Small-group programme · Skipton
IBS can take up too much of your life.
When pain, bloating, bowel changes or worry about the next episode begin to shape your plans, a different approach may help. Settling the Gut is a six-week, in-person gut-directed hypnotherapy programme for adults living with IBS.
Enquiries are welcome at any time. Each new six-week group is scheduled when sufficient suitable participants are ready; there is no obligation to join.
Recognising the pattern
Is your gut making the decisions?
Maybe you plan journeys around toilets. You weigh up invitations according to what you might eat. You dread being caught out at work, or find that even a good day carries a background calculation about what could go wrong.
IBS is a genuine disorder of gut–brain interaction. Symptoms are not imagined or simply the result of stress. But the nervous system, symptom sensitivity and the anticipation of symptoms can sometimes become part of the wider difficulty.
Manage symptom-related distress
Learn calming and gut-focused skills that may help you respond differently to discomfort and changes in bowel sensation.
Reduce the weight of anticipation
Work with the habits of checking, worry or avoidance that can grow around unpredictable symptoms.
Make more room for everyday life
Focus on practical goals such as travelling, working, seeing friends or going out with greater confidence.
The six-week programme
A structured approach, with space for the individual.
Each session combines clear, accessible discussion with guided gut-directed hypnotherapy and practical self-hypnosis skills. These are proposed themes; the group is adapted where clinically appropriate. Nobody needs to disclose personal trauma or private medical details to the group.
Understanding the gut–brain conversation
Set personal goals and learn the principles of gut-focused hypnosis.
Settling sensitivity
Practise comfort-focused imagery and self-regulation skills.
Comfort and rhythm
Adapt imagery to different bowel patterns, including constipation or diarrhoea.
Sensation without emergency
Explore a less alarmed relationship with bodily sensations.
Confidence beyond the house
Work with travel, meals, toilet concerns and other everyday situations.
Taking the work forward
Review progress and plan continued self-management.
Clear, fixed fee
Six sessions. One programme.
The smaller group makes a structured course more accessible while allowing time for guided practice. Everyone is screened individually for suitability before a place is confirmed.
- Six weekly in-person meetings in Skipton
- Approximately 90 minutes per meeting
- Group size three to six, ideally four
- Private, self-funded programme
- New groups arranged when enough suitable participants are ready
Six-week group fee
Per participant for all six sessions.
Approximately 35% less than the £534 cost of six standard 75-minute individual appointments (£89 each). Group sessions and one-to-one treatment are different formats.
Registering interest is free and does not reserve a place or create a payment obligation.
“The symptoms are real. And the expectation of symptoms can become a burden of its own.”
Your therapist
Experienced care, without grand promises.
I'm John Taylor, a psychotherapist and clinical hypnotherapist with more than a decade of therapeutic experience in the Skipton area. This group is based on a structured, IBS-specific approach, informed by recognised clinical guidance and my existing assessment and outcome-monitoring materials.
We work towards improvements that matter in ordinary life, while recognising that outcomes differ from person to person.
The group provides IBS-focused symptom management, not group trauma therapy. Complex psychological difficulties can be explored separately in individual work where appropriate.
Before taking part
Medical care remains important.
The programme is intended for adults with an established diagnosis of IBS. I will discuss suitability with each interested person before accepting a booking. Some people will be better served by individual work or further medical review.
Unexplained, worsening or substantially changing bowel symptoms, rectal bleeding, or unexplained weight loss require medical assessment. Please continue any medical treatment and advice you are receiving; this course does not replace it.
A small group cannot guarantee complete privacy of what others choose to share. Ground rules for confidentiality and respectful participation will be agreed before starting.
Common questions
Before you enquire.
Do I need to have tried everything else first?
Not necessarily. Current guidance recognises gut-directed hypnotherapy as an option for some people with IBS. We will consider your diagnosis, treatment history and preferences as part of deciding suitability; the programme is not a replacement for first-line medical or dietary care.
What if I have IBS-C, IBS-D or mixed symptoms?
People may experience different bowel patterns. The programme includes adaptable imagery and self-management principles, but individual needs and group suitability will be assessed beforehand.
Will I have to discuss my personal history in front of the group?
No. This is an IBS-focused clinical hypnotherapy group. Participation is voluntary and no detailed disclosure of trauma or intimate medical history is required in the group.
When will the group begin?
Enquiries remain open throughout the year. Each new six-week group is arranged when at least three suitable participants are ready, clinic arrangements are confirmed and the group is financially viable. Four participants is preferred, with a maximum of six. Everyone starts and completes their six sessions with the same group.
Is this an NHS service or an NHS-endorsed course?
No. It is a private, self-funded programme. NICE and British Society of Gastroenterology guidance is cited to explain the clinical evidence, not to suggest endorsement of this course.
Register interest at any time
See whether Settling the Gut could be right for you.
There are no fixed enrolment deadlines, and there is no need to choose dates or pay anything now. Send a brief message headed “IBS GROUP” and I will explain the next steps and arrange a private suitability conversation if appropriate.
Enquire using the secure site contact form →Email JohnPlease send only your name, contact details, general location and the words “IBS GROUP” initially. Do not send detailed health information through the enquiry form or ordinary email.
John Taylor · Craven Clinic, Mount Pleasant, High Street, Skipton BD23 1JZ · 01756 761604
Clinical references and information
- NICE CG61: Irritable bowel syndrome in adults - recommendations (section 1.2.3, psychological interventions).
- Vasant DH, et al. British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines on IBS. Gut. 2021;70:1214–1240. The BSG gives gut-directed hypnotherapy a strong recommendation with low-quality evidence and discusses group-delivery research.
Citing published guidance does not mean NICE, the BSG or the NHS has evaluated or endorsed this particular private programme.