About Me

Please note: This is my personal story and my experience with Hypnotherapy, CBT, Counselling, NLP and coaching. *Results may vary from person to person.

I didn’t begin my life confident or calm. As a child and teenager, I struggled with my weight, low self-esteem and overwhelming shyness. My mum worked long hours in a fish and chip shop, so most meals came from there. By the time I reached my teens I was overweight, withdrawn and terrified of being judged. I avoided social situations, friendships and school altogether, often pretending to be ill because the anxiety felt unbearable.

School never felt safe, and I left with very low confidence and very few qualifications. I tried college several times — childcare, hairdressing, beauty therapy — but each time my fear of failing stopped me from finishing.

For years I believed I would never amount to anything. I imagined myself stuck in jobs I didn’t enjoy, gaining weight and losing confidence year after year.

Everything changed when I discovered blogging. Behind a computer screen I felt able to express myself, share ideas and connect with people. Writing helped me grow my confidence, and through that world I met my husband. Slowly, my life began to shift.

Six years later, after spending countless evenings listening quietly while my husband, his dad and his dad’s wife discussed hypnotherapy, counselling, NLP and CBT, something inside me clicked. I didn’t say much at the time, but I wanted to learn. Really learn. For myself. And for others who felt the way I used to.

I asked my husband to help me with hypnosis so I could finally lose the weight that had held me back for so long. With time, consistency and self-work, I lost the six stone I’d been carrying since childhood. That experience opened a door. I knew I wanted to help people who felt stuck, overwhelmed and unsure of where to turn.

I trained formally in hypnotherapy, counselling, NLP and other therapeutic modalities, adding qualification after qualification until I felt confident, knowledgeable and capable. Over the following decade, I worked full-time as a therapist and helped tens of thousands of clients with anxiety, compulsions, fears, confidence issues and many other challenges.

Alongside this, the Absolute Mind podcast began to grow. What started as a small project became something far bigger — millions of downloads from people around the world looking for guidance, calm and clarity. Knowing that my voice could help someone on the other side of the world showed me something important. I could help more people than I ever could in a one-to-one room.

That’s why I created AbsoluteMindOnline.

It allows me to take everything I’ve learned — all the tools from hypnotherapy, CBT-based approaches, NLP, coaching and practical behavioural techniques — and package them into structured online programmes. They’re designed to be easy to follow, delivered in short daily steps, and accessible from any phone, tablet or laptop. No travel. No waiting lists. No pressure.

My work is grounded in ethical practice, clear boundaries and a genuine commitment to helping people understand themselves better. I hold a Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma (HPD), I’m an NLP Master Practitioner, trained in Counselling Level 3, CRB checked and a professional member of the National Council for Hypnotherapy.

My aim is simple.

To make real support accessible to anyone who needs it.

To help people feel less alone in their struggles.

And to share the approaches that transformed my life — in a way that fits yours.

There is no obligation to proceed with therapy at the end of this consultation. As an approximation, we tend to book therapy over three sessions and then review progress.  For many issues, this can be long enough to achieve the desired outcomes. *Results may vary from person to person.

Paula Sweet
D.HYP / D.NLP / Cert SM / HPD