Irritable Bowel Syndrome Self-Hypnosis at Home

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 100™. 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 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. [1]

By early 1998, it was clear to Mahoney that the audio program was offering significant help to people with IBS. [2] He attempted to gain funding for further research, development, and distribution of the IBS Audio Program 100™, 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 products. 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 the IBS 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.[3]

I've spoken to Michael Mahoney extensively about the IBS Audio Program 100™, 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 IBS Audio Program 100™ has achieved dramatic success in controlling Irritable Bowel Syndrome 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), give the IBS Audio Program 100™ a chance.

[1] Patient trial results are recorded from: End of therapy program in February 1998; Year 1 following the program, February 1999; Year 2 February 2000; and Year 3 February 2001. Final study results and presentation are currently being readied for publication, but initial analysis shows a success rate close to or exceeding 90% for all symptoms and patients. (Per Michael Mahoney author interviews and private documents, February-April 2001).

[2] In fact, the success rate of the audio program was a mere 3.5% less than the success rate of in-person IBS hypnotherapy by Mahoney himself. (Per Michael Mahoney author interviews and private documents, February-April 2001).

[3] He began a new audio program trial in November 2000 with 45 patients, using new hypnotherapy processes. Patients are showing a quicker reduction in both severity of symptoms and frequency of presentation, and exhibit greater improvement from pre-menstrual related symptoms, than in previous audio program trials. Final results are due October 2001, with publication anticipated. (Per Michael Mahoney author interviews and private documents, February-April 2001).