Do you work with gut health clients? The digestive tract is intricate and complex, so it can often be hard to get traction in these cases. But one commonly overlooked consideration for gut health issues is the emotional & mental contributors.
I love using Naturopathic Emotional Release (NER) for gut health clients for a few important reasons. Let’s take a look at how NER supports your gut health clients.
Naturopathic Emotional Release & the gut
Giving the enteric nervous system some TLC
As practitioners, we know that the gut and nervous system are intrinsically linked. But while we often focus on healing the nervous system through the gut, many forget that it’s a two-way street! In fact, the enteric nervous system is living proof of how vital the nervous system is to digestive function (or dysfunction!)
In some, it could even be that their mental and emotional struggles are the true condition. The digestive problems are merely secondary to their anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or similar.
So if you want to address the gut, you MUST consider the nervous system.
Sure, you can add in some adaptogens, neurotransmitter nutrients, or even a flower essence. But if someone is experiencing ongoing stress or emotional blocks, those need to be released before you’ll see full resolution of the issue.
And the simplest way to do that on the spot? Using NER to identify and process those stressors, emotions and even trauma.
For more information about how NER works with severe and chronic stress cases, give this article a read.
Addressing the emotional drivers of symptoms
Often practitioners will consider the impact of the nervous system from the perspective of stress and its impact. But many will overlook the potential for emotions to act as drivers for symptoms.
You might be working on a client’s daily work stress and their stress tolerance. But what you might be missing is their emotional patterns from months, years or even decades ago that continue to drive the gut condition.
Research is slowly catching up in this arena. Some studies have even found a link between certain emotions such as worry & anger and IBS. While negative emotions aren’t a problem if they are felt and processed, many people will suppress feelings and avoid them. The lingering presence of these negative feelings can increase inflammation and alter immune function, both of which are bad news for the gut.
Clearing beliefs that may hold them back from feeling better
After you’ve had a gut condition for some time, it’s natural for fears and beliefs to arise. For example, people with IBS may fear being out without knowing where the nearest toilet is. Those with chronic constipation can fear going to the toilet and worsen the condition (particularly children!)
While those fears and beliefs have served them in a way, it’s not conducive to long-term recovery. Even once you have tackled the physical causes, these can continue to drive symptoms for weeks, months or even years. So while your client might notice some improvements, they still don’t feel truly ‘well’ or safe.
The good news? You can use NER to uncover these beliefs and fears and clear them for your client.
Want to add Naturopathic Emotional Release to your clinical toolbox?
The place to start is with my NER Training Course, which is run online and in-person. To learn more about the training and check out the upcoming workshops, click here.