Welcome to my Blog
Understanding IBS & the Gut–Brain Connection
Clear, practical articles to help you understand IBS and other disorders of gut–brain interaction, the gut–brain connection, gut-directed hypnotherapy, anxiety and stress.
Search IBS articles:
BROWSE BY TOPIC
START HERE
What Is irritable bowel syndrome?
Gut-directed hypnotherapy
- an effective IBS treatement
Your Gut Has Its Own Nervous System
FREE IBS ROADMAP
RECENT POSTS
IBS and Anxiety: What You Do Next Can Reduce — or Reinforce — the Cycle
What you do after anxiety is triggered can either help you deal with the risk — or unintentionally keep the IBS–anxiety cycle going.
That’s the focus of Part 3 of my series on IBS and anxiety.
In Parts 1 and 2, I looked at how IBS symptoms can trigger thoughts about their consequences, and how engaging with those thoughts can develop into worrying and intensify anxiety.
This final article in the 3-part series asks a practical question:
What do you do next?
I explore four common responses:
Risk mitigation. Avoidance. Escape. Safety behaviours.
Is It Just Stress?
IBS is not “just stress”, but stress and anxiety can influence how gut symptoms are experienced. This article explores the gut–brain connection, why symptoms can become harder to ignore, and where gut-directed hypnotherapy may fit within a broader IBS treatment approach.
Why Your Gut Reacts to Things That Haven't Happened Yet (Part 1 of 3)
Have you ever felt your gut tighten the night before a meeting, before anything's actually gone wrong? Most people call that "anxiety" and leave it there — but that word is doing far too much work and hiding at least four different things. In Part 1 of a new 3-part series, I unpack what anxiety actually is, how it differs from acute stress, and why IBS symptoms and anxiety can end up locked in a self-reinforcing loop. If you've ever googled "anxiety" after a hard day and come away more confused than when you started, this one's for you.
Your Gut Has Its Own Nervous System
IBS is real. Explore how the gut’s own nervous system and the gut-brain axis help explain IBS symptoms such as pain, bloating, urgency, diarrhoea and constipation. Discover how gut-directed hypnotherapy can help reset gut-brain communication, calm digestive threat responses and rebuild trust in the body again over time, safely.
Flare-ups and the Survival Switch
If your IBS shows up when you need to be sharp, it can feel like your body is sabotaging you. This post unpacks what is really happening in the gut-brain axis when pressure turns into threat, and why digestion gets downgraded in survival mode.
Gut-directed hypnotherapy - an effective IBS treatement
With an overall response rate of about 80 percent among IBS patients, gut-directed hypnotherapy has been proven to be highly successful. Its results have been shown to be long lasting, and in many cases it has been shown to help when other treatments do not.
Less Stress Equals Less IBS Symptoms
One particular trigger that many IBS sufferers have in common is stress. Stress is not only a trigger, it can also make symptoms worse. This can create a vicious cycle in which stress triggers IBS symptoms and then the symptoms themselves cause stress and anxiety thus exacerbating the symptoms, and on and on … .
Why haven’t you heard about gut directed hypnotherapy until now?
Gut directed hypnotherapy isn’t new. It’s been researched and practiced for over 30 years! The use of hypnotherapy for IBS relief was initiated by Professor Peter Whorwell.
So why haven’t you heard about it. Largely because, and despite all this evidence, there has been a reluctance by the medical profession to embrace this form of treatment. Many health professions are sceptical and prejudiced against hypnotherapy.
The Gut-Brain Axis and its role in IBS
Research suggests that IBS could be the manifestation of a problem within our gut- heart - head - communication cycle. Poorly coordinated signals between the head brain and the gut brain can cause our body to overreact to changes that normally occur in the digestive process, resulting in pain, diarrhoea or constipation.
Why understanding your gut and IBS is important
When you have a sound understanding of how your gut works, and how IBS affects it, you are in a strong position to ask questions of your healthcare provider. You’re also better placed to challenge their decisions regarding your treatment (if you have doubts) and to make your own decisions about your treatment.
Why Your Gut Symptoms Aren’t Just Digestive — They’re a Nervous System Issue
You don’t have to resign yourself to living with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Experience lasting relief from IBS with evidence-based hypnotherapy designed to reset your gut-brain axis. Our specialized IBS hypnotherapy program helps reduce chronic digestive symptoms such as bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation—without relying on restrictive diets or medications. Discover how targeted gut-directed hypnotherapy can transform your IBS experience today.
How Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy Can Help You Master the Low FODMAP Diet
Are you ready to make your Low FODMAP diet easier?
Research shows that up to 50% of people abandon the Low FODMAP diet within the first few months. Gut directed hypnotherapy can help you comfortably complete the diet.