Q1: What is special about RTT?
Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT ) ® is a unique form of hypnotherapy.
RTT is a hybrid therapy that offers unparalleled results, combining the most beneficial principles of Hypnosis, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Psychotherapy & Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (CBT). It was developed by Marisa Peer after 30+ years as Britain’s most successful hypnotherapist.
Hypnosis is simply a way of becoming deeply relaxed. While the word ‘hypnosis’ was coined by a Scottish surgeon in the mid 1800s, the use of a trance state for reducing emotional or physical pain has been recorded for millennia. Today, Hypnosis is a well-known, proven therapy and is part of main-stream medicine in many hospitals and clinics.
Unlike many other forms of hypnotherapy, RTT does not rely solely on positive reinforcement or affirmations. Too often this is the sole focus for hypnotherapists, but it misses the depth of transformation that is possible when we record the language used by the subconscious mind itself. A recording that uses a client's own words is far more successful.
The use of trance, regression, and hypnotic conditioning have all been proven to produce a transformative effects on clients, but RTT goes further with a focus on what works for each specific client in order to build a unique and individualized therapeutic approach.
Marisa has written many books that empower clients, but her recent book explains the process of RTT in detail:
I am enough: mark your mirror and change your life.Peer, Marisa. 2018.
Other books: https://www.goodreads.com/group/bookshelf/878874-rtt-bookclub-informal?order=a&per_page=30&shelf=marisa-peer&sort=title&view=main
I'm thrilled to be able to say that I trained at a Live Class with Marisa in person.
Watch this video for
Marisa Peer’s summary of RTT
Q2: Will Rapid Transformational Therapy work for me?
Yes! RTT has worked on thousands of people just like you, no matter what the issue. An RTT session resolves your personal issue and a recording hard-wires those changes. It is crucial that you listen to your personalized recording every day for at least 21 days to ensure permanent, long-lasting change.a
Q3: I’m seeing another therapist – how will this affect an RTT session
You should talk to your therapist about your plan to consider an RTT session. RTT is complementary to most forms of therapy.
But some forms of therapy will not work together with RTT.
RTT works by disconnecting the pain of an emotional event or memory with your present day. If you then have a therapy session where you talk extensively about that memory, your inner mind will believe that connection is important to maintain.
RTT sessions are about empowering you to talk positively to yourself. To become your own cheerleader. That kind of change in mindset won’t work if your therapist believes you are not at a stage to give complements to yourself. Your therapist may have a schedule of milestones that require weekly sessions over a year or two to be effective.
[NOTE: I do not agree with such an approach, but if you are in the care of a psychotherapist it is important that you discuss your progress.]
RTT works to free you of emotional pain in a few sessions. Often a single session, where the client is committed to listening to their personalized recording, is enough to resolve an issue that may have had a negative effect on someone's life for years, or even decades.
Q4: Why is RTT so expensive?
RTT is so effective because it empowers you to take control of your mindset at your healing in a very short time. Often with one session (30 days) or two sessions for complex issues (60 days). I have had only a few clients who felt they needed a third session for a single issue.
Most talk therapy involves frequent, short sessions over a period of years. In the long run such therapy may be more expensive.
But you need to ask yourself if you want your pain to continue for years.
Complex issues may take two or three sessions but most are resolved in one session followed by a commitment to listen to your personalized recording at least once a day for 21 days. Physical issues often require a longer commitment to listening to a personalized recording. This commitment is crucial to your success in resolving an issue. [See RTT session FAQs]
[Note - I once chatted with a woman on the train who said she often has panic attacks that prevent her from leaving her apartment. She decided my sessions were too expensive. When I asked about her current therapy she said she only paid about CDN$50 a week. She went almost every week. For over three years. Yet despite this long (and expensive) talk therapy she STILL had panic attacks.]
Q5: What does mindset mean and how can RTT change it?
Your mindset is your attitude about yourself. Your inner mind responds to every thought you have and every word you say. So it is crucial that you empower yourself with your words and thoughts.
Marisa has an anecdote about Carly Simon and Bruce Springsteen. Both reacted to going on stage with stress symptoms (jittery, nervous, sweaty hands). One chose to be afraid. One chose to feel this stress was “better than sex”. Same symptoms. Completely different results based on mindset.
Your inner mind does NOT have a sense of humour. So if you say something negative about yourself even as a joke, your inner mind believes it’s true. If you say “I’m not good at xyz” or “I have a terrible memory” then you will be that way.
RTT can help you become more aware of your thoughts and words about yourself. RTT can help you CHOOSE to be THRILLED and EXCITED about a situation that causes fear (public speaking, an exam, driving, a job interview, freeing yourself of an addiction)Fear includes being uncertain about the future. Change that feeling to excitement. “We cannot always control our fate. But we CAN control our thoughts
- Thoughts create our feelings
- Feelings control our actions
- Actions create our reality”
– Marisa Peer
Marisa advises everyone to write “I am Enough” in places where you will see it frequently, such as on your mirror or your screensaver. Repetition allows this positive affirmation to sink in:
“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough” These simple words can change your mindset.
Peer, Marisa. 2018.
I am enough: mark your mirror and change your life.Q6: What are the “Rules of the Mind” mentioned so often in RTT?
