Gut Struggles
I know all about digestive distress because of my own (unfortunate and unpleasant) walk along this path and because of my clients’ struggles. But to be clear: I’m not a scientist or a medical professional from the physical dimension of this topic. What I know is what has worked for me and what has worked for countless others, which is training the nervous system to operate more reflexively and consistently from the “rest and digest” state.
Hypnotherapy is my go-to treatment. If you’re looking for off-the-shelf care, I highly recommend the app Nerva. I’ve used it myself with great benefit, and I have a practitioner’s account on that site where you can link your account to mine. I have no financial benefit from recommending this app (in full disclosure, I did receive a free user account as a mental health practitioner, but I am not required to refer my clients to secure or maintain my account there).
Other important things to know about a therapeutic approach to digestive symptoms:
It’s not a quick fix. It takes weeks of therapy sessions and consistent home practice.
It has impressive evidence-based results, more than pharmaceutical intervention, once other diagnoses have been ruled out, and it has long-term effects.
To be clear about some of the diagnoses that research has verified hypnotherapy for, they include IBS, Ulcerative Colitis, Functional Dyspepsia, and Functional Abdominal Pain.
Hypnotherapy essentially retunes the nervous system to be less reactive to external stimuli, and that shift shows up through the gut-brain axis and quiets digestive symptoms. We’re basically diffusing reflexive (and typically unconscious) associations that we learn, usually early in life, but they can happen at any age, that are misfires.
Why would you seek therapy when you could simply turn to the Nerva app and get good results from that approach? You can make a compelling case for the simplicity and ease of the Nerva app, and I heartily endorse that approach. Working with me (or any therapist trained in gut-brain interactive disorders) personalizes your care, either as a replacement or a supplement to the app. Bottomline: it’s likely to be more effective because it’s tailored to you and the many sources of your stress, anxiety, and resulting digestive symptoms.
Also, many people with GI disorders have trauma in their past that is important to address in their recovery. That trauma is often at the root of their emotional and physical pain, and attending to that trauma takes care that is specific to you.
I love working with clients around this topic
For three reasons:
People often simply grit their teeth and tolerate their struggles because it’s embarrassing to talk about. And pursuit of solutions has often taken on them into the quicksand of intrusive testing that tends to return an ill-defined diagnosis, one that seems to declare, “It’s all in your head. The call is coming from inside the house. Just stop being stressed.” Ugh. Worse than not useful, it can be damaging because it makes us steer clear of any routes to possible success. I like being the person to help break that pattern.
There’s a powerful ripple that comes from this work. Yes, it helps with digestive issues, and it also makes life better from so many angles: relationships, self-esteem, self-care, confidence, clarity, and more.
There’s a mystical quality to this work. Yes, there are research studies. Yes, there are outlined protocols. Yes, there’s the gut-brain axis, the vagus nerve, the pure science behind hypnotherapy. And right alongside it is this ethereal dimension that defies explanation. Kinda like magic, only better because it works even if you don’t believe in it. And I love a mystery.
