What Is Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy?
Brief medical background for context.
Ten years ago, I experienced an autoimmune disorder called leukocytoclastic vasculitis. I was on immunosuppressant medication, anti-inflammatory medication and others I cannot recall. The cause was never found for me, however, the condition went into remission in 2016.
After this, I started experiencing gut issues, predominantly medically unexplained abdominal pain for years after diagnosed gastritis was resolved. Turns out it was a functional disorder and it was IBS and food intolerances.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a condition that involves both the mind and the body, with mental factors exacerbating the experience of physical symptoms, and vice versa. For example, during more stressful or sad periods in my life, abdominal pain and discomfort felt worse. Also, the more I hyper-focused on physical symptoms, the experiences intensify.
I went on low FODMAP for a period of time, and after eating unrestricted (i.e., not on low FODMAP) for six months and experiencing no abdominal pain, I believed the ordeal was over…until it wasn’t. The unpleasant pain re-emerged in June 2019 and once again, retreated to the strict low FODMAP diet to control it.
I stuck with low FODMAP, predominantly avoiding garlic, onion, wheat-based products and dairy, believing this was my fate forever, until I learnt about gut-directed hypnotherapy.
I started gut-directed hypnotherapy on November 3rd, 2022, with discharge from the therapy occurring on February 21st, 2023. I have not been on low FODMAP since, and I rarely experience abdominal pain. Let’s dive deeper into this.
Gut-directed hypnotherapy is psychological therapy that targets the miscommunication or broken synchronicity of the gut-brain pathways of the nervous system.
Since being on a low FODMAP diet, my mind has associated certain foods with “THREAT”, “BAD” and “DANGER”, with these links being reinforced through the restricted diet and psychological framing (i.e., the way I perceived it). While these foods or sugars will not give me anaphylaxis or put me in a life-threatening situation, I treated them as they would.
Intermission if required.
Video of me explaining gut-directed hypnotherapy!
What is involved in the hypnotherapy itself?
While comfortably seated with eyes closed, the clinician helped me ease into a deeply relaxed state through deep breathing and visualisation exercises to release body tension.
Following this, I am guided through an imagined environmental world where I am the protagonist (e.g., a beach, garden, by a river, a pharmacy) and undertake certain actions. These images then get linked to behaviours of the brain and gut, and targeted messages are stated to repair the miscommunication.
The hypnotherapy aspect took around 10-15 minutes, and is recorded for me to review at home too. I was not asleep during this time, but a semi-conscious state.
It’s also important to note that while my conscious mind got distracted by various thoughts unrelated to the hypnotherapy imagery itself, it’s okay because the therapy targets the subconscious mind. It is still effective and delivers desired outcomes. However, it can get easier overtime with repeated sessions.
The clinician spoke softly and slowly, and it is likened to guided visual meditations, except this one targets the gut-brain connection specifically.
Note: no medications or substances were taken to induce a deeply relaxed state.
As for the rest of the time in the 1 hour sessions, the following were discussed:
Aim of hypnotherapy is to increase my threshold tolerance level.
How the gut-brain link works and influences one another.
The conscious and subconscious mind.
How the gut functions.
What are universal gut responses and what is out of the ordinary.
Assessment of my gut health.
Final outcomes. I’m not on a restrictive diet and I experience little to no abdominal pain when I eat formerly thought to be “no go zone” food and drinks. Hypnotherapy delivered the same outcomes as low FODMAP, minus the restrictive diet element.