In her 30+ years of therapy, Marisa Peer found that many different issues had a few basic root causes. She developed "Rules of the Mind" as a way to understand how something that may have happened decades ago can cause problems for you today. She teaches that almost all issues can be understood to have 3 root causes:
- I am not enough
- I don’t belong / have connection
- Love/safety/money, etc. is not available and never will be
Understanding how or why or when something happened to you that gives you this belief is the first step in resolving your issue. RTT works to help you understand how to change that belief. This change involves helping you understand how your mind works and how it affects your life.
The emotional mind (the subconscious or inner mind) exists to keep you alive.
But sometimes, it doesn't always work the way you think it will. RTT can find the reasons why you may be self-sabotaging your logical mind, and to help you change your self-talk into positive messages that tell your mind exactly what you REALLY want. Your emotional mind responds to the words and pictures you say. So it's crucial that you be aware of how you talk to yourself:
- Have you ever heard a smoker say "I'll die if I don't get a cigarette"?
- Or someone who wants to lose weight says "I'm famished" or "I'm starving"
Even if said as a joke, the subconscious mind -- which doesn’t have a sense of humour -- will interpret such statements as a more immediate concern than the concerns of the logical mind. - For the smoker, Dying NOW without a cigarette will be interpreted by your mind as a more immediate problem than dying of cancer in a few decades, or even the problem of money spent on cigarettes or other health issues.
- For the person wanting to reduce weight, Dying NOW of starvation (even though it's not true) will over-ride the logical reasons why you should reduce weight.
NOTE using the phrase “Lose Weight” can self-sabotage when your inner mind reacts to wanting to ‘find’ something that was lost. If you lose anything else you’ll want to find it again – money, your wallet, your passport, etc.
Your emotional mind moves you away from a place (feeling or memory) of pain.
- Addictions allow short-term relief from pain even when causing more long-term pain
- RTT can't change the past, but CAN help to re-interpret an event or memory, and so addictions that work to take you away from pain can be eliminated
- Emotional over-eating is a response to pain and stress
- Drug addiction, alcoholism, gambling issues, and other addictions, often are a way to move away from pain.
- NOTE: videos or books by Gabor Mate are excellent resources for understanding the question of addictions of any kind is really “Why the pain?”
The empty feeling of "I'm not enough"
- RTT can help with conditions like anxiety or depression, which often have a base root in the empty feeling of "I'm not enough" -- it is easier to find the cause of such a feeling, and change the way you talk to yourself in hypnosis.
Something is not available to me -- it's always been this way and always will be
- RTT can help you reframe your mindset
Feeling Different, Lack of Connection
- Changing the way your mind interprets a situation will change your life.
- In tribal societies, an outcast would die -- our emotional mind still has that fear. Marisa teaches that people adopt a role that helps them feel connected. She suggests that we take on a role in order to feel we are worthy of love:
- Being sick – the more serious the illness the more attention parents give
- Being outstanding – but trying to be perfect to gain attention can lead to tremendous stress as an adult
- Being the carer – always helping others before oneself but it’s based on the belief that love must be earned
- The rebel – often the youngest child because other roles in the family have been taken – being difficult in order to be noticed
Understanding the role you’ve taken on and allow you to “give up that part and play the part of a loved and lovable adult instead” (Marisa Peer. 2018. I am enough: Mark you Mirror and change your life. p. 77-78)
Q1: I'm worried you'll make me do something I don't want to do
In hypnosis you are simply in a deep state of relaxation. You are NOT asleep. You are fully conscious; you will be aware of everything going on in your session and cannot be made to do something you do not want to do.
You will be aware of the environment and sounds around you. A similar state is when you are about to drift into sleep and someone says something to you that you hear but just don't want to answer. During your session you will be just at that stage of sleep -- deeply relaxed.
As I guide you through the session, we will ask questions of your unconscious mind and the answers will mainly be in the form of memories (see more details in the tab "Session details"
Suggestions or Affirmations will be made to resolve your issue, but if I say something you do not accept, you will reject the suggestion.
You cannot be taken into hypnosis against your will. It is your experience. I simply facilitate the experience as you allow yourself to relax.
Stage hypnosis is entirely different from hypnotherapy.
Q2: What if I can't be hypnotised?
The "trance" state of hypnosis is experiencred by everyone in daily life. It's the feeling of relaxation just before drifting into sleep. It's that "autopilot" feeling when you've done a task so often you're conscious mind can think other thoughts while your sub-conscious mind guides you through the task.
During hypnotherapy it's allowing your self to relax. To relax all the muscles of your body. To allow conscious thoughts to simply drift away.
You simply relax and allow yourself to be guided into an even deeper state of relaxation.
Listening to a pre-session recording allows you to feel this wonderful relaxation. A recording with my voice that uses visualization to release pain is available at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya4cVfPHY-k Listening to this recording for a week before your session will help you relax during the session and decrease resistance you have to being hypnotised.
Q3: How will I feel during hypnosis? Q4: Can I be re-traumatised during regression?
The trance state of hypnosis is a natural state. During this deep relaxation your body will feel at ease.
During the session, you will use your imagination to remember a past event that is connected with the issue you are experiencing today. This is called Regression. Using a series of tools, any emotional pain connected to that memory is cut. Regression is the BEST way to review something that happened in the past and end the chains connecting that memory to your life today.
During regression, clients sometimes feel concerned that they will ‘relive’ an awful experience - this is not the case. You will be reviewing the scenes (most definitely not reliving them).
