Hypnosis is used as a therapeutic technique that involves a state of focused attention, heightened suggestibility and often, deep relaxation. It can be compared to the feeling of daydreaming, when you are completely absorbed by your imagination. Just like in a daydream, you always remain fully conscious and in control, and cannot be stuck in hypnosis.

Hypnosis can help you to become more open to positive suggestions, and using your imagination, it provides you with a time and a space where you can rehearse changes to how you think, feel, behave as well as how you respond to anxiety inducing, stressful situations.

In the case of gut directed hypnotherapy, mounting evidence demonstrates that hypnosis affects the physiology of the body in a positive way, by helping the gut lining to become less sensitive, reduce painful contractions and spasms, and positively affects how the brain processes pain.

Just like everyone can get absorbed into a daydream or into a captivating movie, anyone can get hypnotised. It is very easy to go into hypnosis, it doesn’t take a special skill, ability or talent, and people tend to get better and better at it every time they use it. 

Hypnosis is completely safe when used responsibly, by a fully qualified hypnotherapist who is a member of a professional body.

Hypnosis does not have side-effects, and cannot make your IBS worse.

However it may not be appropriate for people with psychotic disorders, severe personality disorders, certain medical conditions (such as epilepsy), active substance abuse issues, cognitive impairment, specific psychiatric conditions, and when there is a strong unwillingness or resistance to the process.

Hypnosis is not something that is done ‘to you’, it is something you do yourself, with the guidance of a therapist. Therefore, whether we are physically side by side, or speaking remotely through a video call, the process remains unchanged; you can follow my guidance by listening to my voice to use the power of your mind and create change through hypnosis.

All you really need is an internet connection, a laptop or tablet and a quiet, comfortable place where you will not be disturbed. The added benefits of working virtually is that you can be comfortable in your own space, maybe with a nice blanket and some cushions. Basically, get cosy. 

During a hypnotherapy session you will be guided into a state of focussed attention, relaxation and suggestibility. You will remain aware and in control the entire time, because hypnosis is not a state of sleep, unconsciousness, or mind control.

Hypnotherapy feels different to everyone, for example some people might feel more absorbed by their imagination and positive suggestions, others may feel more relaxed than normal.

Using visualisation, imagery and suggestions, you will be invited to imagine your gut functioning normally, targeting specific symptoms that you’d like to work on.

If you have been diagnosed with IBS by your GP/primary care physician, you are suffering with debilitating and painful symptoms and/or are struggling to control your bowel, then gut-directed hypnotherapy is a safe and effective approach for you. 

IBS is a disorder of the gut-brain interaction; somewhere along the line the gut and the brain stopped communicating effectively, signals started getting misinterpreted, the gut lining started becoming more sensitive and more reactive, making things move along too fast or too slow, creating pain, bloating, diarrhoea, constipation as well as a range of other symptoms.

Gut directed hypnotherapy works by restoring this miscommunication between gut and brain, helping the gut become less sensitive, less reactive, and alleviating symptoms; physical, mental and emotional.

Stress and anxiety often come hand in hand with IBS; stress, anxiety, catastrophic thinking and worry can actually bring on or worsen a flare-up, creating the worst kind of vicious cycle to be stuck in.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a therapy that helps to identify and change negative thought patterns and behaviours in order to reduce the impact of stress and improve mental health.

Gut directed hypnotherapy and CBT are both evidence based treatments for IBS, that’s why using them together we can get the best outcomes and alleviate symptoms.

No, absolutely not. The term “disorder of the gut-brain interaction” recognises the complex connection between the gut and the brain, and the importance of that connection. It doesn’t imply that symptoms are imagined or solely psychological.

Just because IBS doesn’t come up as such in any tests does not mean it isn’t real, it just means we don’t have the right tests yet. And it certainly doesn’t mean the pain isn’t real.

Instead, it highlights how the gut and brain communicate like a two-way street, where emotional and psychological factors can influence the gut and vice versa.

The goal in gut directed hypnotherapy and CBT is to teach you how to use your mind to control your gut rather than your gut controlling you.

I get it. Most people, me included, try to change their diets, use meds, supplements, and anything else under the sun to try to manage the symptoms, but in the long term it often doesn’t work, or is unsustainable.

That’s because of one simple thing. Focusing on the symptoms trying to fix it through food ignores the root cause of the problem: the miscommunication between gut and brain, which is what hypnotherapy tackles. 

Yes, absolutely. First of, I will never recommend any changes to any prescribed medication, that is for your GP to decide and not me.

Whatever your diet, what foods you avoid, what meds you use to help; over the counter (OTC) or prescribed, we can still work together to help you regain freedom from the symptoms that continue to bother you.

A lot of people start reintroducing foods they had cut out for a while, or realise they are not as dependant on OTC meds as previously as their symptoms start getting better.