Rapid Transformational Therapy®
Sometimes you can understand exactly what you should do — and still find yourself doing the opposite.
You know you should speak up, but you shrink.
You know the relationship isn't right, but you keep returning to the same dynamic.
You know you are capable, but self-doubt takes over when it matters most.
You promise yourself that this time will be different — and then the same reaction, habit or pattern appears again.
This is where RTT® can offer a different way of exploring change.
Rapid Transformational Therapy® (RTT®) is a structured therapeutic approach developed by Marisa Peer that combines hypnosis with a range of therapeutic techniques to help people explore the beliefs, interpretations and emotional patterns connected to the way they think, feel and behave.
At Best Life Catalyst, I use RTT as a way of helping you understand the mind behind the behaviour — not simply trying to force yourself to behave differently.
Because sometimes the behaviour isn't the real problem.
The behaviour is the clue.
RTT is not about fixing what is “wrong” with you
One of the most important things I want you to understand about RTT is this:
You don't have to be broken to want to heal.
Many patterns that frustrate us today may have once served a purpose.
People pleasing may once have helped you feel safe or accepted.
Perfectionism may have helped you avoid criticism.
Staying quiet may have felt safer than being seen.
Overworking may have become a way of proving your worth.
Avoiding opportunities may have protected you from the possibility of rejection or failure.
The adult you are today may no longer need these strategies in the same way.
But understanding that intellectually does not always make the pattern disappear.
RTT creates space to explore where these patterns came from, what they came to mean to you, and whether those old beliefs still belong in your life today.
What does “root cause” actually mean?
You will often hear RTT described as a method for finding the “root cause” of an issue.
At Best Life Catalyst, I use that phrase carefully.
I don't believe every struggle has one single hidden event that explains everything.
Human behaviour is more complex than that.
Instead, when we talk about a “root” in an RTT session, we are exploring the earlier experiences, beliefs, interpretations and emotional meanings that may be connected to the pattern you're experiencing today.
For example:
Perhaps you were criticised when you made mistakes.
Over time, you may have interpreted that experience as:
“If I get it wrong, I am not good enough.”
Years later, the original experience may no longer be consciously present — but the belief may still influence how you respond to mistakes, opportunities, relationships or visibility.
The aim isn't simply to remember the past.
It's to understand the meaning you made from it and explore whether that meaning still needs to direct your life.
We don't change the past. We change your relationship with what happened — and the beliefs you carry forward from it.
What does the subconscious have to do with it?
The word subconscious is often used to describe mental processes that influence us without being fully within our conscious awareness.
Think about how much of your everyday life happens automatically.
You don't consciously calculate every step when you walk.
You don't have to consciously remember how to tie your shoes.
You can drive a familiar route while your attention is somewhere else.
And sometimes our emotional and behavioural responses can become automatic too.
A particular situation can trigger a feeling before we've consciously decided how we want to respond.
A criticism can immediately produce shame.
Being asked to speak can produce panic.
Someone becoming distant can trigger the urge to chase them.
An opportunity can create an inexplicable desire to retreat.
RTT works with this idea of automatic patterns.
During hypnosis, focused attention and relaxation can make it easier to explore memories, associations, beliefs and internal responses that may not be immediately accessible during ordinary conversation.
This does not mean there is a literal hidden vault in your brain containing every answer.
It means we are creating a different state of attention in which you can explore your inner experience in a focused and guided way.
And importantly, you remain an active participant in the process.
How is RTT different from hypnotherapy?
This is an important distinction.
Hypnosis is a technique or state of focused attention. Hypnotherapy is the therapeutic use of hypnosis. RTT is a specific therapeutic approach that incorporates hypnosis alongside other techniques.
So RTT and hypnotherapy are related — but they are not interchangeable terms.
A hypnotherapy session may use hypnotic suggestion to support a particular desired change.
RTT incorporates hypnosis but places greater emphasis on exploring the beliefs, interpretations and patterns connected to the issue before working towards a new perspective and response.
In an RTT session, hypnosis is therefore not the entire process.
It is one of the tools used within the process.
The distinction matters because I don't want you to think of RTT as simply:
“Someone hypnotises me and tells me to think positively.”
That's not how I approach the work.
What happens during an RTT session?
A typical RTT session with me is approximately two hours and is tailored around the change you want to make.
1. We begin with your goal
Before hypnosis begins, we talk.
What is happening?
What have you tried?
What do you want to be different?
What keeps happening even though you consciously want it to stop?
This conversation helps us establish the focus for the session.
2. We move into a relaxed, focused state
I guide you through a process designed to help you become deeply relaxed and inwardly focused.
This is the hypnotic component of the session.