You may be emotional as we get to the cause of your issue, however, it is important for you to know that you will be guided to a calm state as if you are viewing the scene, almost as if you are watching TV.
At the end of the session you may feel excited or reflective, but you will leave with a great sense of understanding as to why you have that issue and a sense of freedom and empowerment as you realize you have let it go.
Q5: What happens to my brain during hypnosis?
Research has been done on the state of a person’s brain during hypnosis, such as MRI scans. Different sections of the brain respond in a different way, but overall the brain produces the same patterns as during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. Technically, your brain will be producing alpha waves.
However, you are not asleep. You will be in a relaxed trance-state that allows your inner mind, your subconscious mind, to be more alert. Your sbuconsious mind will be better able to remember the details of memories that affect you today, even though you may not consciously have thought about that memory for a long time. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The therapist simply guides a person into a deeply relaxed state and then guides thoughts through various techniques.
Q6: What is the history of hypnosis? (mind/body connection)
The term hypnosis was devised by Dr. James Braid in the mid 1800s. He was a surgeon in Scotland, at a time where there were no reliablean aesthetic drugs. The investigation of the power of the mind over the body as a practical tool ended when anaesthetics became available.
The use of trance states for healing is described in the bible (1 Kings XVII:17-24;Mark IX:17-27)
In the mid 1600s the concept that the mind was separate from the body began with the work of the philosopher René Descartes. His famous argument, “I think, therefore I am” (originally in Latin as “Cogitoergo sum”) allowed the division of the body from the soul (dualism). Without the success of his philosophy, anyone who studied the human body would be accused of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church and executed. The acceptance of the idea that mind/soul were under control of the Church and completely separate from the body, which was seen as aseparate mechanical engine, allowed the progression of medical science and surgery. At the cost of knowledge of the mind and bodyas a unified entity.
In the late 1700s, work by an Austrian physician, Franz Anton Mesmer, looked at the connection of the magnetic influences of the planets on healing. He worked with a large number of patients, with serious conditions, including “melancholia”(now depression), blindness, and tumours. He treated large groups of patients with dramatic methods in theatres in France. There were so many charges of quackery against him, but so many cured patients, that the king appointed a Commission to investigate Mesmer's methods. This commission was led by the American Ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin. They rejected the theories of Mesmer, but concluded “the imagination is the true cause of the effects attributed” to healing (cited in Kohen, D.P. and Olness, K. 2011. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy with children,4thed. New York: Routledge, p. 12)
To an increasing extent, since the 1950s, research is showing observed medical results cannot be explained by the belief that the body and mind are separate.
In Eastern medicine the paradigm has always been that the mind and body and spirit are one and disease is an imbalance.
Many Western medical clinics are now working with the belief that the mind and body are connected and are using hypnosis and hypnotherapy as a practical tool to help patients.
Q7: My religion does not allow hypnosis. Can you still help me?
While mindset changes and visualisation is more powerful in the trance state, the induction of hypnosis is not essential. If you can allow your body to completely relax, many of the tools I use to help clients can still have some benefit.
Please understand that a person is FULLY in control of themselves in a hypnotized state and can’t be made to do anything they don't want to do.
There are verses in the Bible that reference mind/body healing. Christian supporters of hypnosis suggest that the trance-like state entered during self-hypnosis is said to parallel some of the trances and visionary states in the Bible (Numbers 24:4; Daniel 2:19; Acts 10:10, 11:5,22:17; Revelation 1:10). It is also suggested that during strongly focused deep prayer and meditation, one may drift into a hypnotic trance (Acts 11:5; 10:10).
A few other verses are relevant:
Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by
changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
[RTT helps you to change the way you think but you will only accept suggestions if you agree with the validity of the comments]
John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
[learn the truth about yourself and free yourself to accept empowering thoughts]
Mark 9:17-29 “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
In 1956, Pope Pius XII gave his approval of hypnosis. He stated that the use of hypnosis by health care professionals for diagnosis and treatment is permitted. (see
Text of Address by Pope Pius XII on the Science and Morality of Painless Childbirth)https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3786&context=lnqDr. Roger Barrier wrote “Is it Okay for a Christian to be hypnotized?”
https://www.crosswalk.com/church/pastors-or-leadership/ask-roger/is-it-okay-for-a-christian-to-be-hypnotized.html?amp=1&fbclid=IwAR1nIxCj2qnQGjcuB17NJvXkIv7RpGPZaDmhHVPcksM1hxi_TW1QH3aqyok-Here is my favourite definition from his article: “A state which resembles sleep but is produced by a person who can then make suggestions to which the person in this state can respond.”
-“hypnosis can be a valuable tool in helping people overcome fear, reduce stress and anxiety, conquer agoraphobia and stop smoking.”
-“Opponents focus on the Hebrew term “cast spells” as being the same as hypnosis. Their interpretation is really a stretch.”
-“the therapist, or hypnotist, must be appropriately trained and someone who you trust implicitly. Ascertain that their character and values line up with yours.”
-“In the hands of the wrong people I believe that it can do much harm.”
Q1: What does a session include?
RTT is phenomenol at helping you change your mindset -- which can transform your life.
An RTT Therapy session would involve about 2.5-3 hours of time.
This involves hypnotic regression where a series of tools are used to help you understand the root cause of your issue and then cut connections to your current life. Understanding why an issue started helps you release it.
