Thrive with Victoria Bourque

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Thrive with Victoria Bourque

Helping you deal with anxiety disorders, stress, depression, panic, fears and phobias using positive

My name is Victoria Bourque and I am a licensed Thrive Consultant and hypnotherapist based in Glossop, Derbyshire near to Manchester and the Peak District. Having worked as a dentist for over 20 years, treating many anxious and phobic patients, I felt inspired to use my knowledge and skills to empower as many people as possible to live happily and confidently. I completed my Thrive Consultant training under the supervision of Rob Kelly and I believe strongly in continuous personal and professional development and learning. I operate under a strict code of ethics as a licensed Thrive Consultant and hypnotherapist. Over more than two decades, my career in dentistry has paved the way for me to help people whilst having the greatest respect for confidentiality, in an environment of mutual respect and trust. This is so important to know when you are reaching out for help and support. It also gave me a great insight into how we all “tick” and how, with the right support and encouragement, we can effectively change what we think and believe in order to make lasting positive changes within our lives. I specialise in supporting people to overcome stress and anxiety disorders, depression, low self esteem and social anxiety. I will guide you in a caring, non-judgemental manner in managing your thoughts, feelings and behaviours so that you can make the necessary changes to live life to the full. I can help you to develop the self-awareness and self-management skills that are necessary to enhance the quality of life using either the Thrive Programme or Applied Positive Hypnotherapy. Whether you would like to…

Achieve more at work or school
Feel more confident
Make positive changes in your life
Feel empowered to deal effectively with depression, stress and/or anxiety
Increase your self-esteem and sense of power and control
Overcome a specific anxiety or phobia
I can help you to take control of your life in order for you to thrive, flourish and live the life you have always wanted to. I offer a free initial consultation where we can meet each other and have a chat about your concerns as I am aware how important it is to feel comfortable with a therapist so that you can make an informed decision about the best way to go forward for you.

08/12/2025

Is this you — smiling on the outside, spiralling on the inside?

Checking the turkey hundreds of times.
Cutting into it. Sniffing it. Staring at it.
And still, not being able to eat it. Putting the smallest amount possible on your plate and then quietly hiding it under a roast and telling everyone you are full.

But here’s the truth:

If the turkey really was dangerous, everyone would be panicking.

But they’re not.

That’s because the fear isn’t coming from the food, it is coming from the way you see the world.

Emetophobia is created by limiting beliefs and unhelpful thinking styles and over time it creates this all consuming fear.

You don’t know that was what you are doing, it feels like it is just happening. But once you realise you are in control, you will able to take back that control and beat the fear.

Emetophobia is not who you are. It’s how you have trained your brain to scan for danger, even when there isn’t any.

And the good news? What’s been learned can be unlearned.

This Christmas you can check the turkey once (without anxiety!) just because its a sensible thing to do, then let it go and get back to enjoying the day.

You can sit down, be present, and genuinely enjoy the meal 🎅🎄🥰

You can have a Christmas that feels safe and joyful.

05/12/2025

💻Reboot your mind 🤯 upgrade your life!

⏩ Learn how to rewrite your mental codes with The Thrive Programme

01/12/2025

Many people think thriving means never struggling.
�It doesn’t.

Thriving is the attitude of:
�“I won’t let this stop me — what can I do about it?”

Contact me for for information.

23/11/2025

The nights are drawing in and the weather is getting colder- if that fills you with dread here are some pointers for changing that 👇

19/11/2025

Coach Lisanne used to dread being in such a huge crowd at a concert due to emetophobia.

But now she can enjoy it fully, and you deserve to feel the same.

14/11/2025

😨 Fear is created inside of you...
BUT so is your power to kick it out 💥

⏩ Swipe to see how the right mindset can shut the door on fear, and how you already have the power to rewrite your story, you just need to be shown how

Ready to take your power back? 👉

The Thrive Programme teaches you these invaluable skillsets for better mental health.
IT'S. YOURLIFE.BETTER

12/11/2025

Here is some advice from Thrive Coach Lisanne to help with panic attacks 👇

Visualise your train journey, workday, meeting, school day, or dinner going well — instead of imagining yourself having a panic attack.

Neuroscience shows that your brain can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what’s imagined — so take advantage of that. 🧠

Imagine yourself in that situation calm, relaxed, and actually enjoying yourself.

Your body feels relaxed.

Your thoughts are focused on what’s going right — not what could go wrong.

It might feel weird or “fake” at first — that’s totally normal and will pass quickly. But this tiny habit literally retrains your brain.

Because those negative "what if" thoughts keep your body and brain on high alert, and that in turn makes it much easier to spiral into a full panic attack.

Visualising what you DO want to happen, relaxes your body and mind and teaches that you are safe. And it helps to break that self fulfilling prophecy that is a huge part in creating panic attacks.

So before you fall asleep tonight, take 5–10 minutes to visualise things going well.

Lisanne explains that when she was getting over her anxiety, doing this made a big difference, especially to her feeling more relaxed the next morning!

