Catrin MacMahon
M.Sc.-Psych | Coach |Neural Change Specialist
Before life gets in the way, we already hold the blueprint of who we’re meant to become.
My work is about one thing: helping people find their way back to the version of themselves that existed before the blocks were built. Not a new self. Not a fixed self. The original one — clear, capable, and free to move. The energy that was always there, waiting to be released.
My Story
I grew up in Germany in a school environment that quietly taught me self-doubt: don’t speak up, stay small, don’t stand out, you’re not good enough. Over time, those messages shaped how I moved through life without me realising it. In my career, these patterns showed up as hesitation, self-limitation, and stepping back just as things were going well. After the birth of our second child, I came close to burnout, and years later, for the first time, I saw the connection: it wasn’t me, but a learned pattern designed to keep me safe — one that had become outdated and was never updated.
“The most powerful moment in my work is when someone realises they were never the problem –
the pattern was, and change became possible.”
Discovering BWRT® changed everything. It allowed me to work directly at the level where these responses live, creating real change without endlessly revisiting the past.
Photography has also been a constant thread. The lens became a tool for awareness — revealing what we focus on, and what we miss. It is one of the most honest tools I use, both personally and professionally.
I studied psychology at the University of Hamburg and deepened my work in neuroscience, systemic coaching, and mindful photography. I now live in Noordhoek, Cape Town — a place that naturally slows the nervous system and creates space for awareness.
I work online with English- and German-speaking clients worldwide, and offer group photography sessions in and around Cape Town.
A few things I strongly believe are true.
You are not the problem
The patterns that hold you back were built for good reasons, at a time when they made sense. They protected you. The work isn’t to fix you — it’s to update the programming that no longer fits.
Insight alone rarely changes anything
Understanding why you do something is useful. But the pattern lives below understanding — in the part of the brain that runs on autopilot. That’s where the real work happens.
Nothing exists in isolation
Your stress, your relationships, your sense of direction — they’re all connected. Real change touches the whole system, not just the surface symptom you came in with.
Our brain speaks in images
Our brain — particularly the areas where behavioural patterns are formed — communicates in images. The deeper layers of the brain do not work in words, but in patterns, feelings, and internal images. This is why visual work can reach areas that are often not accessible through conversation alone.
You don’t need to relive it
We don’t need to excavate the past to change the present. With the right tools, we can work directly at the source — quickly, precisely, and without reopening old wounds.
Change feels like freedom
When a neural loop finally breaks, clients don’t describe it as improvement. They describe it as relief — like energy that was trapped has finally been set free. That moment is why I do this work.
Background
Qualifications & Training
M.Sc Psychology. University of Hamburg 2001 – 2007
Conflict Management Training South African College of Psychology 2010
Structural Alignment Life Coaching Training SA Coaching 2012
BWRT® Level 1 Practitioner: General Psychopathology BWRT® Institute 2016
BWRT® Level 2 Practitioner: Psychology of Identity and Behavior BWRT® Institute 2016
BB4B – BroadBand for the Brain® – Using the physical brain pathways to make changes in the physical body. Essex Institute 2016
WSN – Level 2 Practitioner- WSN (Warriors, Setters & Nomads) – a modern and dynamic energetic form of Parts work. Essex Institute 2017
BWRT® Level 3 Practitioner: Psychophysiology (Mind & Body) BWRT® Institute 2017
BWRT® Transformational Coaching BWRT® Institute 2018
Capra Course Fall 2018 – Understanding the nature of our systemic problems and recognising the systemic solutions that individuals and organisations are developing worldwide.
Training Program “Guided Solo Experience in Nature” November 2019 in Mallorca. Iacone GmbH Systemische Beratung & Coaching
PnP Host Training (Warm Data) – Warm data is contextual and relational information about complex systems. International Bateson Institute 2020.
Ecotherapy Online Training The Earthbody Institute, USA 2020.
The Ancestral Healing Journey – Intensive online course to learn the principles and practices for working with ancestral trauma. Thomas Huebl, Academy of Inner Science in training
Mindful Photography Training Look Again®, UK 2023