A personalized recording is made that will help you change the way you dialogue with your mind. This helps hardwire in the changes in mindset that your session begins. It's crucial that you listen to your recording at least once a day for 28 days. Ideally just before sleep. Your subconscious mind still hears while you sleep.
Many people find they have a deeper, healing sleep using a hypnosis recording.
For a physical issue, visualisation is used to help your mind focus on healing (see FAQ tab for Physcial issues) A healing visualisation recording should be listened to multiple times a day. It can be used as background by skipping the induction. Some people have put their recording(s) on 'Repeat' to listen throughout the night to improve their results.
Q2: How can you help me in just one session?
Hypnosis allows direct access to the ‘reasons’ we do what we do and react the way we do, saving you hours or years in talk therapy searching for the source.
With Rapid Transformation Therapy ®, I get to the root cause of your issue through regression. We then confront your issue, eliminate it and empower you to be the person you want to be and live the life you really want to live.
The beauty of this therapy is discovering your limiting beliefs, letting them go and replacing them with ones that serve you so much better. When you do this it creates lasting change, lasting results, lasting freedom. You do not have to be bound by your limiting beliefs, especially as most of them are not truths!
Sometimes it can take more than one session per issue. Depending on your issue and what happens during your session we can discuss if a 2nd session is needed.
Some people feel the results immediately, for others, it takes more time for them to realise that they no longer have that issue in their lives anymore. You may find that once you have resolved one issue, you want to come back and work on another one.
NEVER listen to a hypnosis recording while in a car. Even as a passenger the driver may be affected.
Your session is part of a package. Usually only one package is needed for an issue. More coplex issues, including chronic illness will need two or three packages.
Your follow-up calls are an opportunity to talk about your experiences, ask questions and gain even further insight into your issue.
I will usually upload a recording to google storage , then send you the link.
I do not use background music, since I find it usually distracts people from the message.
Q3: I have lots of problems, can you still help me?
We can only work on one issue at a time, although some issues are related and can be resolved together. We will work out what is the one thing that you want to get rid of, deal with that and then return for subsequent issues. Often, getting rid of your main issue has a positive impact on other areas of your life.
Q4: I don't live near London, Ontario - can you help me?
Yes! Online sessions for clients who are out of area are equally effective and take place in the comfort of your own home. Wherever you are in the world, Rapid Transformational Therapy ® can help you.
Q5: Would an in-person session be better than online?
I am available for in-person sessions in London, Ontario, although there is an extra fee involved.
Such a session allows the power of touch, such as rocking your head or touching your hands. But touch is not essential for an effective RTT session.
Online sessions simply require that I be able to see your face and hear you. You simply need to hear my voice.
It’s usually better to use earphones and if possible a microphone.
The advantage of an online session is that you are in the privacy and safety of your own home. Most people are tired after a session. There is often a great deal of knowledge to process. Having a nap immediately after a session seems to help the mind process change.
Q6: What if I know I had trauma in the past?
If there was severe trauma, either emotional or physical, there can be a very strong reaction during hypnosis but RTT guides these reactions to relieve emotional pain.
RTT can help your mind form a better understanding of a past event. By re-framing the interpretation of an event, you can release the emotions that are causing that event to control your current beliefs and behaviours.
You will NOT relive an event -- but you can review it. You can come to an understanding of how to let go of negative feelings and beliefs. As you review this event, you are an a safe place and I can help guide you to a healthier mindset.
A strong emotional reaction to a past event (technically known as abreaction) can be a powerful way to understand how the subconscious thoughts control your conscious thoughts and behaviours. During hypnosis, the subconscious mind is more alert and healing changes can be more easily accepted by your mind
“Abreaction” means an emotional release resulting from mentally reliving or bringing into consciousness, through the process of catharsis, a long-repressed, painful experience”
(Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 8th ed. 2009, Elsevier)
While an abreaction is incomfortable, you will NOT be re-traumatised -- the tools of RTT will help end that emotional pain.
During hypnosis you are in full control over what you say. If an event or memory is one you don’t want to share, you don’t have to reveal that information. But it is important that you understand the connection of this memory to your current issue, and RTT can help you develop that understanding and erase the negative emotions that are still affecting you today.
Q7: What if something bothers me when you put me into hypnosis?
You are always fully conscious and in control. If you want to stop the process at any point, you can do so.
During the session I will ask if you want a brief break before moving on to another tool
Induction is the technical term of guiding someone into hypnosis. Various tool are used, such as visualisation of descending a flight of steps, or walking along a path, or just counting down.
The point of the induction is to relax your logical, conscious mind and let your emotional, unconscious mind become more alert as you go into a trance-like state.
During induction, I will ask you to let your eye gaze look up, as if you are looking into the back of your own eyebrows. I stress that you should only feel tension in your eyes, not pain. Some people are bothered at looking up high. Or even with just closing their eyes.
Simply speak up if something bothers you.
While the eyes looking up is a quick way to change the brain waves of your mind, other methods can be used:
Just closing your eyes and letting your body and mind relax will lead into a trance-like state.
Keeping your gaze fixed on a still spot until you are ready to close your eyes will be effective.
If you have to go to the washroom at any point, speak up and we can take a break, and you will quickly go back into hypnosis. At any time during the session accommodation can be made for anything that is bothering you.
Q8: What if there's something I don't want to tell you?
You are in complete control during hypnosis. If you don’t wish to share something, you won’t. It’s ok to keep details to yourself. I can still help you as long as you can tell me how the unnamed details make you feel. I will guide you through the process of understanding how that memory affects your current issue.
