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Irritable bowel syndrome is a psychological illness, that is to say there is a memory in the subconscious mind that has been repressed caused by some past traumatic experience in a person’s life, and the memory of the event that has been repressed by the subconscious is causing the symptom.
Jane attended my therapy centre for a consultation hoping that I could help her gain relief of her symptom of the irritable bowel syndrome. Jane then a twenty three year old young lady whose life was now being dictated to by this psychological illness, Jane had suffered this very uncomfortable symptom for the past six years. Jane then went on to tell me how the symptom affected her social life, and how it was restricting her freedom to travel, it had now become so bad that she was losing time off work, becoming a near recluse having to spend most of her time at home.
Jane went on to tell me that she had read many books on the subject, and sought medical help only to be told that there was no cure for this symptom and that medication was the only way forward.
I gave Jane my opinion on the best way forward for her, now knowing the symptom actually began when Jane was seventeen years of age; I wanted to investigate her life as a fifteen year old and any trauma that happened. When I explained this to Jane she did say that the only trauma in her life ever was at the age of fifteen, which was when her father had left home for another woman.
Jane was keen to go ahead with hypnotherapy and wanted to begin immediately. After the induction of hypnosis we went ahead with our first session, Jane relaxed easily, I then went ahead and encouraged her to reflect on her life, and how the symptom affected her in other parts of her life. I also encouraged the subconscious mind to focus in on memories that had been repressed, memories of an emotional nature.
With this very important work being done in the first session, what I have done is given the subconscious mind a request, a request that the subconscious mind will carry out. After the session the date was set for Jane’s next appointment the following week.
The following week Jane returned for her second session, she reported that she had been dreaming of her father, dreams from when she was a young girl. This is a very encouraging reaction from the subconscious mind, carrying out my request to focus in on emotional memories from the past; Jane also said that her mind seemed to be quite busy in thought during the day, also day dreaming and not being able to consciously concentrate.
We then continued with session two with me inducing hypnosis, after the induction of hypnosis I asked Jane to continue telling me about her life as a young girl. The following story then unfolded.
I had a very happy childhood growing up with my younger brother John; my father worked in communications, servicing call centers all over the country, he did stay out over night occasionally, but mostly he was home with us every night. My mother was a housewife, a first class cook, and the best friend anyone could ask for. And that’s how it was for years.
Then at about the age of fourteen I think it was, we noticed that our mother and father had began arguing, me and John began to notice a different atmosphere at home, being sent to bed early at night, we now seemed to be in the way. We would then hate it, hearing the quarrels from downstairs made us both quite emotional. Then one day our mother and father dropped a bombshell on both me and John, I was just fifteen years of age when my mother and father told us that they were going to split up, my father was leaving, this was devastating news my whole world fell apart. We both pleaded with our father to stay but all of our pleading seemed to fall on deaf ears, my father said that he had made his decision he had made up his mind and that evening he was going to leave. That evening my father left us I just couldn’t believe what was happening to us.
My life changed dramatically, not a day passed by without me being tearful with feelings of great loss and sadness, I was fearful, frightened, worried and shocked. I then become very lonely becoming paranoid with feelings that everyone was talking about me especially in school, I had loved school but now despised going out at all spending most of my time in my bedroom.
Then one day several weeks later my father turned up on our doorstep, but he was not alone he was with his new girlfriend and it was me who had answered the door to him. It was now total hatred that I felt for my father, to see him standing there with this woman. My father asked me to let my mother know that he was there and that he wanted to see her.
What was to follow were very ugly scenes that caused many tears of emotion and anger, I had pleaded with my father to return home in the hope that we could return to the happy family we once were, my father ignored my pleas, he was not going to return home to them he only wanted what he had turned up for, his personal belongings.
This event was so traumatic, the fear of loss, not being able to control the situation, losing her father. Now with feelings of hopelessness, rejection and anger nothing could be done to persuade him to stay, then the most horrible sight of all, her father leaving with that woman.
During this very moving session there were many abreactions from both eyes as the story unfolded, the anger and frustration, the repressed memory recalls that had been returned to the conscious mind, and the release of the emotions created by those traumatic memories were then released. After the session Jane told me that she felt emotionally drained.
Another appointment was set up for the following week, although I was confident that all memories and emotions had been released it was important to have a tidying up session.
When Jane attended for her third session, one week later she reported that she had not suffered with her symptom irritable bowel syndrome that week.
Nevertheless Jane wanted to go ahead with her third session to make sure all events had been released. I asked her subconscious mind to continue with the release of memories and emotions during the session. We continued therapy with free association, having no repressed memory recalls or emotional abreactions;
After the session Jane become consciously emotional, knowing that after just two hours of advanced hypnotherapy her symptom had been relieved after all those years of agony.
© Dennis McCarthy 2005
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Case Studies 
