IBS Hypnotherapy NZ

Gut Directed Hypnotherapy Works

In America, a large review published in 2014 by the American Psychosomatic Society, found hypnosis brought a 54% improvement in patients with IBS who had not responded to conventional therapy.

One particular advantage of gut directed hypnotherapy is that, rather than just relieving a single symptom, it has been shown that it improves many of the features of the condition, including quality of life and psychological status.

How Does Gut Directed Hypnotherapy Create Such Amazing, Positive Results?

Researchers don’t know exactly how hypnotherapy achieves these outcomes. One theory is that it helps to change a person’s mindset and internal coping mechanisms, enabling the person to increase their control over their autonomic body processes, such as how they process pain and modulate gut activity. The link between the brain and your gut is an interesting one and effectively by undertaking hypnosis to help your IBS, you are learning to use your mind to help control your gut.

It’s believed that people with more severe symptoms of IBS respond well to IBS hypnotherapy because, their condition is more complex with psychological causes.

There is extensive evidence to suggest that gut-directed hypnotherapy helps the IBS sufferer normalise visceral sensation, reduce colonic phasic contractions, and modify their central response to pain.

The Effectiveness Of Hypnotherapy As A Treatment For IBS Has Been Rigorously Tested

The key contributors to the this field of knowledge are Prof Peter Whorwell, Dr Perjohan Lindfors and Dr Olafur S. Palsson.

Dr Peter Whorwell, a gastroenterologist at the University of Manchester, UK, and recognised leading expert in IBS treatment, developed the use of hypnotherapy for the treatment of IBS.

His approach is known as the ‘Manchester Model'. Dr Whorwell has been treating people with IBS for more than 35 years and he sees about 2,000 IBS sufferers a year.

In his most recent study (2015) Dr Whorwell studied 1,000 patients with hard-to-treat IBS, and determined that hypnosis had helped 76% of them reduce their symptom severity by at least half. Altogether, Dr Whorwell has more than two dozen papers supporting the fact that hypnotherapy can help people’s symptoms of IBS.

His studies show that the benefits of IBS hypnotherapy are long-lasting, with patients reporting continued relief from symptoms for at least five years.

Professor Whorwell says,“IBS is ideal for treatment with hypnosis, as there is no structural damage to the body. During the hypnotherapy, sufferers learn how to influence and gain control of their gut function, and then seem to be able to change the way the brain modulates their gut activity. We’ve found it to help all the symptoms, whereas some of the drugs available reduce only a few. As IBS can be a life-long condition it could clearly be a very valuable option for patients.”

“Psychological treatment has shown a high success rate in improving IBS. Using the brain to help the gut is a different mechanism than using medications that treat the gut directly. Fundamentally, if the usual medical approaches don't seem to be working well and you have persistent symptoms, this could be a good option.”