Q9: Will what I say in our session be confidential? What happens to the records you keep
Yes, you are assured of confidentiality about anything you disclose in our session in accordance with professional codes of ethics. I will not contact any other professional you may be seeing without your permission UNLESS possible harm is indicated.
Terms are completely described in the Consent Form and Waiver that you are required to sign before your session.
Documents related to you are stored in encrypted form at a secure site - www.owlpractice.com
Q10: Do you work with children?
I am happy to see under-18s but for the therapy to be successful (regardless of age), we need to be working on the client's most-pressing issue, and children and their parents do not always have the same priorities. Sessions with very young children will be shorter than for adults. Many issues, such as nail-biting, bedwetting, phobias (monster under the bed) can be easily changed during a single RTT session.
More complex issues, such as developing self-regulation skills for better success at school, or better coping skills because of trauma or bullying or grief, may take two or three sessions.
Parents are encouraged to be nearby, but outside the room.
Q1: How can physical issues be improved by hypnotherapy?
- Change the biochemistry of your blood
- Visualization of healing – releasing nflammation is a major part of this
- Pre-surgical and post-surgical pain release – or even during surgery
- Change the activation of genes by changing the epigenes
These ways to help reduce pain or relieve physical issues have several scientific theories about how hypnotherapy can help. {see the Medical Studies page for a bibliography of references in the database PubMed.
The subconscious mind is the one running all our bodily functions, such as heart rate, hormone release, temperature regulation, organ functions, immune system, cell regeneration, limbic system(responsible for generating emotions) and many others, without us being able to control or be conscious of them in any way. You can’t consciously control these systems. For example, you can’t use your logical brain to change the blood flow in your body – that is the job of the subconscious mind. If you could tap into this amazing resource of your subconscious mind you could actually control your bodily reactions and functions as digestion, hormonal release (increase the level of serotonin and oxytocin, decrease stress hormones levels as cortisol and adrenaline), regenerative properties of the organs and tissues (increase and hasten the healing process), or emotional regulation.
Recent studies have looked at using conscious thoughts, and visualisations, to actively change body functions. Such as a study that found an increase in blood flow to the fingers when someone simply imagined holding a hot mug of coffee. Visualisation techniques, using hypnosis are powerful. There are many great resources about visualization and mind-body healing, including books or videos by people such as Dr. Joe Dispenza, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dr. David R. Hamilton, Dr. Bruce Lipton, or Dr. Christiane Northrup. I recommend all new clients with physical issues watch this short video by Dr. David R. Hamilton. His description on how visualisation helped a young man with liver disease or how clinical studies found visualisation can reduce a cancer tumour are samples of how powerful this technique can be. As Dr. Hamilton states, there are no guarantees, and it isn’t easy, but there are enough stories of success of a process that is relatively low cost, non-invasive and no negative side effects that anyone with a physical issue should consider visualisation. Recommended for ALL new clients: Dr David R Hamilton – How your mind can heal your body [6 minutes long]
In addition, listening to a hypnosis recording can help improve sleep, which helps move the body and the mind towards wellness {see FAQ below}
Q2: How can hypnosis change the biochemistry of my blood?
Your body responds to the thoughts in your mind. Your mind and body react together to events in your environment for your survival (such as being chased by a tiger). The same reactions occur even when the danger is simply a thought in your mind. To you mind, a real event is exactly the same as an imagined event.
When you are feeling stress, or fear, or anger, the mind-body react with the ‘fight or flight or freeze or fawn’ reaction.
The mind reacts to these emotions by producing chemicals in organs such as the adrenal glands, that change the biochemistry of your blood to prepare your body for action. This is a protective mechanism that we need to survive in an emergency situation.
However, if these feelings are frequent, or even worse constant, these chemicals can damage your body.
When you try to consciously tell your mind to “stop thinking that” – to stop looping thoughts – it’s difficult. In hypnosis, your mind is better able to accept these changes in thinking patterns. To change your mindset.
Changing the way you think has a measurable effect on the biochemistry of your blood. During hypnotherapy, your mind is more suggestible to better, more positive changes in your self-talk.
The deep relaxation of hypnosis also allows many of the “flight or flight” reaction chemicals to be re-set and that new biochemistry allows a feeling of calmness that continues after the session. This calmer state is reinforced by the personalized recording you must listen to after your session. Listening to your recording helps reinforce mindset changes from your session.
If you would be interested in more details about stress there are many resources that explore the connection of stress and health {see FAQ below on How Stress can be Beneficial}
Q3: How can visualisation of release of inflammation help?
Having an understanding of what is happening in your body helps your mind visualise what needs to change.
Imagining the reversal of any symptom in a way that excites your inner mind is crucial. Medical understanding is not essential. Many stories describe imagery of ‘hugging a cell and giving it love’ or ‘polishing a cell until light could shine through it clearly’ or using a laser gun to zap infection have been successful and helping a person move towards wellness.
I’ve had clients with fractured bones imagine the crack being filled with ‘healing crystals (imaginary) that then provide a framework for stem cells (real) to flow in and use as a matrix to make the bone stronger than it was before an accident. One client was scheduled for surgery but by the time she saw the surgeon a week later he decided her fracture was healing well enough that surgery wasn’t required. Did the visualisation make the difference? There is no way to be certain, but she believed her session and the recording that she listened to many times a day during the week of waiting helped her avoid surgery.
