mile Cou de la Ch taigneraie (26 February 1857 - 2 July 1926) was a French psychologist and pharmacist who introduced a popular method of psychotherapy and self-improvement based on optimistic autosuggestion.

Considered by Charles Baudouin to represent a second Nancy School, Cou treated many patients in groups and free of charge.

The application of his mantra-like conscious autosuggestion, "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better" (French: Tous les jours tous points de vue je vais de mieux en mieux) is called Cou ism or the Cou method. Some American newspapers quoted it differently, "Day by day, in every way, I'm getting better and better." The Cou method centered on a routine repetition of this particular expression according to a specified ritual--preferably as many as twenty times a day, and especially at the beginning and at the end of each day. When asked whether or not he thought of himself as a healer, Cou often stated that "I have never cured anyone in my life. All I do is show people how they can cure themselves." Unlike a commonly held belief that a strong conscious will constitutes the best path to success, Cou maintained that curing some of our troubles requires a change in our unconscious thought, which can be achieved only by using our imagination.

Although stressing that he was not primarily a healer but one who taught others to heal themselves, Cou claimed to have effected organic changes through autosuggestion. (wikipedia.org)