Hypnosis is not sleep and it is not unconsciousness. It is generally characterised by focused attention and increased responsiveness to suggestion.
You can communicate throughout the process, and you remain involved in what is happening.
3. We explore the pattern
Rather than simply trying to suppress the behaviour, we explore what may be underneath it.
This can involve memories, feelings, beliefs, images, associations or interpretations connected to your current experience.
Sometimes what emerges is obvious.
Sometimes it is unexpected.
And sometimes the most important insight is not what happened, but what you came to believe about yourself because of what happened.
4. We reframe
Once a belief or interpretation has been identified, we can begin looking at it from the perspective of the person you are today.
You may discover that something you believed about yourself made sense at one point in your life — but does not have to remain the truth you live by now.
The goal is not to erase your history.
It is to create room for a different understanding of it.
5. We introduce new, intentional beliefs
The next stage focuses on the beliefs and responses you want to strengthen.
Instead of simply saying:
“I need to stop doing this.”
we begin exploring:
“What do I want to believe, feel and do instead?”
Suggestion and repetition can then be used to reinforce those new perspectives.
6. You receive a personalised recording
Following the session, you may receive a personalised recording designed around the work we have done together.
The recording gives you an opportunity to continue engaging with the new beliefs and perspectives beyond the session.
The purpose is not to make change happen through passive listening.
It is about repetition, reinforcement and actively participating in the change you want to create.
What does an RTT session actually feel like?
There is no single “correct” hypnosis experience.
Some people feel deeply relaxed.
Some become highly focused.
Some notice physical sensations.
Some experience memories, images or emotions.
Some simply notice their thoughts becoming quieter.
And some people wonder afterwards:
“Was I even hypnotised?”
That's okay.
You don't have to lose consciousness or experience something dramatic for the session to be meaningful.
Hypnosis is a collaborative process involving focused attention and responsiveness to suggestion. Your experience will be individual to you.
What RTT isn't
RTT isn't mind control.
You are not handing over your mind to someone else.
RTT isn't being unconscious.
Hypnosis is not the same as being asleep or unconscious.
RTT isn't someone putting thoughts into your head.
The work involves therapeutic guidance and suggestion, but you remain an active participant.
RTT isn't about blaming your childhood for everything.
Earlier experiences can be relevant, but the purpose is not to search for someone to blame.
The purpose is to understand.
RTT isn't about forcing yourself to “think positively.”
The work is deeper than replacing one negative sentence with a positive one.
It is about understanding the belief, exploring where it came from, questioning whether it still serves you, and developing a more useful way of relating to yourself and your life.
RTT isn't a magic wand.
A powerful session can create insight and a different perspective, but insight is not the same thing as automatically changing every behaviour overnight.
Your participation matters.
What you practise afterwards matters.
And sometimes additional support is appropriate.
RTT isn't a substitute for medical care.
RTT should not be presented as a replacement for medical diagnosis or treatment. If you have a medical or mental-health concern requiring clinical care, the appropriate healthcare professional should remain part of your support.
What does the science actually say?
This is where I believe honesty matters.
Hypnosis is a recognised subject of scientific research.
The American Psychological Association's Division 30 defines hypnosis as a state involving focused attention, reduced peripheral awareness and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion. Research continues to investigate how hypnosis works and where it can be useful.
There is evidence supporting the use of clinical hypnosis for certain applications, and the research base continues to develop. The strength of evidence varies according to the problem being addressed and how hypnosis is used.
RTT itself is a specific branded approach that incorporates hypnosis together with other therapeutic techniques. The organisation behind RTT describes it as drawing from approaches including hypnotherapy, CBT, NLP, psychotherapy and solution-focused techniques.
That distinction is important.
I will not promise that RTT works for everyone.
I will not tell you that every issue can be resolved in one session.
And I will not claim that every change experienced during RTT has been scientifically proven to result from one particular mechanism.
What I can offer is a structured, personalised experience designed to help you explore the patterns behind your behaviour and create a more intentional way forward.
Why people seek RTT
People don't necessarily come to RTT because something is “wrong” with them.
Sometimes they come because they are tired of understanding the problem without changing the pattern.
They've read the books.
They've had the conversations.
They know the advice.
They know what they should do.
But something keeps pulling them back into the same response.
RTT offers another place to look:
Not only at what you are doing — but at the beliefs and meanings that may be influencing why you keep doing it.
That is the heart of my approach at Best Life Catalyst:
Understanding the mind behind the behaviour.
Because when you understand yourself differently, you create the possibility of responding differently.
And sometimes the goal isn't to become a completely different person.
Sometimes it is simply to stop living from beliefs that were formed before you had the choice you have today.
You don't have to be broken to want to heal.
Heal. Rise. Shine.