The First Year IBS: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed
With appreciation to Heather Van Vorous, from her book: The First Year IBS: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed Copyright © 2001
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy has been by approved by the American Medical Association as a valid medical treatment since 1958, though the concept of using a state of hypnosis to alleviate both physical and mental ills has recurred throughout the history of medicine from ancient times. By reaching the subconscious level of the mind, hypnotherapy can be used to alter the way a person consciously perceives health problems, and also promote new manners of response to them. Hypnosis is often thought to be therapy that only affects the mind, but as mind and body are inseparably joined, hypnosis can also help physical ailments. During a state of hypnosis, consciousness is not lost, it becomes more selective, and typically a patient becomes aware of internal processes rather than the outside world’s distractions. Most people report the actual experience of being hypnotized as pleasant, comfortable, and extremely relaxing.
Hypnotherapy is beneficial not only for the relaxation it induces, but for the state of suggestibility that characterizes it. In this state, the mind is open to receiving ideas and suggestions that promote positive thoughts and healing changes. [It is important to note that only positive suggestions produce results, as it is well established that a person in a state of hypnosis cannot be made to do anything against their will, conscience, or moral values. Even while hypnotized, the patient, not the therapist, remains in full control.] During normal waking hours, the window between the conscious and subconscious minds is closed, but any state of relaxation that results in alpha brain waves will open it. Typically, this happens during sleep, and dreams result. Hypnotherapy induces this same state of relaxation while the patient is awake, and allows helpful suggestions (such as those aimed at controlling health problems) to be directed into the subconscious mind.
Only ten percent or so of the population is not susceptible to hypnosis – the rest of us can turn to this therapy for relief of symptoms from disorders as wide ranging as: asthma, allergies, strokes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, high blood pressure, nausea and vomiting, irregular heartbeat, muscle spasms, paralysis, and, with well-documented success rates, irritable bowel syndrome.
Hypnotherapy has in fact proven highly effective in alleviating all of the various IBS symptoms. [7]
Over 15 years of solid scientific research has demonstrated hypnotherapy as an effective, safe and inexpensive choice for IBS symptom alleviation. [8] It has been so overwhelmingly successful in this regard that Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD, chair of the National Women's Health Network in Washington, DC, has said that hypnosis should be the treatment of choice for IBS cases which have not responded to conventional therapy. Since the “conventional therapy” offered to most IBS patients ranges from nothing at all to a lifetime prescription for semi-effective anti-spasmodic drugs, I take this statement as the closest thing to a whole-hearted endorsement an alternative therapy can hope to get from a mainstream medical spokesperson. 
For IBS, one of hypnotherapy's greatest benefits is its well-established ability to reduce the effects of stress. Your state of mind can have a direct impact on your physical well-being, even when you’re in the best of health. If you’re struggling with IBS, the tension, anxiety, and depression that comes from living with an incurable illness can actually undermine your immune system and further compromise your health. Hypnotherapy can reduce this stress and its resultant negative impact by placing you in a deeply relaxed state, promoting positive thoughts and coping strategies, and clearing your mind of negative attitudes.
IBS in fact is almost uniquely suited to treatment by hypnotherapy, for several reasons. First, as just noted, stress-related attacks can be significantly reduced. Second, one of the most impressive aspects from hypnotherapy, and of tremendous benefit to IBS sufferers, is its well-documented ability to relieve virtually all types and degrees of pain. [9] Finally, because IBS is not a disease at all but a syndrome, if you can relieve and prevent the symptoms, you have effectively cured yourself of the disorder. The underlying dysfunction may still be present but if you suffer no noticeable effects from it, you will be living an IBS-free life. This outcome is a definite possibility from hypnotherapy treatments.
As with other alternative therapies, though there is solid evidence that hypnotherapy can provide lasting health benefits for many patients, there is uncertainty about precisely how and why the treatments work. Most scientists believe that hypnotherapy acts upon the unconscious, and affects the body’s regulation of involuntary reactions that are normally beyond a person’s control. Hypnotherapy puts these autonomic responses under the patient’s power. Happily, treatment is suitable for people of all ages and physical conditions, as there are no risks or side effects.
