Functional gut disorders are multifaceted and therefore require diverse management strategies. Although identifying food triggers is an important part of symptom improvement, there are also other areas of health and lifestyle to consider when it comes to maintaining a healthy gut.
At Ignite Nutrition, we prioritize 4 key pillars of gut health in IBS management – nutrition, stress, medication, and the gut microbiome. As registered dietitians, we pride ourselves on our knowledge of food and the microbiome especially.
“While we strongly encourage our patients to include mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques in their daily lives, we see that many patients benefit from more targeted therapy practices.”
Arguably the most important pillar of gut health, however, is stress management. While we strongly encourage our patients to include mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques in their daily lives, we see that many patients benefit from more targeted therapy practices. That’s why we also have talented and experiencing registered psychologists on our team!
Our psychologists use their extensive knowledge of neurobiology to help improve the relationship between mind and body. They also helps to empower their clients to overcome difficult experiences. Additionally, the work that they do helps their clients to improve the connection between the brain and the gut. With the goal of improving symptom outcomes -as well as overall emotional wellbeing.
Gut-Brain Connection
There’s no doubt that our brain and gut are linked. Many people actually refer to our gut as our second brain because it has so many neurons! Neurons are the tiny communication channels that transmit messages throughout our bodies, telling us how to feel – neutral, uncomfortable, etc. The brain and the gut are constantly communicating.
That’s why stress, anxiety, or trauma, can alter our digestion for the worse. Even positive stressors can lead to digestive changes! This explains why you might get ‘butterflies’ on a first date or while planning an exciting event.
Let’s be realistic – it is totally normal to experience stress. We all do! However, chronically high levels of stress in the long-term are more associated with negative physiological outcomes. Like increased gut sensations, pain and changes in gut motility. Being continuously under stress actually lowers our tolerance threshold, meaning we activate our ‘fight-or-flight’ response more often. As a result, our ability to rest and digest becomes less and less.
But not to worry, we have the power to reverse this negative cycle! However, it takes some practice to help lower your level of stress and ultimately get to the root of your distress. This is where working with a professional is SO beneficial. A psychologist or counsellor can use their extensive knowledge to choose appropriate strategies that are customized to your specific stressors. Curious to learn more? Let’s review some different strategies that our psychologists often use with their patients.
Somatic Therapy
The word somatic literally means ‘relating to the body’. Somatic therapy is a type of therapy that focuses on the connection between mind and body. Somatic work is a holistic therapy that uses a combination of mind-body exercises, physical techniques, and talk therapy to help improve both emotional and physical wellbeing.
When doing somatic work, the therapist pays attention to how the body physically reacts to memories, emotions, and stressors and works from there. Many of us don’t realize how much our bodies are involved with our emotional experiences and that we have physical reactions to these things! A trained professional can help identify body language shifts, tension in the face, changes in breath, and other subtle signs of distress. From there, they can offer strategies for you to regulate and connect with your body. These may include grounding techniques, breath work, physical movement, mindfulness, massage, and other nervous system supports.
Somatic therapy can be especially beneficial when addressing the long-term effects of stress, trauma, anxiety, or chronic health conditions including chronic pain and digestive issues. It helps people become more attuned to the signals their body is sending and learn how to respond with compassion and care, rather than fear or avoidance. This work can gently support emotional processing, increase resilience, and create space for healing. Somatic approaches can also be integrated with other evidence-based treatments such as Written Exposure Therapy for PTSD or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), offering a comprehensive and personalized path to recovery.
So are you ready to get your gut symptoms under control? Working with a trained psychologist or counsellor can help in the journey to managing your digestive symptoms – therapy is often the missing link in many people’s digestive health journey!
Supporting the Whole Person
Our psychologists also specialize in:
- Solution Focused TherapyOur psychologists also specialize in:
- Motivational interviewing
- Mindfulness-based strategies
- Behavioural therapies
- Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
- Written Exposure Therapy for PTSD
- Feedback Informed Therapy
Our team takes pride in our client-centred and holistic approach to therapy and ultimately wants to work with you to release old patterns and create positive new ones! Give us a call at 403-808-2348 or book online here today.
Categorized: Food Relationship, Gut Health & IBS
