Gut-Brain Therapy | Nerva

Nerva

The clinician podcast on gut-brain disorders such as IBS.Gut-Brain Therapy explores the relationship between the gut and brain, with a focus on the latest research into managing IBS, functional dyspepsia and related conditions. Guest gastroenterologists, GI psychologists, dietitians and APPs turn the latest science into practical clinical insights. Living with IBS yourself? It’s a clear look at what’s behind your symptoms.Learn more about Nerva here:https://www.nervahealth.com?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspodLiving with IBS? Ask your clinician about a Nerva referral.Gut-Brain Therapy podcasts are adapted from Nerva webinars, sign up for our next one here:www.crowdcast.io/@mindset-health

Episodes

  1. 6d ago

    Identifying the Right IBS Patients for Nerva | Megan Riehl, PsyD

    Send us Fan Mail Which IBS patients are ready for gut-directed hypnotherapy? In this episode of Gut-Brain Therapy, the Nerva podcast, University of Michigan GI psychologist Dr. Megan Riehl explains how to integrate psychological care into IBS management and identify the right patients for Nerva. Megan is clinical director of the GI Behavioral Health Program at the University of Michigan, co-author of Mind Your Gut with Kate Scarlata, co-host of The Gut Health Podcast and a clinical advisor to Nerva. Speaking with Nerva’s Claire Hall, she walks through a new clinical decision tool. It helps clinicians weigh the clinical and psychological factors that show when Nerva is the right approach, and recognize when other interventions should come first. She explains why a patient’s motivation matters more than how hypnotizable they are, and how to handle the “it’s in your head” conversation. She also covers how to recommend Nerva while staying part of the patient’s care (“I’m not going anywhere”), and answers questions on IBS subtypes, patients whose symptoms are tied to food, and where to find in-person gut-directed hypnotherapists. Find out more about Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod Clinicians, sign up for the clinician directory and request access to Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com/clinician-directory?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod#directory-join Living with IBS? Ask your clinician about a Nerva referral. Gut-Brain Therapy podcasts are adapted from Nerva webinars, sign up for our next one here:  www.crowdcast.io/@mindset-health Disclaimer: Nerva is a self-guided program that may help people self-manage and live well with their diagnosed disorder of the gut-brain interaction. Nerva has not been evaluated by the FDA, TGA, MHRA or equivalent regulatory bodies. Users are directed not to make any changes to their prescribed medication or other type of medical treatment without seeking professional medical advice.

  2. Sep 24

    Beyond stress: How emotions shape persistent gastrointestinal symptoms | Dany Lamothe, M.D.

    Send us Fan Mail Are persistent gut symptoms "just stress"? In this episode of Gut-Brain Therapy, the Nerva podcast, Stanford GI psychiatrist Dr. Dany Lamothe explains how emotions shape IBS and other gut-brain disorders, and what clinicians can do about it. Dany is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine and lead psychiatrist for Stanford Health Care's gastrointestinal behavioral medicine program. Speaking with Nerva's Emily Mahadeo, he starts with the problem with the word itself. "We need a language that is more precise than stress and less dismissive than it's psychological," he says. He explains why emotions are biological events involving the brain, the autonomic nervous system and the gut, walks through the evidence that emotion changes gut function, and shows how attention, meaning and learning keep symptoms going, including why meals can start to feel dangerous. He also shares a simple notice, ask, connect framework for raising emotion in any GI consult, practical tools for patients, and answers questions on patients who have spent years being tested and what gut-directed hypnotherapy is actually doing if it isn't just relaxation. Find out more about Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod Clinicians, sign up for the clinician directory and request access to Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com/clinician-directory?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod#directory-join Living with IBS? Ask your clinician about a Nerva referral. Gut-Brain Therapy podcasts are adapted from Nerva webinars, sign up for our next one here:  www.crowdcast.io/@mindset-health Disclaimer: Nerva is a self-guided program that may help people self-manage and live well with their diagnosed disorder of the gut-brain interaction. Nerva has not been evaluated by the FDA, TGA, MHRA or equivalent regulatory bodies. Users are directed not to make any changes to their prescribed medication or other type of medical treatment without seeking professional medical advice.

