Hypnotherapy & IBS

If you're looking for help with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, you already know how bad it can be.

Here's the bright side of the diagnosis:

       First, having IBS means that your doctors have eliminated other, more dangerous problems with similar symptoms. Instead of a disease, you have a “functional disorder,” which simply means that your bowel, the body’s waste disposal system, is not working properly.

     And second, help is available.

     In the past, you might have been simply told to “learn to live with it.” You’ve already been living with it – the discomfort and embarassment, the bloating, the need to map every public restroom along your daily route.  Now, with the help of a specially trained hypnotherapist, you can take back control of your body. 

The human body undertakes a remarkable series of behaviors, reactions and chemical interactions in order to digest food and eliminate waste. That process is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, which in turn is organized by the subconscious level of the mind. That is, you don’t consciously think, “Okay, now release stomach acid for digestion.” You simply eat – or even think about food -- and the automatic process begins.

This is where the modern use of hypnosis for therapy comes in. A very pleasant state of trance, similar to daydreaming, hypnosis turns out to be the ideal state in which to communicate with the subconscious mind.

Hypnotherapy Is The IBS Treatment Of Choice

Researchers in Manchester, England have developed a highly effective series of hypnotherapy sessions. The 12-session series reduces or eliminates symptoms of IBS in 70% of cases.

An article by Samantha Srillian from the Manchester Evening News of May 12, 2008 notes:

“Currently, hypnotherapists at the Manchester hospital treat more than 60 irritable bowel syndrome sufferers every week. Patients are coming from locations throughout the country to experience this cutting-edge course of 12 hypnotherapy treatments, which means the hospital now has an 18-month waiting list.

“Pamela Cruickshanks, who is one of Wythenshawe Hospital’s three clinical hypnotherapists, explains how the treatment works. She said: ‘We provide patients with 12 sessions of 'gut-directed hypnotherapy', which teach patients to take control over their bowel. Due to the success of this treatment, patients are coming from all over the country to access our services, and hypnosis is now considered to be the treatment of choice for moderate to severe IBS.’

Well-documented research studies like these, and those conducted by Dr. Olafur Palsson of North Carolina,  are critical in gaining acceptance for the use of hypnotherapy in IBS cases.

The majority of research shows great improvement in patients who used hypnotherapy. Private therapists report even better results!

My work is based in large part on that of Melissa Roth of the Alabama Hypnotherapy Center, who developed a protocol based on the best research studies in the world. I believe that our individual therapy is even more effective than the research treatment. This is because, while research is based on standardized treatment, our sessions are completely personalized. Our work is based on your specific history and your particular needs.  We also provide recordings for at-home listening that reinforce your sessions, which has been shown to improve response.

Clients who participate in these sessions and listen to their recordings typically reduce their IBS symptoms by 80-100% in eight to twelve custom sessions.

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Call me, Stephanie at Voss Hypnotics, at 323-478-1920 to schedule your free consultation in my professional office in the Eagle Rock area of Los Angeles.

Or use the CONTACT page to send me an email requesting an information sheet about hypnosis and IBS.