01/24/2026
We cannot ignore the nervous system or trauma history in gut healing.
It has to be foundational.
Research consistently shows that people with IBS have significantly higher rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and unresolved trauma compared to the general population. Some studies suggest up to 80% of folks, especially women, with IBS have a history of early life adverse events, abuse, and trauma.
In school, I was taught that roughly 60–70% of IBS is likely SIBO or SIFO. And yes, dysbiosis is often part of the story.
But what if the root cause runs deeper?
I quickly identified a pattern during my integrative gastroenterology residency —
The women who kept coming back with recurrent SIBO, SIFO, and chronic IBS were often the ones who were over-functioning, holding everything together, highly capable, perfectionist, type-A… with untended past wounds and a chronically dysregulated nervous system.
They would improve for a period of time with the naturopathic and integrative protocols. And then months later, they’d be back. Symptoms flaring again.
Not because the protocol was “wrong.”
But because the terrain never truly changed.
Yes, there is often dysbiosis and microbiome imbalance.
But what came first, the chicken or the egg?
The truth is, both matter.
And addressing one without the other usually only gets us so far, for so long.
This is where somatic experiencing and mind-body medicine have been the missing piece for so many of my patients. When we bring this work in, we see deeper, more sustainable shifts, and often far less need for aggressive protocols, endless supplements, or constant “fixing.”
This is exactly why I created my signature Root & Regulate program, where no stone is left unturned.
If you’re curious whether this approach is right for you, I offer free 20-minute discovery calls.
