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 Sharon Pexley Hill, and you're an environmentalist, activist, artist, and hypnotherapist.

Yes. I am.

Brilliant. That's that's a lot of hats to wear.

It is, but they all fit together really well, actually. So, you know, my I worked in 20 years in wildlife conservation. A lot of that work was about people and nature. So it was about benefits, you know, to people for nature and lots of stuff. So a lot of that work was really about making people feel better working with drug addicts, people, you know, who needed to be out in the countryside and, you know, just looking at all those benefits in nature. So I started that sort of people well-being sort of journey many, many years ago. Yeah. And I'm very passionate about topics I get involved with.

So hence the sort of activist bit, you know, I don't sit at home, you know, if there's something that I can make a difference to. And then I took voluntary redundancy, found art because I was rubbish as a child. I was told as a teacher, I mean, don't bother doing being an artist. You know, you're rubbish. Yes. I know. But that happens to so many people, you know, as an artist, when you talk to people, they go, oh yeah, my teacher, that was rubbish. So I gave it up.

That's what happened to me. So I get that. I understand that. And then, yeah, found solution focused hypnotherapy. Having had it myself.

Okay. I was gonna ask what led you on the hypnotherapy journey?

Yes. It was, a bit of a traumatic time for myself. So my 15 year old niece took her in a life following cyberbullying. This is 12 years ago. She was actually a very high profile case in Ireland. It's a very big sort of investigation into it and all sorts of stuff. And it almost at the time that Ireland said enough of our young people doing this because she wasn't the first. She's she's not gonna be the last.

We know that. And I ended up doing lots of sort of publicity, you know, talking to the media all over the world about cyberbullying because it it was a really big issue at that point. It's what came to a head. And I was somebody who could talk about it because I'd been used to talking about all sorts of, you know, complicated nature issues and environmental issues. So I seem to be talking about it a lot, and it just sort of sort of hits me, actually. And I hit rock bottom, you know, very depressed, Had a number of other sort of smaller things happen at the same time, which sort of compound it. And often that's what happens, isn't it? You know, to get yourself to a really poor place in your mental health. So it's a number of things just hit you all at once, and you just can't deal with them because you're not in a place to deal with the next thing.

I'm not saying, you know, my my niece's death would have been a smaller thing because, of course, it's not. That would have floored anything. But, you know, the things that happened after it afterwards, you know, if they'd been a one off, I would've dealt with them very differently, but because I was in a bad place, you know. So I went to the NHS and then NHS NCH said, yeah, if you've got PTSD, probably 3 to 5 years before we can do anything for you. Have some antidepressants. And I went, I don't need antidepressants. I need to deal with this now because I was very worried about the social and mental health. And a friend of mine recommended me to a solution focused hypnotherapy therapist.

And the next day I found myself sitting in front of him, having what we call as a initial consultation, whereas talking to him and yet the first thing he said to me, which was absolutely game changing for me was I don't need to know what's happened to you to enable you to move forward. If you want to tell me, and we work together and it comes out, that's fine, but I don't need to know. And because I've been spending so much time talking about this terrible thing that has happened to my niece, I was like, oh, I'm so relieved. I don't have to talk about this anymore, but you can still help me. And yeah, 6 sessions later, I was really back in control of myself. I had 10 sessions at that point just to make sure that I was really, you know, back into who I was. And, and it was, it was incredible, you know, the change in such a short space of time. It was amazing.

I was amazed. You know, I'd had done things in the past. You know, I was much younger. I'd had counseling. Not really my thing, to be honest. You know? I I didn't really feel like it really moved me forward, and I've always been somebody to move forward rather than sort of really look at what's happened in the past.

Yeah. So if it was a nice fit then to look I suppose it's your activist self, isn't it, that wanting to move forward, go ahead, and do

Change things. Yeah. Yeah. Change things. Yeah. Yeah. So it really did fit with me. And then it was years later that, you know, I was doing all sorts of things, everything else.