Chronic Pain & IBS Relief | Online Therapy in BC

For those sick of hearing ‘practice mindfulness’ - this one’s for you

Woman experiencing stomach pain

and contributing factors such as

  • Nightmares & Insomnia

  • PTSD

  • Fear or Upset

  • Swelling or Burning

Conditions and Concerns I work with

  • Fibromyalgia

  • Central Sensitization

  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / M.E.

  • Chronic Pain Syndrome

  • Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

  • Chronic Migraines

  • IBS

The goal is not simply to manage pain, but to help you develop a different relationship with your body and, where possible, reduce or release pain that is no longer serving a protective purpose.

For some people, healing begins with rebuilding trust in a body that has come to feel unpredictable or unsafe. By becoming curious about the signals your nervous system is sending, rather than automatically treating every sensation as a sign of danger, you can begin to develop a different relationship with your body—and discover new possibilities for movement, comfort, and freedom.

Chronic Pain. What can ‘Therapy’ Really do About it?

  • Chronic pain can persist even after an injury or illness has healed (neuroplastic pain can be a form of this), and sometimes without any injury to begin with (nociplastic pain). The pain is real, but in some forms of persistent pain, the nervous system can continue to produce protective pain responses even after an injury has healed or the original threat has passed.

    My approach combines Hypnotherapy, Somatic techniques, Pain Reprocessing Therapy, and OldPain2Go® to support regulation, reduce fear and protective responses, and create new patterns of safety and movement.

    These approaches can be helpful whether pain is primarily neuroplastic or includes a structural component, particularly when medical assessment has determined that no further physical intervention is required.

    Using hypnosis and non-trance techniques, we work with the brain's learned protective responses and its natural capacity for change. The goal is not simply to manage pain, but to help you develop a different relationship with your body and, where possible, reduce or release pain that is no longer serving a protective purpose.

    One additional reason this is especially important is because faulty or extreme pain messages mask day-to-day pain messages that are actively useful. People can find it hard to detect when they get a new injury as the ‘fire alarm’ of chronic pain is always blaring.

    Please consult with your physician before beginning pain-focused therapy. Click here to learn more about the evidence behind these approaches and here for the physician's letter template you will need before getting started.

  • Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy (GDH) is a specialized form of clinical hypnotherapy designed to support people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and other functional gastrointestinal concerns. Drawing on a research-based protocol, I use focused mind-body techniques to help calm the nervous system, improve communication between the brain and gut, and reduce the intensity and frequency of digestive symptoms.

    Before beginning, clients should have appropriate medical assessment to ensure that any underlying conditions requiring medical treatment have been addressed. When GDH is appropriate, it may offer a useful way to develop greater comfort, confidence, and ease in your relationship with your body and digestive system.

    Research suggests that gut-directed hypnotherapy can reduce IBS symptoms for many people, and studies (which can be found in the research section) have reported substantial symptom improvement in a majority of participants.

    For more information about the research, click here. A physician clearance template is available here.

Annamarie Bowler is a Certified OldPain2Go® Practitioner & Hypnotist who has worked for years in a pain management medical clinic alongside Drs David and Jannice Bowler.

She has studied renowned hypnotherapists Anthony & Freddy Jacquin and has trained directly with the founder of OldPain2Go®, the late and great Steven Blake.

Sh offer approaches that can help some clients change their experience of persistent pain and, where appropriate, work toward reducing its intensity and impact.

Ready to let it go? Book a free consultation now.
Prefer someone local? Find a list of practitioners here.
Certified OldPain2Go practitioner.

Watch some of the techniques used at Wild Iris Counselling Below

〰️

Watch some of the techniques used at Wild Iris Counselling Below 〰️

OldPain2Go

Read more about the late Steven Blake’s OldPain2Go® method here. You may find it interesting to read about his approach and the experiences of people who have worked with it.

Or if you like, watch the following videos to get a sense of how clients respond to this technique.

Steven Blake working with a client who had 30 years of chronic pain.

Jacquin’s Arrow

Watch this video on father and son duo Anthony & Freddy’s Hypnotherapy technique, The Arrow.

Pain Reprocessing Therapy

Watch this demonstration of Somatic Tracking and how it approaches pain as a sensation that can be explored with curiosity and without assuming that the sensation itself signals danger.