Gut-directed hypnotherapy has proven to be an effective, long-lasting treatment for the symptoms of IBS.
A study published in July 2020 in the world-renowned Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology compared patients with IBS who received either standard care or a multidisciplinary treatment approach that included gut-directed hypnotherapy. The study revealed that 83 per cent of the patients in the multidisciplinary group had symptom relief, compared with 63 per cent of the standard care group. 63 per cent is a good number, but wouldn’t you rather be in the 83 per cent group?
IBS is a complex issue that can be life altering for sufferers. In those people with IBS, the brain misinterprets normal gut sensations as pain. And really quite severe pain in many cases. But hypnotherapy for IBS makes use of suggestion and the already existing brain-gut connection* to act on the central nervous system to reduce the sensitivity of nerves in the gut.
In essence, the treatment works not only to relax your gut, but relax your mind. Sufferers often report that symptoms will flare up at times of stress. By addressing your mind’s response to stress, we can pass that effect on to your gut. This can have a resulting effect on your whole quality of life, from sleep to mood to other physical aspects such as muscle tension. IBS can be a vicious circle, of course, with sufferers anxious about experiencing a flare-up while on a long journey, or at a restaurant, in the cinema… all the occasions and places most people can simply take for granted as a pleasant day out. This anxiety can then trigger a response in the digestive tract, resulting in those stressful thoughts coming true. With gut-directed hypnotherapy, we work to help you envision your gut as relaxed, strong and calm while driving, or dining out, or in any of those circumstances that most worry you.
This is done through the power of hypnotic suggestion, where your hypnotherapist helps you paint a picture in your mind of a particular situation, and place positive responses and images there rather than the more negative ones you associate with those occasions. In this way, we aim to teach your stomach to be less reactive to previously triggering situations.
Hypnotherapy can absolutely be effective with people who have suffered with IBS for many years. By addressing our responses to stress, working on learning skills you can call on to relax your mind and your body, you feel more empowered, more in control and more able to manage this syndrome which may have ruled your life for years.
Hypnotherapy to treat the symptoms of IBS starts with settling you into a deeply relaxed state, taking you into a warm, calm, safe place where you can drift with the suggestions being offered to you by your hypnotherapist. You participate in the session, by following the therapist’s voice and agreeing to those suggestions.
My treatment plan will use a variety of strategies to address the issue, as well as hypnotherapy, effectively coming at it from multiple directions. This ensures a bespoke treatment programme for every individual I work with, maximising the effectiveness of each session and of your time with me.
If you would like to learn more, give me a call on 0161 374 0227 or send me an email to sally@mindsolutions.co.uk and we can arrange a free initial consultation where I can answer all your questions and help you decide if you want to take that first step towards a potentially symptom-free future.
*The brain and the stomach have a strong two-way connection. This article by Harvard Medical School is definitely worth a read if you want to learn more. It says, in short, that stress and digestive discomfort are closely linked. This makes any action you take towards managing that stress a positive step towards managing your IBS.
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