Yes — and this isn't alternative medicine. Gut-directed hypnotherapy for IBS is backed by a substantial and growing body of clinical research, including studies published in leading gastroenterology journals. It works by targeting the gut-brain connection — calming the hypersensitive communication between your central nervous system and your digestive system that drives so many IBS symptoms. NICE, the body that sets clinical guidelines for the NHS, acknowledges hypnotherapy as a treatment option for IBS. Our clients across Newcastle and the North East experience real, measurable improvement in their symptoms — often within just a few sessions.

The optimal health test is an advanced assessment carried out by our in-house nutritional therapist that identifies which foods are causing inflammation and triggering reactions in your body. Unlike standard allergy testing, which only identifies true allergic responses, optimal health testing looks at a broader range of food sensitivities and inflammatory responses that standard tests miss entirely. The results give us a precise, personalised picture of what your gut is reacting to — so we can build a nutrition plan around your body's actual needs rather than generic guidance. It's one of the most valuable tools we offer and something that sets us apart from virtually every other therapy practice in the North East.

The standard medical position is that IBS is a chronic condition to be managed rather than cured. Our experience over more than a decade of working with IBS clients across Newcastle and the North East is more encouraging than that. Many of our clients achieve a level of relief and control that makes IBS largely irrelevant to their daily life — not through managing symptoms with medication, but through genuinely addressing the underlying drivers. We won't promise a cure, but we will promise a thorough, personalised approach that goes further than anything most IBS sufferers have tried before.

The low FODMAP diet is a useful starting point for some people, but it's a blunt instrument — it restricts a huge range of foods without identifying which ones are actually causing your specific symptoms. Our optimal health testing does exactly that. We find out precisely what your body is reacting to, which means your nutrition plan is targeted and sustainable rather than unnecessarily restrictive. Combined with hypnotherapy to address the stress and anxiety component of IBS, it's a fundamentally more complete approach.

For the optimal health testing element, we'll discuss the best approach during your free assessment call as this involves a physical test. The hypnotherapy, NLP, EFT and nutritional therapy consultations are all available online via secure video and work just as well remotely. We work with IBS clients across Sunderland, Durham, Darlington, Northumberland and throughout the UK, and online sessions are a popular and highly effective option.