How exactly are hypnotherapy treatments for IBS conducted? You have two options: in-person sessions with a hypnotherapist in your area, or use of the self-hypnosis IBS Audio Program 100™.
The first option requires finding a qualified hypnotherapist and undergoing a series of sessions in his or her office. The therapist should discuss your IBS symptoms with you and what you hope to achieve in terms of reduction. You will then lie down in a comfortable position and the therapist will use one of several techniques to induce a state of hypnosis. Once you enter this state you should feel deeply relaxed, and you will be asked to stop thinking consciously. As stress, worries, pain, and negative thoughts are cleared from your mind you will focus with intent concentration on the instructions the therapist gives you. The suggestions you’re offered may use imagery or other creative thinking to help your symptoms diminish or disappear once you’ve returned to a normal waking state.
To achieve results, a patient needs self-motivation, repetition, and believable suggestions. [10] For IBS sufferers, the first requirement is practically a moot point. No one is more likely to want an improvement in your health than you, as you’re the one suffering from the symptoms. Having this clear intention and motivation for change will help the hypnotic suggestions take hold in your subconscious and manifest successful outcomes in your daily life.
Repetition of the suggestions must be reinforced by repetition. Typically, hypnotherapy sessions need to be repeated on a regular basis until you notice an improvement. Your therapist may also give you a tape of your session to listen to on the days you do not have an in-person session. You are trying to change a physical health problem that you’ve likely been struggling with (and emotionally impacted by) for quite some time. A single hypnotherapy session or two will not be enough to overcome your IBS – it will take a little time and dedication to therapy on your part.
The third key to successful hypnotherapy is the use of believable suggestions. If your subconscious is to accept a suggestion, your mind must first allow that it is a real possibility. This is why it is crucial that a hypnotherapist be knowledgeable about your particular problem (IBS or otherwise), how it physically and emotionally affects you, and what constitutes a realistic address of your symptoms.
The real fly in the ointment when it comes to finding a suitable hypnotherapist for IBS is that there are so few in America with experience in this field. [11]
If you can’t find a qualified IBS hypnotherapist in your area (or are daunted by the thought of even trying) there is a second, and in my opinion, even more promising option. You can follow a set of self-hypnosis tapes, the IBS Audio Program 100™, developed specifically for IBS.
The IBS Audio Program 100™, was developed through ten years of ongoing IBS research by Michael Mahoney, one of the United Kingdom’s leading clinical 
hypnotherapists. Mahoney has over 13 years experience as a hypnotherapist, now specializes in treating IBS patients, and is regularly referred patients by gastroenterologists and family care physicians. [13] He is an associate member of the Primary Care Society for Gastroenterology, a worldwide organization.
The IBS hypnotherapy program follows a scheduled 100 day treatment period and is conducted on your own time in your own home. The program is successful for over 80% of the patients who use it, and the reduction in symptoms and their severity averages 80-90% for these users. It’s interesting to note the significant difference in success rates for the IBS-specific hypnotherapy tapes versus general hypnotherapy tapes. In contrast to Mahoney’s 80-90% success rate, general hypnotherapy tapes featuring standard relaxation techniques and visualization exercises have only produced an average 57% improvement rate for IBS patients. [14] While any improvement is certainly better than none at all, it’s clear that the benefits are far greater from a hypnotherapy program specifically developed for and aimed at IBS.
Most impressively, Mahoney’s statistics arise from studies with patients who were given no relief whatsoever from conventional medical therapy – people who were, in fact, referred by gastroenterologists who had exhausted all other potential avenues of help. The incomparable success rates for the tapes are likely due to Mahoney’s in-depth study and understanding of both IBS and hypnotherapy, which results in reducing anxiety, stress and fears directly related to IBS attacks, and increasing patient confidence, self esteem, and management of IBS-specific symptoms.
