Reiki is one of those alternative therapies that really divides. Practioners don’t have to be trained, so you or I could easily set ourselves up as a reiki therapist. On the other hand, if you believe in energy forces in the body, if you want to feel someone in tune with you, who can help you relax and cope with what life throws at you, Valerie Queyrel from A Better You could well be your woman.

Reiki is just one trick in her arsenal of NLP, hypnotherapy, goal-mapping and mindfulness, as she’s actually a life counsellor and coach and deploys the relevant ammunition for each client. As you can see Valerie, being French, has the chic gene, and looks disconcertingly like a smiling Kristin Scott Thomas (I know, imagine such a thing), but you can’t feel green about that because she’s just so lovely and gentle.

I went in thinking I was just going to relax for a bit with a bit of deep breathing and some tiny cymbals tinkling over my head from time to time, but er, nope. The first thing Valerie did was hand me a tray (below), and asked me to put the things on it that meant something in my life. So on went the mudlets, Mr Muddy, Muddy Stilettos and all that malarkey. Then she took my kids off the tray – that little group of three stones below – and I surprised myself by not shaking my fist in triumph and shouting ‘Yes! Finally!‘ Actually I did something quite uncharacteristic for me. I went all wobbly and tearful. Admittedly I’ve been a bit knackered of late, but I am your original ‘just get on with it’ type and frankly I’m not used to blubbing in front of people I’ve just met! So hats off to Valerie, she can clearly get to the root of a wobble really quickly. More importantly, we talked through what was behind my crumpling and it was really helpful, particularly as Valerie is very much rooted in the real rather than hippy world.

The treatments all take place at Valerie’s place, a smart house in Great Missenden, with the talking therapies upstairs and the lying down relaxey type ones in her living room, below.

Having treatments at someone’s house isn’t everyone’s cup of cha but I rather like it, and for talking therapies and holistic stuff I think it can actually feel more relaxing than a clinic. I lay down on the bed and pretty much did what I usually do – drifted off, and let Valerie get on with it. The cymbals came out, deep breathing began and it was all deeply relaxing. Reiki is, of course, a hands-on treatment through clothing that is designed to restore the energy balance in your body. It’s very gentle, involves an energy flow from the therapist’s hands onto the client in a series of hand positions that include the head and shoulders, stomach and feet. I can’t make any great claims for reiki after one treatment though I’ve had a lot of acupuncture and reflexology in the past so do buy into the idea of energy blocking and releasing and I definitely left the treatment feeling more relaxed and uplifted.

Valerie when she starred in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'

Valerie in a still from ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’

I think having a go at reiki will come down to whether you’re an alternative therapy trier or prefer the more traditional massage-type relaxing treatment, so I’ll leave that one to you, but I’d recommend Valerie in a flash if you are looking to recalibrate on a deeper level – her various hats of alternative therapist, counsellor, life-mapper and hynotherapist means she has a depth of skill and life experience that can suit everyone from stressed out business execs, or to those of us who just need to stop and get back in touch with what matters. As always, let me know if you use her and I can feed back your experiences (anonymously) to other readers.

Valerie Queyrel, A Better You, tel: 07861 648 632. counsellingamersham.co.uk

Life mapping and Reiki

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