Welcome to the Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy Page

The Lancet, one of the most prestigious medical journals has articles on IBS. 

The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis also has many articles one the effectiveness of hypnotherapy. I use the North Carolina protocol developed by Dr. Pallson and based no the Manchester approach. 

Even inflammatory bowel disorders such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease can have some of their symptoms reduced, though no definitive cure is claimed. 

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or "IBS", is one of the many conditions for which there is a great deal of evidence supporting the effectiveness of clinical hypnosis. There are many journal articles and pain management chapters describing this. Some of the original research was conducted at the University of Manchester in the UK during the 1980s and is known as the Manchester Approach. A similar centre of excellence in research into Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy (GDH) is the University of North Carolina. GDH is offered online at our office via a secure and confidential telemedicine portal. 

If you have IBS, have been thoroughly evaluated and diagnosed by your physician or specialist, and would like to explore the opportunity to greatly reduce your symptoms then have your primary care provider or gastroenterologist refer you to our office for a consultation. After reviewing the medial history, the tests you have had done and what was or has not worked for you in terms of medical therapies, then the option of using the GDH approach as part of your medical care would be explored. Hypnotherapy is not an insured service under the Medical Services Plan. 

Occasionally IBS will persist after a gut infection such as gastroenteritis after traveling. Or be worsened by specific food intolerances. Sometimes, IBS is the main troublesome condition a person may have; other times it is one of many conditions that may wax and wane at different times in a person's life, with symptoms such as tension headaches, bruxism (clenching to the jaw leading to tempormandibular joint disorders  or TMJD), migraines, fibromyalgia, reflux (heartburn), most of which are related to stress to some degree. Other times IBS can be associated with anxiety, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder other mental health challenges. Changes in the balance of different bacteria in the gut (the gut microflora) may be noted, after antibiotics, with the effect of specific food irritants, or with stress hormones. 

Hypnotherapy may also reduce other functional gastro-intestinal disorders such as GERD (heartburn) by helping a person relieve their stress.