Irritable bowel patients sought for hypnosis study

PULLMAN, Wash. – A hypnosis treatment study at Washington State University is seeking people diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) as participants.

This study, for the Ph.D. dissertation in counseling psychology of student Alicia San Miguel, has been reviewed and approved for human subject participation by the WSU Institutional Review Board. The principal investigator is WSU licensed psychologist Arreed Barabasz.

Participants must have a diagnosis of IBS from their primary physician or gastroenterologist, be older than 18, not have a medical diagnosis related to the digestive system (celiac, Crohn’s, etc.), not have a psychiatric illness and not be pregnant. They will be assigned to either a control group, consisting of symptom monitoring, or an experimental hypnosis group.

The study will consist of one initial meeting and seven meetings held every other week. Participants will be required to complete questionnaires about their demographics and IBS pain, symptoms and behavior.

To participate, contact Alicia San Miguel at 832-289-2869 (cell phone) or Alicia.sanmiguel@wsu.edu.