  3. Sep 10

    Rethinking Nutrition in IBS and IBD | Morgan Binder, PA-C, RDN

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Gut-Brain Therapy, the Nerva podcast, physician assistant and registered dietitian nutritionist Morgan Binder sits down with Nerva's Joe Rogers to answer a question clinicians field in almost every IBS and IBD consult: what do you actually tell patients about food? Morgan specializes in gastroenterology at Arizona Digestive Health, where her areas of interest are IBS and IBD, and she starts by naming the misconception she meets most. "IBS is not a condition of food intolerance or poor diet," she says, "and I think that's a misconception that a lot of our patients have." From there she builds the model she uses in clinic: anyone can have a day of pain, bloating or diarrhea, but someone with IBS has a much lower threshold for what tips them over the edge, which is why the same food can be fine one day and not the next.  She works through what raising that threshold looks like in practice, where low FODMAP fits and how long patients should stay on it, how she approaches fiber and supplements, what the evidence does and does not support in IBD, and why the goal is a wider range of foods rather than a narrower one. Food, as she puts it, is celebratory, cultural, and brings joy. She also explains how she talks to patients who hear "gut-brain" and assume they are being told it is all in their head, and whether diet modification and gut-directed hypnotherapy can run alongside each other. Find out more about Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod Clinicians, sign up for the clinician directory and request access to Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com/clinician-directory?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod#directory-join Living with IBS? Ask your clinician about a Nerva referral. Gut-Brain Therapy podcasts are adapted from Nerva webinars, sign up for our next one here:  www.crowdcast.io/@mindset-health Disclaimer: Nerva is a self-guided program that may help people self-manage and live well with their diagnosed disorder of the gut-brain interaction. Nerva has not been evaluated by the FDA, TGA, MHRA or equivalent regulatory bodies. Users are directed not to make any changes to their prescribed medication or other type of medical treatment without seeking professional medical advice.

  4. Aug 28

    Integrating Brain-Gut Therapy: Insights From a Multidisciplinary GI Clinic | Dr. Jeffrey Nathanson

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Gut-Brain Therapy, the Nerva podcast, gastroenterologist Dr. Jeffrey Nathanson sits down with Nerva's Claire Hall to answer a question clinicians face constantly: which IBS patients are most likely to benefit from gut-directed hypnotherapy, and how do you bring it up with them? Dr. Nathanson brings the view from the clinic floor, drawing on 20 years in community practice and a conservative estimate of more than 10,000 patient interactions with functional bowel disorders. Co-owner of Comprehensive Gastrointestinal Health in Illinois, he works through the four drivers he sorts IBS symptoms by (diet, motility, dysbiosis, and visceral hypersensitivity), using one patient case to show how he identifies the dominant one. He shares what his experience suggests about who leans toward gut-directed hypnotherapy and who leans toward CBT, the language he uses at the bedside when every test comes back normal, and why chasing individual triggers becomes whack-a-mole unless you target the underlying hyper-reactivity. He also explains where Nerva fits when cost, time, or readiness make seeing a hypnotherapist a stretch. The episode closes with an introduction to our new Nerva Clinicians Course, free for clinicians. Find out more about Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod Clinicians, sign up for the clinician directory and request access to Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com/clinician-directory?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod#directory-join Living with IBS? Ask your clinician about a Nerva referral. Gut-Brain Therapy podcasts are adapted from Nerva webinars, sign up for our next one here:  www.crowdcast.io/@mindset-health Disclaimer: Nerva is a self-guided program that may help people self-manage and live well with their diagnosed disorder of the gut-brain interaction. Nerva has not been evaluated by the FDA, TGA, MHRA or equivalent regulatory bodies. Users are directed not to make any changes to their prescribed medication or other type of medical treatment without seeking professional medical advice.

