longer even talks from "I AM my diagnosis," but from: I can live again.
The new program: 26-week journey for parents
Since October, Monique has been working on a new program: a 26-week journey. A journey for personal development and deepening, with techniques, reflection questions, online coaching and hypnosis recorded by her. The program has just been finished, the finishing touches are in place, and now she wants to start selling it to parents.
Click here if you want to learn more about them.
And that's exactly where she notices something shifting: the energy flows differently. She has said goodbye to clients who don't suit her, is less distracted, believes fully in her direction again.
And then the beauty happens: old clients come back, former colleagues knock on the door, people from the past show interest. Slowly it begins to take off, in a way that does make sense.
What she thinks of HIN (and why you could too)
Monique calls HIN warm, welcoming and educational. She was sorry not to see Edwin in the first online year (this has since changed, you will definitely see him in the first year), but when she did experience him later, it made a big impression.
She admires his humor, his timing, his way of working. Sometimes she already knows the technique, but how he brings it, she finds next level. To her, Edwin is an "A-player" from whom she wants to learn even more.
She also feels at home in the community: people who want to go further, know more, and carry each other. Especially 3.0, physically together, gave her that sense of belonging and energy.
And perhaps that's the best invitation her story could be: "You don't have to already know everything. You don't have to already know Edwin. You don't have to already "roll into the hypnosis world" through a network."
Monique started with curiosity, with googling, with a call-me-back appointment and built a completely new direction from there.
So if you feel that you want more than talk, more than symptom relief, and you really want to help people at the level where change occurs, then the training at HIN just might be your capstone.
Just as it became for Monique.
And meanwhile, with Papillon Therapy & Coaching, they are building exactly that: helping parents stand firmer, so that children are not only "understood," but truly given more space to be children.
Want to learn more about her practice? Click here.
Would you like to learn hypnosis, just like Monique?
You can take the training in person or online. Would you like to have a no-obligation chat to see if this is right for you? Schedule a one-on-one consultation here. You won’t be speaking with a salesperson, but with an experienced HIN coach who works with this training program and clients on a daily basis. In 20–30 minutes, you’ll get a clear sense of whether this is the right step for you and which start date suits you best.
The schedule for these sessions fills up quickly around the start of each group. Is there still a time slot available that works for you? Then book it now.