Before making your recording I’ll chat with you about phrases or ideas you will want include thatare relevant to your issue and words you use.
A part of RTT that hastremendous healing power is Command Cell Therapy (CTT) ®. During CTT, visualizations are used to help you self-heal your body. During hypnosis, the mind-pictures of healing can change blood-flow and reduce muscle tension.
These are some of the images that clients can use:
- Imagining heat at the site of an injury can increase blood-flow to that area
- Imagining higher levels of oxygen in the blood because of slow, deep breathing can help
- Inflammation can be greatly reduced even in a single session, which can greatly reduce pain.
- In the UK, the deep relaxation power of hypnosis was used by the National Health Services (NHS) to relieve the symptoms of Irritable bowel sydrome (IBS) and reduce pain.
- “The NHS hypnotherapy programme was a huge success, saving an estimated £135,000 annually thanks to patients no longer needing to have their cases escalated. Despite this, funding was cut for the service four years ago.
- “NHS commissioners don’t always see the bigger picture, especially when it comes to complementary therapies. It’s such a shame as the people on the ground, the gastroenterologists who I worked with, were so happy to have me as part of the team, having more time to concentrate on the cases of organic disease that did require medical intervention,”
- IBS patients now have to pay privately for hypnotherapy
Q4: How can hypnosis help surgical pain?
In surgical wards, hypnosis has been used to replace or augment anaesthetics, and to help reduce pre- and post- operative surgical pain.
Historically, hypnosis was used in surgery in the mid 1800s when there were no reliable anaesthetic drugs (alcohol coma is not ideal for surgery)
Hypnosis was dropped when drugs like morphine became readily available. It was much easier and more consistent, but it can be interesting to read about the early work using hypnosis in surgery - such as the work of Dr James Braid, who coined the term 'hypnosis'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Braid_(surgeon)
Post-surgical pain reduction, with no side-effects has been document in many research studies:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28339333 (behind a pay wall)
- https://www.uncommon-knowledge.co.uk/articles/phantom-limb.html
- Phantom-limb pain: “If our brains are hard wired to expect a hand on the end of an arm, a leg below the hip, then it makes sense that when the body part is suddenly not there, the brain struggles to make sense of that.
As hypnosis works on the part of the brain that creates and evaluates instinctive patterns, it makes sense that it can change these behavioural templates. There have been many studies done showing a hypnotised person overriding normal functioning.”
Visualisations used for post-surgery healing include ideas such as
- allowing scar tissue to diminish;
- allowing broken blood vessels to join together seamlessly
- allowing healing crystals to join any broken tissue and form a matrix for stem cells to flow to this area and replace the broken cells with youthful, perfect cells.
- reduction in inflammation
Q6: How can Stress be beneficial?
There are many different stress reactions that produce different ratios of hormones – all are important short-term and only some have negative health effects long-term.
Fight or flight or freeze or fawn - This is not just a negative reaction - it “can create a state of concentrated attention, one that gives you access to more information about your physical environment” (McGonigal p. 50)
- involves high levels of adrenaline and cortisol, which long-term can cause physical inflammation
Challenge response - “ increases self-confidence, motivates action and helps you learn from experience ... gives you energy and helps you perform under pressure” (McGonigal p 51)
- involves high levels of DHEA which help you be focused, not fearful
Tend and befriend – increases courage, motivates care-giving and strengthens your social relationships
- involves high levels of oxytocin, the chemical of courage
This is the essential reaction of people such as first responders and soldiers - protecting people or communities they care about
Practice of emergency situations leads to reduction of negative stress responses (Stress inoculation)
(McGonigal, Kelly. 2015.
The upside of stress: why stress is good for you, and how to get good at it.)
RTT can help you release negative stress hormones or reactions and be excited about positive stress reactions.
This is a complicated, although fascinating, topic. Videos and books by researchers such as
Dr. Daniel Amen or
Dr. Joe Dispenza or
Dr. David R. Hamilton can give a more detailed desciption of how visualisation can change the activity of genes.
It is thought that changes in the activation status of epigenes can be brought about by visualization in your mind. RTT can make the visualisation stronger.
Genes simply produce protein. Genetic variation (caused by mutations) can change the protein.
The controlling genes, called epigenes, can be activated or deactivated by environmental triggers. Some of the trigger effects can be passed through the generations.
Dr. Hamilton relates a story of a young man who developed a liver disease in his 20s. He required tubes for drainage. As a semi-invalid, he spent hours a day imagining he was cleaning each individual cell in his liver. A few months later one of the tubes disconnected. He was rushed to hospital where a scan found his liver was perfectly healthy. The theory is that his visualization work allowed healthy cells to replace the damaged cells.
Dr Hamilton states that such visualization work is not easy and there are no guarantees. But the many anecdotes he and Dr. Joe Dispenza and others document, show the changes are POSSIBLE.
Q7: How can Hypnosis help improve my sleep?
Listening to a hypnosis recording helps most people have a longer time of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. It can also help a person move into REM sleep faster.
A valuable part of hypnotherapy in helping with physical issues is releasing emotional pain that may be a burden on the immune system or may interfere with healing, restful sleep.
