Veronika and Karin have been struggling with the problem of weight loss and developing a healthy attitude to food for many years. For many years, they alternated between unsuccessful attempts to go on a diet and constantly recurring cycles of weight loss and weight gain. They were helped to find balance only by the method of RTT, or rapid transformational therapy. He interacts with the subconscious and, at first glance, hidden problems that block a healthy attitude to food and himself. “Being overweight is very often associated with what we put in our heads, not just what we put on a plate,” explains therapist Christiana Cerna. A certified coach and psychotherapist, to whom clients turn with their problems, a few years ago she solved similar problems.
“I also abused food, struggled with low self-esteem, and was overweight, in addition, I suffered from anxiety attacks and eczema. Food, anxiety, and health problems have taken away part of my life. I’ve tried all the treatments and diets. But I also abuse real and healthy food. Even though I was doing everything right, I was still unhappy physically and psychologically. The only thing I didn’t do was not consider the true cause of my problems and subconscious behaviors. I was looking for answers from the outside, but they were inside,” says the former coach. She discovered a relatively new RTT therapy many years ago and helped herself to break out of the vicious circle of low self-esteem and overeating.
“Along with trying to go on a variety of diets, I also became interested in real and healthy food. I started studying the intestines, the effect of food on the psyche, and physical health, so I am still linking knowledge about the mind and food. People like simple solutions. But we are not just a body or just a mind,” she says. Among her current clients are not only women who have already had a bad relationship with food in childhood, but also those who realize during sessions that the cause of excess weight is a much more serious problem that they did not solve in the past. It happened after one of the sessions and with fifty-year-old Karin.
“The fear of sexual harassment was hidden behind the excess weight”
“Almost all my life I have been dealing with excess weight. And since my parents were also constantly dieting because of their excess weight, as a child I had their constant weight-loss strategies in front of my eyes. Although I managed to lose weight a few years ago from 104 pounds to 70, despite all the efforts to follow diets and regular jogging, I could not lose even more weight,” says the seller.
However, after several RTT sessions, she discovered that her main problem was not the family genetic burden, but the memories of sexual harassment she faced as a child.
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What is RTT therapy?
Rapid transformation therapy (RTT) is a special form of hypnotherapy combining hypnosis and other methods created by British therapist Marisa Peer.
Hypnosis is a state of deep relaxation, it is similar to the state in which we are before falling asleep. This contributes to the weakening of the analytical and critical activity of the neocortex, which functions during the day, thanks to this it is possible to “penetrate” into the lower alpha waves of the brain.
“This is a state of mind in which our consciousness, constant analysis, and reflection have a downside, and emotions and our subconscious work at full capacity. It is in our subconscious that the studied patterns of behavior, thinking, and emotions are stored, which often lead to undesirable habits and behavior,” explains Christiana Cherna.
“I didn’t tell anyone about it and carried this burden for 44 long years. I subconsciously tried not to let it happen to me again, so I gained weight so as not to be attractive to others, and someone did not abuse it,” explains Karin.
Although she suspected that abuse could be the cause of problems, it was hypnosis that helped overcome them. “I convinced my subconscious that the experience was left far behind, I’m letting it go once and for all. The truth lies in the subconscious of our perception,” she adds. As follows from her words, the effect of this discovery had an almost immediate effect on her.
“I suddenly felt free and light, as if a huge burden had been lifted from my shoulders. Christiana prepared a special recording for me, which I listened to every day for three weeks so that the therapy would work properly. During the first week after my realization, I lost 3.5 kilograms, then lost weight with about the same intensity. Therapy helped me to be proud of myself and to be able to share my feelings. I felt just great,” she says.
Our mind is a powerful tool
She also overcame her obsession with weight and food. “Now I choose better and healthier options, I no longer worry about what I should or shouldn’t eat. I used to weigh myself every day, I was obsessed with weight, now I don’t care, because I feel great,” Karin describes her feelings. HER life changed the moment she discovered what was really behind her constant excess weight. “Our mind is incredibly strong, I wonder what good and bad it can do to us,” she reflects.
