OLIP Therapy · Fareham, Hampshire
IBS Hypnotherapy
Gut-directed hypnotherapy to calm symptoms, alongside your medical care.
Gut-directed hypnotherapy in Fareham, Hampshire, and online
Hypnotherapy for IBS, so your gut stops running your day
When you plan your life around toilets, meals and how you might feel that afternoon, it wears you down. Hypnotherapy for IBS is named in NICE guidance, and it works alongside your medical care.
Fareham, Hampshire, plus online therapy UK wide
Drug free · Non-invasive · Alongside your GP care · In person or online
Start here
What is IBS, and why does stress make it worse?
Irritable bowel syndrome is a common, long-term condition affecting how the gut works, bringing abdominal pain or discomfort alongside constipation, diarrhoea, or both. Nothing is damaged, which is why tests come back clear, and the symptoms are entirely real.
Your gut and your brain are in constant two-way conversation. That is why nerves produce butterflies, and why a difficult week shows up in your stomach before it shows up anywhere else.
In IBS the gut is often hypersensitive, so ordinary digestion registers as pain or urgency. Anxiety about symptoms then increases that sensitivity, and the loop tightens. Working on that loop is exactly what gut-directed hypnotherapy does.
What the guidance says
Hypnotherapy for IBS is named in NICE guidance
NICE, which sets clinical guidance for the NHS, says that referral for psychological intervention, naming hypnotherapy alongside CBT, should be considered for people whose IBS has not responded to medication after 12 months.
That is unusual. Very few uses of hypnotherapy appear in national clinical guidance at all, and IBS is one of the clearest. Trials of gut-directed hypnotherapy have reported reduced symptom severity and improved quality of life, with benefits often lasting well beyond the end of treatment.
We would rather be straight with you about the limits too. NICE notes that many of the trials are small and calls for better research, and no honest practitioner would promise you a cure for a long-term condition. What this is, is a well-supported option that helps a good proportion of people, and one worth trying when diet and medication have only gone so far.
Living with it
You might recognise some of this
IBS is not only a physical condition. The planning, the avoiding and the constant low-level watchfulness are often the heaviest parts.
- Abdominal pain and cramping
- Bloating and wind
- Urgency and sudden dashes
- Constipation, diarrhoea, or both
- Knowing where every toilet is
- Avoiding travel or long journeys
- Cancelling plans at short notice
- Anxiety about eating out
- Symptoms worse under stress
- Worse around big events or deadlines
- Tiredness and disturbed sleep
- Feeling nobody quite understands
IBS affects more women than men, and it is one of the most common conditions a GP sees. You are not making a fuss, and you are far from alone with it.
The different forms
Which type of IBS do you have?
Your GP may have used one of these terms. Gut-directed hypnotherapy is used across all of them.
IBS-D
Diarrhoea predominant. Urgency, frequency and the anxiety about being caught out are often the hardest parts.
IBS-C
Constipation predominant. Bloating, discomfort and straining, with pain that eases and returns.
IBS-M
Mixed. Swinging between the two, which brings its own unpredictability and makes planning hardest of all.
Post-infectious
IBS that began after a stomach bug or food poisoning and simply never went away.
The approach
How hypnotherapy helps manage IBS
In a deeply relaxed, focused state, the work targets the gut-brain conversation directly rather than the food going in. It works in three main ways.
- Calms the stress response, which is one of the most consistent triggers for a flare-up
- Works on gut sensitivity, using imagery aimed at how the gut registers ordinary sensation
- Eases the anxiety about symptoms, including the worry about being away from home, which is often what shrinks life the most
You also get techniques to use yourself, so the benefit continues after the sessions finish.
A specialist approach
Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy
Gut-directed hypnotherapy is a structured course developed specifically for IBS and other gut conditions, rather than general relaxation with a gut theme. It follows an established protocol, runs over a set number of sessions, and includes recordings to use at home.
Working together
Alongside diet and medication, not instead of them
If you are following the low FODMAP diet, taking antispasmodics or working with a dietitian, keep going. Those approaches work on one part of the picture. This works on another, and they sit together comfortably.