  5. Aug 7

    Making sense of pelvic pain: A gut-brain lens on a complex presentation | Dr Alecia Macrow

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Gut-Brain Therapy, the Nerva podcast, GP and pelvic pain educator Dr. Alecia Macrow sits down with Nerva's Amy Coen to answer a question clinicians face constantly: when a patient's pelvic pain doesn't fit a single diagnosis, where do you start? Pelvic pain is one of the most common and most under-served presentations in practice, cutting across the gut, bladder, reproductive system, and nervous system, and patients often arrive having already cycled through specialists, scans, and dead ends. Dr. Macrow, founder and director of Thrive Family Practice and medical advisor to the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia, walks through a practical framework for complex pelvic pain. She is candid about why endometriosis is not the same as pelvic pain, why surgery often does not resolve it, and why "pelvic pain syndrome" is a valid diagnosis in its own right. Drawing on over 600 patients in a federally funded pelvic pain clinic, she separates what initiates pain from what perpetuates it, works through the five perpetuators she manages in clinic (menstrual cycling, bowels, pelvic floor, nervous system, and life load), and shows where the gut-brain axis, and programs like Nerva, fit as an adjunct rather than a replacement for diet, medication, or workup. Find out more about Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod Clinicians, sign up for the clinician directory and request access to Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com/clinician-directory?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod#directory-join Living with IBS? Ask your clinician about a Nerva referral. Gut-Brain Therapy podcasts are adapted from Nerva webinars, sign up for our next one here:  www.crowdcast.io/@mindset-health Disclaimer: Nerva is a self-guided program that may help people self-manage and live well with their diagnosed disorder of the gut-brain interaction. Nerva has not been evaluated by the FDA, TGA, MHRA or equivalent regulatory bodies. Users are directed not to make any changes to their prescribed medication or other type of medical treatment without seeking professional medical advice.

  6. Jul 27

    Gut-directed hypnotherapy after 65: what the evidence really says | Dr. Stephanie Moleski

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Gut-Brain Therapy, the Nerva podcast, gastroenterologist Dr. Stephanie Moleski, MD, sits down with Nerva's Chloe Millar to answer a question clinicians face constantly: when a 70-year-old asks whether gut-directed hypnotherapy will help, what does the evidence actually say? Gut-brain disorders often climb with age, yet almost every trial of gut-directed hypnotherapy has been run in younger adults. Dr. Moleski, Associate Professor of Medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and Medical Director of the Jefferson Celiac Center, walks through the evidence across the full range of gut-brain disorders.  Drawing on the 2025 Anderson randomized controlled trial of Nerva in IBS and a 1,000-patient audit of gut-directed hypnotherapy spanning ages 17 to 91, she covers how to counsel patients over 65, the practical barriers for older adults (device access, hearing, digital literacy, cost, and coverage), and where gut-brain programs like Nerva fit. Find out more about Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod Clinicians, sign up for the clinician directory and request access to Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com/clinician-directory?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod#directory-join Living with IBS? Ask your clinician about a Nerva referral. Gut-Brain Therapy podcasts are adapted from Nerva webinars, sign up for our next one here:  www.crowdcast.io/@mindset-health Disclaimer: Nerva is a self-guided program that may help people self-manage and live well with their diagnosed disorder of the gut-brain interaction. Nerva has not been evaluated by the FDA, TGA, MHRA or equivalent regulatory bodies. Users are directed not to make any changes to their prescribed medication or other type of medical treatment without seeking professional medical advice.

  7. Jul 16

    The Eating Disorder-GI Connection | GI Dr. Jordan Shapiro, RD Brittany Rogers & psychologist Dr. Kelli Rugless

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Gut-Brain Therapy, the Nerva podcast, three GI experts tackle one of the most challenging presentations in clinic: the patient who arrives with both GI symptoms and disordered eating patterns, where it's rarely clear which discipline should lead or where to begin. Gastroenterologists and APPs may reach for medication first and refer dietary care on. Dietitians and nutritionists may question whether behavioural strategies fall within their scope. And psychologists or physiotherapists may struggle to treat symptoms rooted in the gut. The result is a patient who can fall through the gaps between specialties. Together, the panel walks through how each discipline assesses and treats the ED–GI patient, why coordinated cross-disciplinary care improves outcomes, and the actionable takeaways you can bring into your own practice right away. Expert panel: Jordan Shapiro, MD, MS – Gastroenterologist Brittany Rogers, MS, RD/LDN, CPT – Registered Dietitian Kelli Rugless, PsyD, CEDS – Psychologist / Eating Disorder Specialist Find out more about Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod Clinicians, sign up for the clinician directory and request access to Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com/clinician-directory?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod#directory-join Living with IBS? Ask your clinician about a Nerva referral. Gut-Brain Therapy podcasts are adapted from Nerva webinars, sign up for our next one here:  www.crowdcast.io/@mindset-health Disclaimer: Nerva is a self-guided program that may help people self-manage and live well with their diagnosed disorder of the gut-brain interaction. Nerva has not been evaluated by the FDA, TGA, MHRA or equivalent regulatory bodies. Users are directed not to make any changes to their prescribed medication or other type of medical treatment without seeking professional medical advice.