The IBS method of hypnotherapy developed by Mahoney is gut-specific, and termed “on-going progressive session induction.” This method was created upon the basis that as a patient responds and improves, something new must continue to happen in therapy to help the patient achieve further results. Experience has shown that if the process remains the same, the patient is more likely to become stalled at some stage of the treatment. Particularly, the sounds and words used in therapy initially, when IBS symptoms are present, can become associated with this negative state of health and mind. These same sounds and words should not continue to be used throughout the therapy because the negative associations can then become anchored onto the healing methods, which will eventually limit the progress of the patient.
The IBS method of hypnotherapy allows the patient to continue to progress throughout the entire course of treatment, and beyond. As patients learn new ways of thinking, they have more internal resources available to use in overwriting their previous negative beliefs. This then leads to further progress, more free mental resources, more progress, and the resultant reduction of IBS symptoms. Hypnotherapy works on the basis that everyone is continuously developing in one way or another, as every day involves learning, making decisions, experiencing emotions, etc. The IBS method of treatment takes advantage of this development and encourages it by changing the sessions and mental suggestions in ways that help carry the patient continuously forward.
This approach is based on the belief that everyone throughout their lives has to keep looking for ways of moving forward, and that continuous personal development should be second nature to us all. As change is a natural part of life, we should view it as an opportunity and not a threat. The IBS method reduces the subconscious negative perceptions of change, allowing the embrace of new thoughts and beliefs, with the resultant improvement in IBS symptoms. Typically patients begin to feel much better as a result of changes in the way they think, their outlook on life, and its events, though rarely can someone pinpoint the precise moment improvements begin. These results stem from the subconscious mind, which controls the digestive system, very gently beginning to realize that the thought patterns of IBS are no longer needed. The subconscious reminds the individual as a whole that they existed very well, thank you, without IBS, and can do so again.
The audio program is complex in its make up, but quite seamless and simple for the patient as the learning process is made easy through the use of enjoyable imagery and suggestions. The therapy itself allows changes, both physical and emotional, to occur without difficulty. Mahoney believes that just dealing with the symptoms of IBS is not enough, that the individual must learn to rebuild internal energy. Many people with IBS feel drained emotionally by the stress of living with the disorder, and the resultant crises and responsibilities in their lives continually deplete their inner emotional strength and reserves, often leading to anxiety or even depression. Before a patient can begin the process of working through their IBS, they frequently need an emotional ‘top-up’ of these inner reserves.
In essence, they need their emotional batteries charged, as they have likely endured years of unstoppable pain and discomfort, of being told by various medical professionals that there is nothing that can be done, and intrusive or painful examinations and tests. In addition, family and work relationships may have been strained or eroded by living with an incurable illness, social and love lives may have dwindled to non-existence, and confidence and self-esteem may be at low ebb. With all of these additional stress factors the ability to put IBS in perspective is drastically reduced. If a patient begins therapy at this point, they will be completely unprepared for the process and unable to act upon the instructions, and failure is likely if not certain. Mahoney’s program takes these IBS-specific circumstances into account, and tailors the hypnotherapy tapes to increase confidence and self-esteem first, in order to allow the patient to begin a journey of physical and emotional improvement and management. Then begins the change in their thoughts, the exchange of negative beliefs and feelings for positive ones, and the ability to move away from the symptoms and thoughts of IBS and forward towards a life without the disorder. Mahoney believes that this IBS-specific method of hypnotherapy is the best, and his patient trial results support this.
The IBS Audio Program 100™ itself is structured over a 100 day period, with a listening schedule for each day (including 20 days off). The program consists of 3 audio CDs, which contain an introduction and five different hypnotherapy sessions, each building on the preceding one. Sessions vary in duration but average 25-35 minutes. The program also includes a progress log/symptom check list. All that is required for participation is to find a set time each day when you can listen quietly and be undisturbed. Simply fit your listening time into your daily schedule at your own convenience.
