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.

21/03/2026

Do you get immediate tunnel vision whenever someone mentions the word sick?

You were feeling fine and then suddenly you’re flooded with anxiety and all you can think is “how do I get out of here without looking like a weirdo!?”

The Emetophobia-Free programme has helped thousands of people finally break free.

This isn’t just another ‘quick fix’ with no lasting change, it’s an evidence based practical roadmap that has helped so many like you change their life.

20/03/2026

Your mental health foundations are the building blocks of a happy, healthy you!

The best part? They're changeable and re-programmable! 💥

I’m talking about self-awareness, emotional regulation, resilience, positive relationships, healthy thoughts, self-care, and purpose.

So, why do they matter? 🤔

Strong foundations help you manage stress, build confidence, and thrive in life 💪

Want to strengthen yours? Drop me a message.

16/03/2026

If emetophobia was really about being sick... then only people who had a traumatic experience with vomiting would have it. Right?

The truth is…

📚 22% of Emetophobes have never been sick.

📚 16% don’t even remember the last time they were.

📚 55% said the last time they were sick was “not that bad.”

So here’s what’s really going on⬇️

Emetophobia isn’t about vomit, it’s about control.

It’s about the emotional chaos you feel when you think about being sick.

Just like someone with a fear of spiders isn’t afraid of the spider itself, but the emotional storm it triggers.

Here’s the good news:

This means your phobia isn’t happening to you-

It’s something you’re (unknowingly) creating and that means you can unlearn it!

Let’s break the cycle. You’re not broken, you’re just stuck in a pattern and patterns can be changed❤️

15/03/2026

Ask yourself the question. Are you anxious because you feel sick or do you feel sick because you’re anxious?

Most of the time, it’s anxiety creating the nausea. But here’s the part no one talks about.⬇️

If you’ve felt sick hundreds of times without actually being sick, you’re not alone. Emetophobes often experience intense physical symptoms like nausea, gut issues, and exhaustion. But 99% of the time, it’s not illness, it’s anxiety.

Here’s the mind blowing part…

If you could respond powerfully to that nausea, you wouldn’t need to know WHY it’s there. It’s your minds desire for control that keeps asking ‘why’.🤯

If you truly trusted that you could handle the feeling, you wouldn’t be trying to get to the bottom of your nausea. That constant need to figure it out is your minds way of trying to stay in control.

The real freedom comes when you stop chasing certainty and start building trust in your ability to cope.

The good news is you’re not broken. Your body is just responding to your thoughts and that means you can change it.👏

12/03/2026

Introducing Thinking Style Thursdays with my colleague

Thinking styles are key ingredients in how we think, feel and react to situations in life. They are important predictors of our mental health.

We often pick these up from people around us but aren’t taught about their importance or how to challenge unhelpful thinking styles.

Over the next few Thursdays I will be posting about different unhelpful thinking styles, how they manifest and what to do about them.

Stay tuned. In the meantime, my DMs are always open for any questions.

03/03/2026

If you feel on edge around food incase something isn’t clean or safe and it makes you sick then this is for you 💛

If you are checking every piece of cutlery each time you eat because you are terrified of being sick, you may have emetophobia (the severe phobia of being sick). And the likelihood is your obsessive checking/obsessive thoughts won’t just be centred around cutlery.

Other common behaviours of someone with emetophobia include:

🔎Opening doors with your elbows

🔎Avoiding touching food with your hands

🔎Checking expiration dates on food

🔎Overcooking your food

🔎Turning taps onloff with your sleeve

If this is you, I am SO glad you’re here!💛

These behaviors are being driven by this debilitating fear and therefore if you don’t tackle what is creating that fear in the first place it’s almost impossible to get rid of those behaviors long term.

Emetophobia, which is often the driving force behind these behaviours, is created by limiting beliefs and unhelpful thinking styles. These are things you have learned over the course of your life.

Because you learned them, you can unlear them!

All you need is the right tools to do so. The Emetophobia-Free programme is specifically designed to empower people who suffer from this fear to take back control of their mind and create the life they want for themselves.🥳

This programme is for YOU!

02/03/2026

Is throwing up your ultimate fear?

Do you panic when you feel sick?

Do you make decisions based on how likely something is to make you ill?

If this sounds like you, you may have emetophobia the extreme fear of vomiting.

Living with emetophobia can feel overwhelming.

You might:

👉 Stop talking or lie still when you feel sick

👉 Cry, shake, or panic

👉 Feel totally out of control

👉 Take anti-sickness medication

👉 Struggle to think about anything else

It can affect every part of your life, making even simple things feel impossible.