  8. Jun 18

    SIBO in practice: Navigating diagnostic uncertainty and long-term management | Rebecca Coomes from The Healthy Gut podcast

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Gut-Brain Therapy, the Nerva podcast, nutritionist, author and host of The Healthy Gut podcast Rebecca Coomes tackles one of the most confusing presentations in clinic: small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), where symptoms overlap with IBS and a dozen other conditions, patients arrive having self-restricted their diet for months or years, and relapse is common, leaving clinicians and patients asking the same thing: where to start? Drawing on her own decade-long journey with SIBO and the latest science (including the Cedars-Sinai REIMAGINE study), Rebecca walks through the three types of SIBO and how to test for them, where diet fits (and why it calms symptoms but doesn't resolve SIBO), how to screen for disordered eating before any restriction, and the three-step framework she returns to again and again: reduce the overgrowth, address the underlying cause, and support the gut-brain axis. Find out more about Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod Clinicians, sign up for the clinician directory and request access to Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com/clinician-directory?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod#directory-join Living with IBS? Ask your clinician about a Nerva referral. Gut-Brain Therapy podcasts are adapted from Nerva webinars, sign up for our next one here:  www.crowdcast.io/@mindset-health Disclaimer: Nerva is a self-guided program that may help people self-manage and live well with their diagnosed disorder of the gut-brain interaction. Nerva has not been evaluated by the FDA, TGA, MHRA or equivalent regulatory bodies. Users are directed not to make any changes to their prescribed medication or other type of medical treatment without seeking professional medical advice.

  9. Jun 11

    Managing IBS & gut-brain disorders in practice: A GI’s perspective | Dr. Omar Khokhar

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Gut-Brain Therapy, the Nerva podcast, gastroenterologist Dr. Omar Khokhar (OSF HealthCare) tackles one of the hardest problems in clinic: gut-brain disorders like IBS, where symptoms are real and debilitating but rarely explained by a scope or scan, leaving clinicians and patients asking the same thing: where to next? With the gut-brain axis now well established as a two-way street, Dr. Khokhar walks through the science of visceral hypersensitivity, how the microbiome shapes appetite, sleep, mood and athletic performance, and the practical menu of options he reaches for when managing IBS and other disorders of gut-brain interaction. Find out more about Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod Clinicians, sign up for the clinician directory and request access to Nerva here: https://www.nervahealth.com/clinician-directory?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspod#directory-join Living with IBS? Ask your clinician about a Nerva referral. Gut-Brain Therapy podcasts are adapted from Nerva webinars, sign up for our next one here:  www.crowdcast.io/@mindset-health Disclaimer: Nerva is a self-guided program that may help people self-manage and live well with their diagnosed disorder of the gut-brain interaction. Nerva has not been evaluated by the FDA, TGA, MHRA or equivalent regulatory bodies. Users are directed not to make any changes to their prescribed medication or other type of medical treatment without seeking professional medical advice.

    Managing IBS & gut-brain disorders in practice: A GI’s perspective | Dr. Omar Khokhar

About

The clinician podcast on gut-brain disorders such as IBS.Gut-Brain Therapy explores the relationship between the gut and brain, with a focus on the latest research into managing IBS, functional dyspepsia and related conditions. Guest gastroenterologists, GI psychologists, dietitians and APPs turn the latest science into practical clinical insights. Living with IBS yourself? It’s a clear look at what’s behind your symptoms.Learn more about Nerva here:https://www.nervahealth.com?utm_source=external&utm_medium=other&utm_campaign=bspodLiving with IBS? Ask your clinician about a Nerva referral.Gut-Brain Therapy podcasts are adapted from Nerva webinars, sign up for our next one here:www.crowdcast.io/@mindset-health

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