Taking action on self care- A personal experience with RTT
It's always so rewarding to have successful sessions with clients who become natural advocates for this powerful type of therapy. One of my clients kindly wrote the blog below about her experience with Rapid Transformational Therapy, as she wanted to share it with the world and also encourage others to take action towards their own healing and self-care. If you are intrigued about RTT and want to know more, keep reading...
Credit- Siobhan Neligan
What is self-care?
People everywhere are discovering the benefits of self-care. The impact of the COVID pandemic has only reinforced the importance of ‘taking care' of ourselves. Burned out professionals everywhere are struggling to cope with the pressure of remote working, in an increasingly disconnected digital age. According to research by Mental Health UK, an alarming 20% of workers are experiencing symptoms of burnout.
Running a business can be a lonely place – exacerbated by the isolation of the pandemic. I’m lucky to have a wonderful (albeit remote) team and a portfolio of fantastic clients. But as much as I am careful to look after my physical health (eating a balanced diet, exercising most days, trying not to drink too much) I can’t say that I take the same pains to maintain my mental health. And yet, it’s so important. Our minds – or more specifically, our mindset – can make or break us. So naturally, when my long-time friend revealed she had quit a successful corporate career to retrain as a hypnotherapist, I was curious. In the many years that I have known her, Sarvenaz has always had a warm, calming and attentive personality, and I could easily see how she would make a fantastic listener and therapist.
What led me to consider it
Those who know me well will know that while I come across as naturally confident and outgoing, deep down, I sometimes battle with my own self-esteem. Being a natural empath, I often take other people’s feelings and words to heart. I’m also an obsessive perfectionist. All of these things, if not carefully managed, could ultimately hold me back in my quest for personal and professional growth. I’ve always been a person of action and believe that if you want to change things, you must take steps to do so. I’ve also always believed in personal development and enjoy opportunities to get to know myself better. Showing up for your clients means ensuring your needs are met first.
So, in conversation with Sarvenaz, I opened up to her about my intended areas of development, and she explained how a new technique might be able to help me. By using the power of hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming, she explained how you can tap into the subconscious mind with the guidance of a certified hypnotherapist who will guide you to discover the root cause issues, to let go and release unwanted thought patterns, behaviours and negative habits. The intention is to encourage new patterns of thinking, to master your mindset – on an almost subliminal level.
Full of optimism - and a little trepidation - I arranged a session with Sarvenaz, and she welcomed me into her purpose-built therapy room in her beautiful Surrey home. Interestingly, there is an option to have the session, online over zoom or video call but I chose to have an in-person session. Prior to even turning up, Sarvenaz sent me a detailed form to complete beforehand, to give an idea of the types of things to work on and examples of my feelings or behaviours in certain scenarios. So we both felt fully briefed and ready to work together.
Hypnosis – what it is and what it isn’t
A common misconception of hypnosis is that it is a mind control trick exerted by eccentric practitioners on a hapless audience for comedic purposes, with crass tools such as a cloak and pocket watch. It’s actually much more subtle than that – or at least it was for me. When I experienced a state of hypnosis, I could only describe it as the feeling of being ‘almost asleep’ but not quite. In a darkened room with my eyes closed, it felt very relaxing and while I didn’t feel sleepy, I was definitely tuned out of my conscious ‘thinking brain’ – which is essential for the ‘reprogramming’ process.
It’s still your brain and you’re still very much awake, but you are tapping into the subconscious mind where all of your ‘emotional baggage’ is stored. So I was able to talk, think and function while in a state of hypnosis. Being a new experience for me, I did not know what hypnosis would feel like and I did at points wonder whether I was actually in full hypnosis, but I certainly was able to detach myself from the all-encompassing logical thought processes and tap more deeply into my feelings, and the emotional feeling mind, known as the subconscious.
In session
I think what struck me most of all is the depth and relaxed pace of the process. Sarvenaz went into a lot of detail and worked through specific life events by using a tool which she explained as regression therapy, that I had recalled while in a state of hypnosis. Sarvenaz carefully repeated things I’d said, and spoke powerful, positive statements for me to affirm aloud. This repetition helps to lay the neural pathways for a more empowered way of thinking and is essential for the ongoing work to retrain your mind to operate in a way that better serves you and your goals.
By the end of it, I felt like I had released a lot of inner thoughts and feelings, but in a positive, cathartic way. While it had been emotionally turbulent, grappling with the inner voices that have held me back, it felt like I had gained a new insight through the experience. Looking at past events in a detached way enabled me to think differently about them, and more importantly, myself. Upon concluding the session, Sarvenaz equips you with a toolkit to continue the work and maintain your efforts, for a minimum of 21 days. This consists of a bespoke recording created from your session which includes affirmations and powerful hypnosis techniques to recode and rewire your subconscious mind for success. The mind learns by repetition, so the 21-day audio is a vital component of the transformation.
What I’ve learned
Whilst I’m still very much myself and the same person, I’ve embraced a new sense of purpose and inner confidence. I have noticed that I am being kinder to myself, and less rigid in my perfectionist ways. I’m also subconsciously putting myself first, whereas previously I would be guided solely by duty or obligation. This subtle, welcome change is part of a lifetime of growth and development and isn’t something you can fix immediately or forever. It’s a bit like going to the gym – you can’t go once and then think ‘right, I’m fit now, I don’t need to go again.’ You need to practice and work at it, every single day. Personal development and mental wellbeing are no different.
I’m proud to say that I was open-minded enough to try something new and take action to further my life goals and boost my wellbeing. I feel enriched by the experience and would highly recommend it to anyone else who is looking to try something different to take tangible action on anything they have felt may have held them back, be it phobias, trauma, lack of confidence or almost anything else. Sarvenaz has a natural gift for healing, caring and listening, and she will make you feel supported and empowered at every stage of the journey. Take action on what’s holding you back and keep working on becoming the best version of yourself. You can do it!
