What Is a Gastrointestinal Psychologist — and Should You Have One for Ulcerative Colitis?

Posted by

On July 7, 2025

Studies have examined the role that two types of treatment involved in GI psychotherapy can play in IBD management: gut-directed hypnotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy

The first is gut-directed hypnotherapy. The GI psychologist brings you into a very deep state of relaxation using suggestion, relaxation techniques, and imagery and then asks you to imagine that you are free of abdominal pain and other discomfort.

Gut-directed hypnosis may help to reduce the stress response of the disease, support better control around staying in remission, and improve recovery from surgery. However, doctors currently recommend this treatment more often for controlling irritable bowel syndrome. Though it has shown promise for IBD, it’s not currently a standard recommendation for IBD management.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

The second tool is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps the brain perceive and respond to UC symptoms in a more positive, accepting way. By managing thought patterns and behaviors that can lead to IBD-symptom-triggering anxiety, catastrophic thinking, and stress, CBT can reduce symptom severity and regularity, improve quality of life, and provide coping mechanisms.

This usually takes place over the course of 6 to 12 sessions that span three to four months.

However, brief treatments for symptom-specific issues can start to show results even within just four sessions.

A small clinical trial found that more people receiving psychotherapy alongside standard medical therapy were able to stay in remission than those receiving medical therapy alone. They also had reduced depression compared to the control group.

Because IBD tends to flare up and subside in cycles, you may only need to see a GI psychologist when your symptoms are acting up. “If you’re going through something very difficult, that’s probably a time for you to reconnect with us,” says Simons. It’s also common to work with a GI psychologist for a short period and then come back later — even years later — during particularly stressful times.

How do you know whether you should see a GI psychologist versus a general psychologist? If your UC symptoms are the biggest cause of your stress, you may benefit most from a GI psychologist. If you’re experiencing more overall stress, you may want to see a general psychologist. But you don’t have to see just one or the other. “Often, people see both simultaneously,” says Simons.

GI psychologists can’t write you a prescription, but they work closely with your other doctors and can let your primary care physician know if you may be a candidate for antidepressant medication, says Simons.

A GI psychologist is not a replacement for your GI care team, and instead works alongside gastroenterologists, dietitians, and related practitioners to address the health of the whole body while managing your chronic condition.