Drop me a follow for more tips and insights and get in touch if you ultimately want to overcome those panic attacks 🧡

30/10/2025

Here are 3 pointers from Thrive Coach Anne that will help you to find at least a bit room to breathe when creating health anxiety ⬇️

💡 1. Give it time:

When a new symptom shows up, your first instinct might be to panic and seek reassurance right away. But most symptoms pass on their own. Instead of rushing to Google or calling the doctor, wait a week. If it’s still there, then it’s time to check in with a professional. This helps break the cycle of constantly reacting to every little sensation.

💡 2. Stick with the facts, not the fiction:

Health anxiety thrives on scary “what if” thoughts. How many times have you believed it was a heart attack, cancer, or some other terrible disease… and it turned out not to be true? Probably more times than you can count. Keeping perspective is key. Facts are grounded. Fiction fuels fear.

💡 3. Trust your body more than your fear:

Your body is designed to cope with far more than you realise. And when something truly needs attention, it usually gives clear, unmistakable signals. Your body is on your side — it’s not as fragile as your anxious thoughts make it seem.

➡️ And here’s the most important part: health anxiety doesn’t exist because of what you’re afraid of. It exists because of what you believe — that you couldn’t cope if something happened. The truth is, you’re not really afraid of the illness itself. You’re afraid of the emotions and panic you create around it. And that is absolutely something you can overcome and learn to change.

Follow me for more tips and insights on how to overcome health anxiety and don’t hesitate to reach out!

29/10/2025

Here Thrive Coach Anne discusses the reasons why overcoming emetophobia may take longer when living at home with your parents:

1. Collusion 🤝

Often without realising it, parents (or other family members) overprotect you in ways that actually make emetophobia stronger.

They might text you throughout the day to “check in."

They go along with your avoidance — turning off a movie if someone is sick, letting you do the dishes “your way,” etc.

It is a nice gesture and it feels supportive, but it only reinforces the belief that being sick is the worst thing in the world.

2. Lack of responsibility & control

Even with loving parents, when you live at home you don’t have full control over your life. Dinner time, routines, even chores are influenced by them. But feeling in control of your own life is crucial when overcoming emetophobia. Needing to take care of yourself fully, builds your self esteem and how powerful you feel to get stuff done.

3. The environment that shaped your beliefs 🧠

Where do you think emetophobia came from? Long story short: you picked it up from the people around you. They don’t have to be emetophobes themselves — but if they’re anxious about germs, easily stressed, overprotective, have low self esteem and social anxiety themselves, that environment shaped your own beliefs. And as you still live there, you continue to pick up those beliefs, emotions, reactions, etc - that are keeping emetophobia alive.

But remember: it’s not your fault that you have this phobia. And it’s not theirs either.

So what’s the solution, except for moving out?

👉 First, realise that it may take a little more effort when you’re still living at home. Awareness of why and how it’s harder is very important.

💡 Quick tip: Think about the ways your parents might be colluding with you, and start gently challenging that. For example, if they check in with you daily, tell them you appreciate it but it isn’t helping. Start small.

24/10/2025

💫Focus on what you can control and take back your power 💫

🤯Life can get busy & messy, and it's easy to get caught up in things that are outside of our control, especially when we're struggling.

💡But here's the truth, it's not about controlling everything, it's about simply controlling our own actions and reactions to life.

So we CAN'T control:

⛔ External events

⛔ The opinions of others

⛔ The outcome of every situation

⛔ The twists and turns of life

But we CAN control:

✅ Our mindset

✅ Our attitude

✅ Our reactions

✅ Our choices

By shifting your focus to what you can control, you'll find more calm, more clarity and more strength.

So take a deep breath, stand tall, and remind yourself
"I am in control of my reactions.” You’ve got this.

🧡 This is what you learn with the Thrive Programme.

16/10/2025

You want to be a mum more than anything but the fear of being sick is so much louder than the dream.

You wish it was different but the fear is all-consuming.

This isn’t any just a fear of sick, it’s a phobia that has shaped your decisions, your relationships, your life

But you’re not alone in this and you’re not broken.

The Emetophobia-Free programme has helped thousands of women move through this fear and into motherhood.

14/10/2025

Do you ever think… “Why does everything happen to me? Look at all the bad things that happened to me this week! Maybe I’m just really unlucky… or my horoscope is just not great this month...”

All of these reasons point towards external factors that create your stress. When you believe you are feeling a certain way because of luck, or horoscopes or other things you are basically telling yourself that there is nothing you can do about it! That’s just the way it is.

THAT’S NOT ACTUALLY TRUE!

We actually create stress and anxiety by how we think and respond to events.

Events might happen to us often but what matters is how you process and react to it.

As Rob Kelly, the founder of The Thrive Programme, puts it,

“We are not experiencing reality, but reality filtered through our beliefs systems and thinking styles.”

If you have a negative view of the world, you will create stress and anxiety in response to the events you go through.

The great news is that we do have the power to prevent daily stress and manage how we think!

Learn more about your internal power with the Thrive Programme!

Address

Glossop Osteopathy Clinic, 23 Fauvel Road
High Peak
SK137AR

Telephone

+447901796701

Website

http://www.victoriabourque.uk/

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