Welcome to the National Council For Hypnotherapy Podcast, where we dive into the fascinating world of hypnosis, lifting the lid on hypnotherapy, sharing insights and tips for change as we chat. So sit back, relax, and enjoy all the wonderful possibilities of Hypnotherapy. My name is Tracey Grist, and I will be your host today. So I'm here today with the lovely Andy Selway Woolley, a solution focused hypnotherapist. Hi, Andy. Hi.

Hey. How are you doing?

I'm good. Thank you. How are you today?

I'm good. It's a nice miserable gray morning, but on the positive, I'm speaking to you. So So nice. All is good.

So you're a solution focused HIPAA therapist. What led you into the is it your second career, your primary career? What led you down this pathway?

So my background is human resources. So I got sort of HR director level, mainly working for sort of smaller businesses. So I was usually, like, the only HR person either in the country or by myself. So my job's always been very people focused. I've always been the person people go to for any concerns. You know, it's pretty much like being an octopus when you're the only HR person in a company. I did that for about 20 years or so, and then I become an HR consultant. So set my own business going into small companies that needed some HR support.

Yeah.

That for a couple of years. And then I opened a recruitment agency. Well, actually, I bought 1 probably in 2016. So I recruited HR people. So I did that for 4 years, again, running my own business. And I think during that time, because I had such a good networking connection, I started running events, and they were being sponsored by big companies. Essentially, I just burned myself out. Like, it was so intense.

Yeah. What sort of events?

Sorry. Say that.

What sort of events did you

Just HR events for HR people. So I was running events for, like, a 150 people doing that, and, obviously, recruitment is commission only. So you don't get paid unless you place. So lots of frustration, lots of, I guess, competition in London. You know, it's very much you have to be very quick,

and

my personality was quite quick as well. So I was riding that way for a good 3 years, but I didn't notice myself burning out. I was doing probably, like, 70, 80 hour weeks, you know, riding on the adrenaline, but I think you can only do that for so much. So COVID came, and I furloughed myself and had 3 months off. And during that time, I actually went to saw a hypnotherapist as well because I was still suffering with the burnout. I actually really enjoyed lockdown. For me, it it it I use this a lot in my practice around sort of going out and doing things, spending more time with family, you know, quietening down your, like, nervous system and everything. Yeah.

So, yes, everything was nice and calm, and it gave me the chance to actually get back into the right part of my brain to make a decision on what I actually really wanted to do in life. So my degree is in biology. I'd always toyed with being a paramedic. So during lockdown, I volunteered in Stoke Mandeville Hospital in A and E as a health care assistant. And I also did patient transport, so I was driving ambulances because I thought I need the experience to get into the paramedic service, essentially. So I did that for a year, and a lot of it is very much patient patient engagement, which I really love. So I was doing, like, an 11 hour shift for free. I was thinking I'm so energized after this.

Like, you know, it was such a lovely thing to do. So I think I found my passion during that time, joined the ambulance service, and did the medical the qualifications, which, you know, I enjoy that anyway. So for me, I think that's quite an easy thing. I love that. And then I did the blue light driving and then realized that, actually, I'm not great in an emergency. So I'm fine with the patients. Just don't put me in the driving seat. So, again, I'm on the same hypotherapist and essentially just came to the decision, what do I actually enjoy doing? And it was the patient interaction.