Sometimes, the cuase of sleep issues can be surprising. I had one client with a frequent nightmare that had affected her sleep for decades, especially when she had conflict in her life. In her dream, "faceless giants poked at me and hurt me and wouldn't listen to my pleas to stop". When she was a child this same dream had tormented her almost every night. In her session she realised the
CAUSE was surgery she had as a toddler for her appendix. She knew she had that surgery (she had a large scar) but she didn't consciously remember it. In trance she saw the details of the operating room - she even recognized the surgeon despitehis mask and cap. And of course, all the adults were "giants". We re-framed her fear to gratitude they saved her life. Understanding the source of this nightmare allowed her to let it go.
Other clients with sleep issues had something fearful happen to them at night. Letting go of the fear or pain helped them to sleep better. MarisaPeer teaches using words like “drift into sleep” since one of the basic fears of an infant is falling. Just changing words can help. Hypnotherapy makes it easier to change the words you say to yourself.
For other clients, reducing their pain levels helps them to sleep. I teach self-hypnosis to many clients. Self-hypnosis and imagining a dial that represents pain being turned down to a lower level helps many clients to sleep better when their hypnosis recording is not available, or if they wake during the night and don't want to listen to their recording again.
It is ONLY during REM sleep that the cells of the body (including the brain) can be repaired (see information about work by Dr. Stasha Gominak)
Dr. Gominak uses an analogy of repairing a water pump. It can ONLY happen by turning it off. She suggests the brain and the body cells can only heal by the state of sleep paralysis (not the horror story type - it's a medical definition) which can only happen during REM sleep.
Using a hypnosis recording can improve sleep - which alone will help the body to heal, both emotionally and physically - without the side-effects of medication.
Sleep paralysis during
deep REM sleep is essential for cells to be restored. Deprivation of sleep paralysis may be the root cause of many physical issues involving damage of the body. Children need more sleep paralysis levels of sleep than adults because they need the same body repair but also need to grow. According to Dr. Stasha Gominak, any child that needs to be dragged out of bed in the morning has not had adequate sleep paralysis states. Sleep paralysis depends on a balance of hormones, especially vitamins D and B. Unfortunately, many of the faster, cheaper diagnostic methods give inaccurate levels. Absorption of supplements is affected byenvironment factors.
See Can’t Sleep? Vitamin D &Nutrition to Fix Sleep Switches w/ Dr Stasha Gominak -
https://youtu.be/n1Qm5x7LxgcQ8: How can RTT® change the activity of my genes?
Q1: How can hypnotherapy help with cancer?
This is such a huge topic, I will write about it elsewhere. I have worked with over 25 women with Breast cancer and about 20 people with other types of cancer.
There are peer-reviewed clinical studies that show that visualisation, or prayer, reduces pain and symptoms. In hypnosis, visualisation is more powerful. With hypnotherapy, the root cause of the cancer can be understood.
Anyone diagnosed with cancer should arrange someone to be their support buddy. Even better, a support team. Ideally someone who can spend time with you in real life. Support groups help. FB allows connection with other people with the same kind of cancer or dealing with the same issues. Just be sure you resonate with these people and there is positive energy between you.
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!!!! If you feel unwell, REST. Let your body be at ease. Let your EYES be at ease.
Anyone who is unwell should NOT work their eyes. No reading. Not a magazine. Not a novel. No TV. No computer time. If your body is weak, then your eyes are weak. Straining your eyes weakens your immune system. [See work by Dr. Bates in the early 1900s]
Listen to audiobooks. Listen to audio podcasts. Have someone read to you. Have someone else read books about cancer recovery and summarize the parts that most apply to you.
Anyone with cancer should read
Radical Remission: Surviving cancer against all odds by Dr. Kelly Turner. See her website for hundreds of positive stories:
https://radicalremission.com/Listen to her audio interviews.
Also investigate
LaughterTherapy. The creator used hours of watching comedies, making sure he reacted with a ‘belly laugh’ to any joke or amusing skit, to move his cancer into remission.
Look for any book that has won the Stephen Leacock award for Humour:
https://leacock.ca/pastwinners.phpJoin a book club that discusses humour.
[As a side note, I was thrilled when the 2020 award winner was announced that I have met the author, Heid Jacobs, through my Scottish Country Dancing branch]
Q2: How can RTT help with addictions?
Again, another huge topic. Hypnotherapy can help you gain an awarenes of the root cause of your addiction(s).
- Trauma in the past
- Feelings of not being 'enough'
- Feelings of not belonging or connecting
- Fear that something isn't available to you and never will be
Gabor Maté states that all addiction is caused by pain. He feels
the real question in addiction is “why the pain? (2009. In the realm of hungry ghosts : close encounters with addiction.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/617702.In_the_Realm_of_Hungry_Ghosts
Different types of addictions (smoking, alcohol, energy drinks, eating disorders, gambling, sex, pornography) often have the same root cause. Resolving the cause can work on a person with multiple addictions.
Several sessions are needed to resolve addictions, but often RTT can help with a 90 day process.
Q3: How can RTT help with ‘shedding’ weight?
Negative self-talk can sabotage your ability to lose weight. RTT can help you easily change the way you view food and the way you talk to yourself.
Resolving the issues causing emotional eating or food cravings can help you easily and effortlessly change the way you eat.
Your mind knows that losing anything (except weight) is negative. If you lose your passport or wallet or keys you may panic and worry about finding them again. Your inner mind may relate that same emotion to lost weight and help you -- by helping you 'find' that weight again.