Of the five sessions, some are listened to once while others are repeated a dozen times. Content and order are both important. The program gives people the structure necessary to allow a progression to the end of IBS in their lives, with the final result of the reintroduction of both previously forbidden foods and stressful activities. These factors are meant to be reintroduced into patients’ lives in a controlled and structured way, with a subconscious and conscious mindset that prevents the suffering of physical problems from these formerly attack-inducing elements. After the program is concluded, patients are encouraged to listen to the final session for an additional period of time to ensure the learned processes are embedded into their subconscious.
The story of how Michael Mahoney developed the IBS Audio Program™, and thus came to specialize exclusively in IBS hypnotherapy, is an interesting one. In 1991 he saw his first IBS patients, a condition he had at that time heard of but was not familiar with. He was quite distressed that his patients were being offered no help from the medical profession to alleviate their wide range of symptoms. They had in fact been termed “heart-sinks” by their gastroenterologists. Why? Because the doctors’ hearts would sink whenever these patients returned for yet another appointment with no improvement in their condition.
Mahoney spent nearly two years researching IBS and developed a personal passion for helping the patients he was seeing, as they were truly suffering (and their loved ones were suffering indirectly as well). He wrote specific IBS hypnotherapy processes for their treatment, incorporating ongoing feedback from the patients, telling them up-front that this was a new area of practice for him and that he honestly had no idea what they could expect in terms of results. He did not charge any of the patients, and funded the initial research study of their treatment and follow-ups out of his own pocket. In spite of the fact that this was a novice attempt at IBS hypnotherapy, the success rate for his first round of patients was 80%. [15]
Mahoney had by now realized that IBS hypnotherapy was the area in which he wanted to specialize. He continued to research the disorder, gaining an in-depth understanding of the physical condition and its multiple symptoms. He also realized the importance of the possible psychological effects of these symptoms, which could result in reduced self-confidence and self-esteem, increased stress and anxiety levels, and sometimes depression. His IBS-specific hypnotherapy processes and delivery methods were continuously refined to incorporate further patient feedback, with the constant goal of improving success rates.
After several years of exclusive IBS practice, the dramatic reduction in symptom severity and frequency of Mahoney’s patients became well-known locally, and he began receiving numerous referrals from gastroenterologists as well as family physicians. In 1996 he was asked to participate in a medical research study of IBS hypnotherapy funded by the UK National Health Service through a gastroenterology practice at his Local Primary Care Medical Centre, to be monitored and audited by the local Health Authority Audit Commission. For this project, 20 patients were screened by the gastroenterologists and presented various symptoms of IBS. All patients were long-term sufferers, had undergone all medical diagnostic tests, and had taken prescription medications without attaining significant relief from their symptoms. Each patient underwent Mahoney’s introductory and five subsequent hypnotherapy sessions. The patients were split into groups, and the hypnotherapy sessions for all groups were staggered over 12 months. At the end of the project, feedback sheets from the patients indicated an overall reduction of 80% in symptom severity and frequency of presentation.
The success of this independent research project, to Mahoney’s delight, confirmed his informal findings from earlier patient treatments in private practice. However, he now had additional patient feedback to work with, and this allowed him to further refine various aspects of the hypnotherapy delivery methods and processes.
By this point, Mahoney was receiving referrals from doctors, gastroenterologists, and other medical professionals for patients who lived over 100 miles away. While it was gratifying to have his work recognized, it was also apparent that it was not practical for people to have to travel so far to find a hypnotherapist who understood IBS and could address the condition. At this time, early 1997, Mahoney set up the UK Register of IBS Therapists and began delivering structured, comprehensive IBS-specific workshops to formally trained and experienced hypnotherapists. The IBS Register is non-profit organization that continues to be administered by Mahoney, and currently lists over 80 members in UK and Ireland.
