Cuenca now boasts a counselor and hypnotherapist

Feb 4, 2013 | 0 comments

By Susan Schenck 

Cuenca now boasts an English-speaking marriage and family counselor and hypnotherapist. Cuenca and its immigrant community continue to attract interesting, professional, and caring people in search of new and improved lives. And when they arrive, they often get right to work, helping to improve the lives of others. 

Cuenca expats have implemented Gringo Nights, AA meetings, Spanish, cooking, and computer classes, a singles group, and charity fundraisers, to name a few. We have tax preparers, music teachers, feng shui and self-publishing experts, chiropractors, and massage and physical therapists, among many others.

Recently, Cuenca welcomed another “life-improver.” Bob Higgins is a highly credentialed and experienced Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and Clinical Hypnotherapist (CH), from Arizona by way of New England.


Last weekend, I was among a dozen or so expats who attended Bob’s “Art of Change” workshop. Some of it covered familiar ground, such as the importance of being specific, not only about what you want to change, but also how you would like to see it happening and the steps that go into efficiently changing long-standing unwanted behaviors (quitting smoking, losing weight, repairing a relationship, etc.).

But I was pleasantly surprised by some new twists that Bob introduced, especially the way he plays with words. For example, one way of looking at the word “fear” is as an acronym for “false excuses appearing real.” Change is work, and Bob pointed out that you have to get off your “buts.” “But it’s only been ten years since my divorce; how can I open my heart?” “But my daughter’s getting married next year; I can’t lose weight till after that.” There will always be some “but” you can use to put off self-improvement.

One of the steps that was new to me was what Bob calls “leveraging,” coming to grips with what happens if you don’t achieve your goal by tapping into those thoughts and feelings.

With the workbook provided and the visualization exercise at the end of the two hours, the Art of Change workshop was well worth the $5 admission fee. Bob is clearly not in it for the money.

Trained in relationship therapy, Bob is now Cuenca’s counselor, not only for couples, but also for friends, parents and children, even employers and employees. Interestingly, his techniques also drill deep into your relationship with yourself, identifying and overcoming the blocks that prevent positive changes.

I believe that no matter how physically and emotionally healthy we may be, there is always a way we can go further, peeling off another layer of the onion and unloading a bit more of our emotional baggage. So I went for a hypnosis session with Bob at his office on Estevez de Toral and Vega Muñoz.

I’ve been hypnotized by at least a dozen different hypnotherapists and I can attest to the fact that Bob Higgins is a master.

I went into hypnosis so deep and was so relaxed that when the session was over, I didn’t want to emerge from it. Bob gently worked with me, till I finally relented and opened my eyes. The rest of that day and the whole next day, I felt blissful. I’ve done several sessions with him.

He also does past-life regression therapy.

“Some of my clients, while working on uncovering causes of current issues, have spontaneously flipped back to past lives, even those that don’t believe in reincarnation,” Bob says. “Regression therapy can sometimes be useful in overcoming fear, trauma, and pain.”

Bob also does “recreational past-life regression” for anyone who’s curious about past lives.

Bob charges only $35 for sessions. But he will work out a deal with people for whom this would cause a financial hardship.

“I gauge my success on how quickly people get to fire me,” he Bob. “I help them find the place that’s always been within them to make positive changes in their lives. I empower them to change their lives.”

Bob Higgins, LMFT, CH, can be contacted at 093-980-1979 or at rhspeaker@gmail.com.

Susan Schenck, LAc, is a raw-food coach, lecturer, and author of The Live Food Factor, The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet, and Beyond Broccoli, Creating a Biologically Balanced Diet When a Vegetarian Diet Doesn’t Work. For information on her raw-gourmet classes, contact her at livefoodfactor@yahoo.com.

 

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