We do not give dietary advice or prescribe, and we would not ask you to change anything your GP or dietitian has recommended. If you want nutritional guidance, your GP can refer you to a registered dietitian.
What we would encourage is telling your GP you are doing this. Most are supportive, and a good many will already know the NICE guidance.
Please read this
When to go back to your GP
IBS is a diagnosis of the working of the gut, and other conditions can look similar. Please speak to your GP promptly, rather than waiting, if you notice any of the following.
- Bleeding from the bottom, or blood in your stool
- Unexplained weight loss
- A change in your usual bowel habit that persists
- New symptoms starting later in life
- A lump or swelling in your abdomen
- A family history of bowel or ovarian cancer
These do not mean something is seriously wrong. They mean it should be checked rather than assumed to be IBS, and no therapist should be the one making that call.
No surprises
What happens when you get in touch
- 1
You send a message or call
It helps to say whether you have a diagnosis and what you have already tried, but neither is required to get in touch.
- 2
A free 15 minute call
A relaxed, confidential chat about your symptoms and whether this approach is likely to suit you. No cost, no obligation.
- 3
You start the course
We agree the number of sessions and the schedule, in person in Fareham or online, at a pace that fits your life.
Gut-directed hypnotherapy is £114 a session, or £756 for a course of seven. See all fees
Less of your life planned around your gut
Most people are not chasing perfection. They want to eat out, travel, sit through a meeting or say yes to something without checking where the toilets are first. That is a realistic thing to aim for.
Your questions answered
IBS hypnotherapy questions, answered
Does hypnotherapy actually work for IBS?
It is one of the better-researched uses of hypnotherapy. NICE guidance on IBS names hypnotherapy, alongside CBT, as a psychological intervention to consider where symptoms have not responded to medication after 12 months. Trials report reduced symptom severity and improved quality of life, often lasting. NICE also notes many trials are small, so we would describe the evidence as good rather than conclusive.
Do I still need to see my doctor?
Yes, always. It matters that your GP confirms an IBS diagnosis and rules out other conditions first. We support and complement your medical treatment and never replace it. We would also encourage you to tell your GP you are doing this.
Can it cure my IBS?
We would not promise a cure, and we would be wary of anyone who does. IBS is a long-term condition. What many people find is a meaningful reduction in how severe and how frequent symptoms are, and considerably less of their life spent planning around it.
What is gut-directed hypnotherapy?
A structured form of hypnotherapy developed specifically for gut conditions. It follows an established protocol, uses relaxation and imagery aimed at the digestive system, runs over a course of sessions rather than a single visit, and includes recordings to use at home. There is a full page about it on our site.
Is it just about stress, or the physical symptoms too?
Both, and they are not really separable. Because stress and emotion affect gut sensitivity and motility directly, calming that response tends to ease the physical symptoms as well. The work addresses the discomfort and the anxiety about it together.
Does it work alongside the low FODMAP diet or medication?
Yes, and many people do both. Dietary approaches and medication work on one part of the picture, this works on another. We do not give dietary advice, and we would never ask you to change something your GP or dietitian has recommended.
How many sessions will I need?
It is a course rather than a single session. Research protocols typically run over several weeks, and we usually work in a course of around seven sessions with recordings to use at home in between. You will get a realistic picture on the free call before committing to anything.
Will I be unconscious or lose control?
No. Hypnosis is a state of focused relaxation, not sleep and not unconsciousness. You stay aware throughout, you can speak and move, and you cannot be made to do anything you would not ordinarily do. Most people describe it as being absorbed in a book.
Can it help children and teenagers with IBS?
It can be suitable for young people as well as adults, and gut symptoms in children are common. For a child we would want your GP involved as well, so there is a full network of support around them.
Can I have sessions online?
Yes. You can be seen in person at our Fareham practice or online from anywhere in the UK. Online works particularly well for this, since you are relaxing in your own space, and it removes the worry about travelling to an appointment.
Take back control of your gut, and your days
Start with a free 15 minute call. A relaxed, confidential conversation about your symptoms and whether this approach suits you, with no cost and no obligation.