Simply using the words 'eliminate' or 'shed' or 'discard' weight can help convince your mind that this is a good change. If you have ever said "I'm famished" or "I'm starving" your inner mind will make sure that you continue to eat well to be prepared to survive the next famine. Your inner mind doesn't have a sense of time, or a sense of humour, so be aware of how you talk, even in joking with friends.
Changing the way you look at food -- becoming indifferent to your food triggers -- is easier in hypnosis. If you feel you are depriving yourself, your emotional mind will over-ride your logical mind to intensify your cravings.
During hypnosis you can become indifferent to your food triggers just as a non-smoker is indifferent to cigarettes, even if someone is smoking beside them (although they might feel revulsion rather than indifference)
Just as a vegan doesn't feel the need for a 'reward' after several weeks of not eating meat, changing your thoughts leads to indifference -- not the feeling of deprivation.
Learn how processed food is made -- what child would ever want to eat gummy candy knowing they are made of 'pony hooves'
Learn to reward yourself in ways other than by eating processed, sugar- or salt-laden junk food.
Envision yourself in a wonderful outfit as you shed excess weight
Learn to savour fresh food
Always be prepared so you don't become over hungry -- keep nutritious, healthy food with you at all times -- carry an apple or bring a green smoothie with you when you are away from home
When you have a craving for a trigger food, distract yourself -- take a walk, phone a friend (especially a weight accountability friend), go to the gym
Convince your inner mind that you are happy with change Your are CHOOSING not to eat that chocolate cake right now -- you can eat anything you want -- when you're 95
Talk to yourself with phrases such as "yes, that would taste good, but I'm excited that soon I'll be able to wear that new dress"
Q4: How can RTT help with Eating Disorders
Anorexia or Bulimia are complex disorders that can be helped by RTT but will require at least 3 sessions over several months.
It is essential to resolve the root cause, but there are usually many different causes. Self-care and self-praise become easier through hypnosis.
"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate" .....C.G. Jung
To resolve eating disorders, it is essential that you understand how and why your unconscious is causing behaviours that can be life threatening. The role of your unconscious mind is to keep you alive.
You need to understand why your unconscious mind is working against you. One client, in her late 30s, was hospitalised in her early 20s with anorexia and still had health issues.
In her first session she came to an understanding of what happened. In her second session she gained an even greater understanding of the emotions involved and was able to realize it could never happen to her again.
For her, one contributing factor was the disgust she had with her body "ballooning out of control" and realizing that quick change in her body shape was a result of side-effects of pain meds like morphine - a temporary situation because of an injury - that in her mind became a defining aspect of who she was. Letting go of that mind-set helped her feel a tremendous sense of freedom.
Q5: How can hypnotherapy help with anxiety/depression/grief?
Johann Hari talks about the continuum of anxiety/depression/grief in his fascinating book
Lost ConnectionsHari believes these feelings, or lack of feelings, are a normal reaction to situations in life. He recommends several strategies to cope with or overcome these feelings without medication. One method is reconnection with nature. See
https://youtu.be/Hfl3Yh7fS4RTT helps by helping you be aware of the root cause of your feelings at an emotional level, and end that pain from the past.
Q6: How can hypnotherapy help with phobias or habits (nail biting)?
Marisa Peer teaches that "Habits of behaviour are formed by habits of thought"
Negative habits, such as nail biting, are often done on 'autopilot'. You don't consciously decide to something, it just seems to happen.
To change these habits, you have to learn what thoughts or core beliefs lead to this 'autopilot' behaviour. The roots of these thoughts lie in the subconscious mind. The emotional, subconscious mind will ALWAYS win over the conscious, rational mind, since emotions are stronger than logic.
This is why willpower almost always fails at some point. Willpower is a conscious process which does not access or address the underlying thought or belief which is running the unwanted behaviour.
RTT provides fast access to these subconscious beliefs which need to be changed in order for the behaviour to change. Having got to the root of difficulties RTT then rewires the neural pathways in the brain and thereby challenges and replaces the old fixed belief systems and unhelpful, negative behaviour patterns. New, positive beliefs are introduced using the power of the subconscious and the process of repair begins. Everyone wants to be free of pain and upset and able to reach their full potential. This is where RTT comes in – it is transformational.
Q7: How can RTT help with hearing loss or tinnitus?
There are several types of hearing loss.
Tinnitus (‘ringing’ in the ears) is often caused by inflammation in the inner ear canals and affects hearing by being louder than any sound to be heard. It can also be caused by hardened ear wax in the external ear canal.
Complete hearing loss can happen quickly (even instantly) if the auditory nerve becomes inflamed – there is very little space for that nerve to move through bone, so inflammation can cause extreme damage. A viral infection can cause this extreme inflammation. Or a drop in air pressure when flying.
The more common cause of hearing loss is the damage to “hair cells” in the inner ear. This can happen with a loud, sustained noise (such as a rock concert) or more cumulative (loud, constant sound)Marisa has had phenomeal success with hearing impaired cleints with a visualisation of the inner ear cells being repaired and restored.
This is an issue that is special to me. My father lost hearing in one ear when he was training as a glider pilot over Lake Erie in WW2 when he was 17. He was given a medial discharge, which is the only reason I'm here. All the boys who were in training with him were shipped overseas when they turned 18. Most died on their 1st mission. When I was young there were no hearing aids that could help his type of hearing impairment. He depended on lip reading and often had odd replies to comments. The change when he was able to get a hearing aid decades later was phenomenal.