By mid 1997, Mahoney was also migrating new processes, information, and delivery methods for IBS hypnotherapy onto audio tapes – eventually, these would become the IBS Audio Program™. He then began a new research study, again using out-of-pocket funds, to monitor patients using the audio tapes both during the program and for the next three subsequent years. The final results of this study are due in 2001 and are intended for independent publication so that they may be subject to peer review and analysis. Ongoing results from the study indicate a greater reduction in symptom presentation and frequency than obtained from the previous hypnotherapy methods – in fact, the success rate is close to or exceeding 90% for all symptoms and patients. [16]
By early 1998, it was clear to Mahoney that the audio program was offering significant help to people with IBS. [17] He attempted to gain funding for further research, development, and distribution of the IBS-hypnotherapy program, writing to every pharmaceutical company in the UK that manufactured prescription IBS medications. Only two companies bothered to respond, and both declined. He then made the same request to eighteen UK companies that produced over-the-counter IBS product. None replied. He then tried to contact the purchasing managers of various health care organizations, and received just one response – a refusal.
At this point, Mahoney determined to proceed with further development of theIBS Audio Program 100™ and continue the ongoing research trials with his own funds; he re-mortgaged his family home to do so, and began advertising the program.
In June 1999, he launched the program at the Your Health Show in London, began internet advertising, and came into contact with American and Canadian IBS web sites and support boards. His program began to receive glowing reviews from users around the world, and IBS patients who had achieved dramatic results from the program offered their support and assistance in making the hypnotherapy tapes known to others. As of early 2001, Mahoney had been able to pay off his mortgage and is now putting new income from the program back into further research and development. [18]
I’ve spoken to Michael Mahoney extensively about the IBS Audio Program, how he developed it, the results he’s achieved, and the struggles he faced along the way. The path he traveled from idea to end product was long, arduous, and quite costly to him personally, in terms of both finances and time. I related very well to his story as in many ways it closely mirrored my own experience with the Eating for IBS diet and cookbook. The one thing that had kept me going in the face of uninterested and uncaring medical authorities was the incredibly heartfelt and poignant letters I received from IBS sufferers, thanking me for the information and help which had often quite literally given them their lives back. When I asked Michael Mahoney what had kept him going, he told the exact same tale. It was the gratitude of his patients, as well as that of their loved ones, that enabled him to pursue an avenue at great personal expense, with little chance for much personal gain. He has said that, “those first patients and their desperation will be remembered for the rest of my life.” When he began developing his program, there was little help or hope for sufferers. His commitment was driven by the need to help these people, as they had literally nowhere else to turn. His determination was simply steeled when he met with silence, refusals, and even insults from officials whose assistance he sought. Nothing else mattered once he’d decided on his own that his IBS patients were worth fighting for – the sheer gratitude he received from them had guaranteed that.
Today, as the IBS Audio Program 100™ gains notice as one of the most successful avenues of treatment, Mahoney is finally receiving the acknowledgment his work deserves. While he is understandably thrilled, he is plainly happier to just know that he has made a difference in the lives of many sufferers, and the lives of their families and friends as well. While he does not personally struggle with IBS, it is fair to say that he has lived with it for many years, and that he well understands the frustration, fear, and pain the disorder causes. He also knows first-hand the anger that stems from being treated dismissively by health professionals who deny the serious impact of IBS, and who simply refuse to listen to those who offer new avenues of help.
On a personal note, I believe the audio hypnotherapy program has achieved dramatic success in controlling IBS symptoms matched only by the Eating for IBS diet. Nothing else I have seen even comes close. There are some solid medical reasons why this would be true, and as the positive results from hypnotherapy gain recognition I hope the treatment becomes a standard option presented to patients by their physicians. I have actually been so impressed by the statistical results from hypnotherapy and the anecdotes of patients, as well as by the personal story behind Michael Mahoney’s work, that I am planning to begin this treatment myself using the IBS Audio Program 100™. Although I suffer only a few attacks each year at this point, they are severe and typically strike out of nowhere, and I would give dearly to be free of them entirely. I’ve got my fingers crossed that hypnotherapy will work as well for me as it has for so many others. If you too are interested in trying hypnotherapy (and honestly, you have little to lose and much to gain). Click here to go to IBS program page
Copyright ©2001, Heather Van Vorous, The First Year: IBS
