Hypnotherapy and IBS - by Ian Paul Sharp

On March 18th the BBC reported that hypnotherapy ‘can help’ Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This isn’t news to hypnotherapists or, even more to the point, their clients. It is good to see the research being done and reported widely, though.

The research also addresses the question of why hypnotherapy isn’t used more widely by doctors:

“Dr Valori, of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, said the research evidence which shows that hypnotherapy could help sufferers of IBS was first published in the 1980s.
He thinks it has been widely ignored because many doctors find it hard to believe that it does work, or to comprehend how it could work.”

If you’re a doctor reading this, the issue about believing it could work is easy to solve: keep your ears open and listen to the number of satisfied clients. Listen to people who have no interest in hypnosis other than their own experience of the difference it has made in their lives.

Comprehending how it could work takes a little more time yet it’s worth the effort. A good way in to using NLP and hypnosis in medicine is to read ‘Magic in Practice’ by Thomson and Khan. You’ll gain some insight into the power of the skilled use of hypnotic language and definitely begin to open to the many possibilities of using these techniques in medicine.

So - even if it sounds a little bit whacky that the mind can affect something so "clearly" physiological, just bear this one thought in mind: acid reflux and ulcers are most definitely physiological symptoms, but it is widely recognised that they are caused by the psychological state of stress. And it is well known that the symptoms can be reduced by the use of relaxtion techniques. So it's not too much of a step to consider that IBS, too, can really benefit from the techniques used in hypnosis - after all, the symptoms are only a little further down the body!

And I’m not just talking theoretically, here.  I’ve worked successfully with clients who have IBS. More than that, it’s an issue I’ve lived with for many years with no improvement - until I discovered how hypnosis could enable me to ease a real difficulty that had gone on for too long by far. That's one more recommendation to consider!

To find out how to learn hypnosis from some of the world's most accomplished hypnotists, click here, now.