Karin is currently taking an RTT course and would also like to become a certified lecturer. “Remembering the years of unbearable suffering, I regret that I did not know about this therapy before,” she adds.
Therapy based on hypnosis frees from unwanted thoughts and emotional attitudes stored in the subconscious. The subconscious mind operates on autopilot and makes decisions spontaneously.
“RTT, in my own experience, works even for those people who are afraid of hypnosis or do not believe in it. In the Czech Republic, this is still an innovative method, so many of my clients do not know what to expect, they have fears and doubts. I work with teenagers and adults, women and men, artists, athletes, and analysts, I have many clients who are helped by therapy, what they have in common is that their subconscious stores’ patterns of behavior and thinking that they are not subject to, and do not know how to change them,” explains Christiana Cherna.
Finding causes in the past
Rapid transformation therapy uses the brain’s ability to create new mental and emotional attitudes. Before hypnosis, the therapist gets acquainted with the client and his past to understand the root cause of the problems.
“The session itself lasts two to three hours, during which clients under hypnosis return to the events, moments, and places that influenced the problems that arose. Thanks to this, we find the cause of a person’s anxiety. People perceive individual memories and events from childhood and the present independently of each other. Therapy will show them the connections, give them a deep understanding of their problem,” Black describes.
The therapist then prepares an individual hypnotic recording, which the client will play for at least three weeks to form a new habit. “The record guarantees that the old habits will never return. It fixes new patterns of thinking in the subconscious, and we do not need to use any advantages or rely on willpower, we just need to update our attitudes. In addition, listening to hypnotic recordings helps to reduce the level of cortisol, a stress hormone that the vast majority of us have chronically elevated. This is due to a wide range of physical and mental health problems, including obesity,” she adds.
According to Christiana Black, hypnotherapy is suitable for almost everyone, regardless of age – everyone can “reprogram” their subconscious; it is also suitable for those who suffer from epilepsy. We often look for the causes of trouble outside, not inside ourselves. There are different people among her clients. “There are those whose childhood was happy or difficult, with or without serious injuries, spiritual savages, and IT analysts. People come to me who have tried everything, but to no avail. Very often they are looking for an answer from the outside, not inside themselves. They are looking for a better diet, a better gym, another (but the same) partner, another reason why they were not promoted. But when they exhaust all options, they inevitably conclude that the key to the problem is hidden inside each of us,” says Black.
Most often, her clients seek help because of weight loss and emotional oversaturation, low self-esteem, fear of public speaking, or causeless infertility. “Another big topic is psychosomatic disorders, which cannot be defeated with the help of ointments or pills,” adds the RTT specialist Kucka. While someone needs just one session for life changes, someone needs more than a week for noticeable changes.
“I always tell clients that it’s not about speed, but the result. It’s like with climbers. When three climbers climb a mountain, one climbs it in a day, the other has to spend the night in the middle of the trip, and the third hike takes a week. Then who has the best view from the top of this mountain? It’s the same for everyone,” the therapist compares.
The connection between overeating and criticism from others
Makeup artist Veronica needed only one session with an RTT therapist to find out what caused her unhealthy relationship with food.
“There were a lot of problems that I wanted to solve. You need a relationship with yourself, your self-esteem, weight loss, secondary infertility, and so on. I knew that the problem was that the food was controlling me, and also that I was “eating” stress with sweet food. I used to try very hard to please everyone, just so that they were happy and peace reigned in the family. No one cared what I wanted. This meant even more overeating and lack of pleasure from eating,” says a 26-year-old woman.
Thanks to therapy, she feels more confident, her self-perception and attitude toward food have become much healthier, and she also managed to get pregnant.
“People usually have no idea what lies behind their problems. They think that willlessness, laziness, or genes are to blame for everything. And this is where RTT comes to the rescue. My clients will get an idea of their problems, and this will help to solve them effectively,” says Christiana Cherna.