People with emetophobia often try to avoid anything that could trigger their fear, such as:

👉 Public transport or crowded places
👉 Eating out or letting others prepare food

👉 Alcohol or certain foods

👉 Cross-contamination worries or excessive handwashing

👉 Over-checking use-by dates or overcooking food

Emetophobia exists on a spectrum, and everyone’s experience is different. No one should have to live in fear. I am here to help.

25/02/2026

Do you find your anxiety about being sick gets worse at night? 🥺

You’re not alone. Many people with emetophobia (the fear of vomit) find nights the hardest.

During the day, distractions help. But at night, when it’s quiet, those thoughts get louder and suddenly it’s all you can think about. 🫣

You might find yourself:

👉 Propping yourself up on pillows so you’re not lying flat

👉 Keeping water or a bin by your bed

👉 Calculating how long it’s been since you last ate

👉 Avoiding big dinners for fear of feeling too full

👉 Sleeping with a light on

👉 Asking for reassurance that you won’t be sick

If this sounds like you, please know you’re not alone and you don’t have to live like this!

The Emetophobia-Free Programme helps you understand your mind, rewire your thinking, and overcome your fear for good.

24/02/2026

Do you ever feel like saying it out loud will jinx you or make throwing up more likely? 🤐

If that sounds familiar, let’s talk about why this way of thinking is actually keeping you stuck.

So, why is this “jinx” thinking so unhelpful?

When you think this way, you give your power away. If you truly felt in control around being sick, you wouldn’t need to rely on superstitions to feel safe. This kind of thinking is common with emetophobia and can look like:

👉 Believing you’ll throw up because it’s been ‘X’ years

👉 Avoiding clothes or places linked to past sickness

👉 Crossing your fingers or touching wood to “avoid” being sick

It all comes down to control. You believe you can’t cope with the uncertainty so you try to control everything else. What you wear, where you go, what you say.

The key to overcoming this fear is learning how your mind works and retraining it. The Emetophobia-Free Programme helps you understand how this fear was created and gives you a step-by-step path to freedom. 💪

19/02/2026

Avoiding soft play, children’s parties, play dates or basically anywhere your child might interact with others and pick up a bug is something most parents with emetophobia (the fear of vomit) do. 🙋‍♀️

First of all, you are NOT alone.

It can feel like these places are dirty, and that your child is bound to come home with a stomach bug. But here’s the truth: you can’t know that for sure. And that uncertainty? That’s the real trigger.

When you live with emetophobia control becomes your safety net. You crave certainty and work hard to create a life that feels predictable.

But when a sickness bug threatens that control, your usual problem-solving mindset shuts down. So you avoid. Because avoidance feels like the only way to eliminate the unknown. 😣

But what if you had the tools to tolerate uncertainty, cope with discomfort, and shift your perspective on the actual threat?

You wouldn’t need to avoid soft play. You’d be free to enjoy those magical moments with your kids without fear calling the shots. 😍🫶

These are the exact skills you will learn in the Emetophobia-Free programme.🫶🏼

17/02/2026

You’re doing everything you can to protect them. But it still doesn’t feel like enough.

You tell yourself it’s just hand sanitiser. Just a precaution. But deep down, it’s fear of norovirus.

Fear of losing control. Fear of the panic that takes over when someone says, “They were sick at school today.”

You’re tired. Tired of the questions:

“Did anyone go home early?”

“Was anyone feeling unwell?”

Tired of the guilt, the avoidance and the constant scanning for risk.

You say no to parties, playdates, and school trips. Not because you don’t want them to have fun, but because the fear is louder than your logic.

You want to be the mum who says yes. Who laughs. Who lets them be kids. But instead, you’re stuck in a cycle of fear that’s stealing the joy from their childhood and your motherhood.

Emetophobia-Free isn’t about managing the fear. It’s about overcoming it.

It’s about unlearning the patterns that have kept you stuck since you were a child yourself.

Because this fear isn’t who you are and it never was.

14/02/2026

Think you’re the worst emetophobe? That your case is different, too bad, too far gone?

You’re not.

Almost every emetophobia sufferers think says ‘Mine’s different.’ ‘Mine’s worse.’ ‘I’ve also got OCD’, ‘I’ve had it too long.’

But no matter how intense your symptoms are, or how long you’ve lived with this, you can overcome it.

You’re not broken and you’re not the exception. You’re just scared and that’s human.

The Emetophobia-Free Programme has helped over 26,000 people. Some couldn’t leave the house. Some couldn’t eat. Some had it for 75 years. Some had many, many other diagnoses. They still recovered.
You’re not too far gone and you’re just one decision away from a different story!

Address

Glossop Osteopathy Clinic, 23 Fauvel Road
High Peak
SK137AR

Telephone

+447901796701

Website

http://www.victoriabourque.uk/

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