What It Actually Does and Why It Works
Most people arrive at RTT® after they’ve already tried the conventional route. Therapy, journaling, self-development books, perhaps a meditation practice. They understand themselves well. They just don’t feel different.
RTT® was developed by Marisa Peer, a world-renowned, award-winning therapist and bestselling author. That gap, between insight and actual change, is exactly what RTT® is designed it for.
Why understanding yourself isn’t enough
Trauma and emotional patterns aren’t stored in the conscious mind. They’re stored in experience, held in the subconscious, and expressed through the nervous system. Which is why understanding a pattern intellectually does almost nothing to shift it. You can know exactly where a fear came from and still feel it just as acutely.
The nervous system functions as a wall between conscious thought and subconscious storage. In ordinary waking states, that wall holds. RTT® works by guiding the mind into a deeply relaxed state, not unconsciousness, not sleep, where that wall softens. The mind becomes more open, more honest with itself, and suddenly accessible in a way it simply isn’t during a standard therapy session or conscious reflection.
That’s the access point. And that’s where real change becomes possible.
RTT® reaches it by combining the relaxed, receptive state of clinical hypnotherapy with elements of NLP, CBT, and psychodynamic work, not as a collection of techniques, but as a structured process designed to reach the root of a pattern and rework it from there.
This is also where the science of Neuroplasticity becomes relevant. The brain is constantly forming new pathways in response to experience. In a deeply relaxed state it becomes more receptive to that process, which is why the shifts that happen in session tend to be lasting rather than temporary.
What the research supports
The body of research on clinical hypnosis is extensive, and the findings are consistently encouraging.
- A systematic review drawing on twenty years of this accumulated evidence found robust support for the use of hypnosis across a range of conditions, including pain reduction, emotional distress, duration of medical interventions, medication use, and symptoms.
- More recently, a 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis published in Psychiatry International evaluated eight Randomised Controlled Trials covering 676 participants across a range of conditions including acute pain, depression, prolonged grief, IBS, disordered eating, and alcohol use disorder. Ericksonian hypnotherapy produced significant symptom reductions across all conditions, with a large effect size, and achieved outcomes comparable to active treatments including CBT. These aren’t fringe findings. This is peer-reviewed evidence, published in 2026, from a rigorous multi-study analysis.
- Also, a 2025 integrative review examining 20 years of peer-reviewed research found evidence that clinical hypnosis can induce changes in neuroplasticity, supporting the formation of new neural pathways and altered functional connectivity in the brain. This helps explain why shifts that occur during a session tend to be lasting rather than temporary.
RTT® is built on this foundation. The above research speaks directly to the mechanisms it draws on.
What this looks like in practice
RTT® sessions vary in length depending on the practitioner and the work being done. My sessions typically run three to four hours, because I find that’s the time needed to locate the belief properly, not just the symptom, but the originating experience and the meaning made from it, examine it fully, and reframe it at its root. Rushing that process would mean leaving before we’ve actually arrived.
Within that time, we locate the originating experience and the meaning constructed around it. We examine it. We reframe it, replacing an interpretation formed in a moment of overwhelm with one that reflects who you are now and what you’re capable of. A personalised hypnotic recording supports integration in the weeks following the session.
Most clients notice something within days, not because something was explained to them, but because something was finally reached.
The Process of Transformation
An RTT® session is a deeply personal journey. It’s guided, safe, and structured, giving you space to explore the thoughts, beliefs, or memories that have been shaping your experience. Through this exploration, you can reframe old narratives and anchor new, empowering ones.
Many clients find that even a single session brings clarity, relief, and a stronger sense of agency—like finally seeing the landscape of your own mind with fresh eyes. Recordings and exercises help you integrate these insights so the change continues beyond the session itself.
Why it works fast
Root-level work is faster because we’re addressing the pattern where it was originally formed, rather than managing its effects on the surface. When a core belief shifts, the patterns built on top of it shift with it, often without additional effort.
Clients frequently describe healing in one area and finding unexpected movement in others they hadn’t even named.
This is the nature of subconscious work. Change at the source radiates outward.
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Evangelos Mazis is a Subconscious Transformation Therapist trained in RTT® at the Marisa Peer School and a registered Clinical Hypnotherapist. He is registered with the General Hypnotherapy Register (UK) and the International Association of Counselors and Therapists (USA). He works with clients across 20+ countries.