Hypnosis Houston Irritable Bowel Syndrome IBS Pain Control Pain Management

"12/20/04

Our son, Daniel* was diagnosed with severe irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) four years ago...

Daniel has been under the constant care of a board certified pediatric gastroenterologist at [a] Hospital in Houston for four years. During that time Daniel has tried many drug therapies, all of which failed, and his IBS symptoms became progressively worse. During the last year, we were referred by Daniel's pediatric gastroenterologist to a licensed psychologist...in order to help Daniel deal with the abdominal pain, the most debilitating part of IBS. While the psychologists were able to help Daniel control his some of the symptoms with dietary guidance, they were not able to provide the tools for him to help control the pain.

Daniel is a senior in high school. He has §504 status (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) with [a local] School District. Through last year and this year, he missed many days of school (usually 2-3 per week) due to severe abdominal pain that often left him in bed for several days at a time, up until approximately 1.5 months ago. At that time, we took him to see Mr. Schuman, the certified hypnotist, in Houston. Mr. Schuman first obtained a medical release form from Daniel's physician. Mr. Schuman began hypnotherapy treatment of Daniel in November, 2004. The hypnothearapy has had a remarkable effect on Daniel. After the very first session, Daniel's IBS symptoms improved drastically. He has now had four hypnotherapy sessions. Daniel has not missed a single day of school, and has not complained about abdominal pain. His grades improved significantly in his toughest subject. We believe that Mr. Schuman provided the mental tools for Daniel to minimize the pain and other symptoms of IBS, tools the other licensed professionals could not provide, even though they treat many children like Daniel. Indeed, so far the improvement of Daniel's quality of life has been profound.

We do not believe that this sudden alleviation of Daniel's IBS symptoms is coincidence, as we have observed his symptoms progressively increase in severity right up to the day of Daniels first visit with Mr. Schuman. We are both professional medical scientists and educators, and have much experience in the objective analysis of medical treatments. Indeed, we found much evidence in the scientific literature to indicate that hypnotherapy is effective in the treatment of IBS. We are 15 year members of [a local church], and have been praying that we would discover some relief for Daniel. We believe that the hypnotherapy has a valid place in the armamentarium of medical treatment that is worthy of licensure in the State of Texas for certified persons, and that there is a great unmet need for this type of treatment."

*The client's real name has been replaced by "Daniel" and several references removed for the patient's privacy.