Full Review of Nerva App for IBS

It's been a few months now since I started my gut-directed hypnotherapy sessions with the Nerva app. In that time I've shared Q&As, descriptive weekly reviews, sneak peek audios, my personal journey and more.

Since I began using the app, I've had plenty of time to decide what I do and don't like about it and whether or not I think it's improved my IBS. Here is my full review of the Nerva app for IBS and how it worked for me.

If you haven't already seen the other posts in this series then I suggest that you start with them. It'll help to give you a better understanding of the process as a whole.

Introduction to gut-directed hypnotherapy for IBS

Week 1 review - Mind-Gut Medicine

Week 2 review - Inner River

Week 3 review - Comforting Hands

Week 4 review - Adjusting Your Dials

Week 5 review - Calming Swing

Week 6 review - Healing Water

Nerva App or Low FODMAP Diet Review

How to manage IBS in 20 minutes or less

How to get out of your IBS comfort zone

Today I want to share a detailed, overall review of my experience using the Nerva app to answer any final questions you may have. If your question still isn't answered by the end of this post then please leave it in the comments box below. I'd hate for you to miss out on the 10% discount and forever wonder if gut-directed hypnotherapy could have worked for you.

What I like about the Nerva IBS app

I fell in love with the Nerva app, so much more than I ever imagined possible. I could honestly gush for hours about the way it made me feel and its impact on my mind and gut. However, for the sake of these reviews, I feel as though you need me to be a bit more practical than that. I've tried to stick to the features rather than my feelings. I focus on what I thought worked particularly well to enhance the overall experience of using the app and getting the most from each session.

1. Ease of use

Right from my very first interaction with Nerva, from the online assessment process, I felt guided, step by step, through the whole process and into the program. The interface and graphics are clean and simple. Moving through the program happens automatically in the app, day by day and accessing the extra features is fairly intuitive. I did have a few glitches that I explain in more detail in the next section. Overall I found the app easy and enjoyable to use.

The main sessions can be played in background mode, with the screen off. This is particularly useful for those wanting to listen in bed without the glare of the screen.

2. Convenient Therapy

As someone that doesn't drive and lives in a semi-rural village location, with very limited access to services, I can honestly say that there is no way I would seriously consider in-person hypnotherapy for my condition at this time. It would probably take me a 4 hour round trip to and from my nearest city. On top of that, it would cost about £25 in travel on top of the £70 fee per session.

Being able to open the Nerva app, from the comfort of my couch, and receive a thoughtful, dedicated therapy session for my IBS is the ultimate in 21st Century convenience for me. 

3. In-app support

The in-app support function is accessible from the top of each page. There's no searching in obscure pages or being diverted through numerous "help" articles. Simply start a new conversation and wait for a (usually) prompt reply. It's almost as if they want you to get in touch and provide valuable feedback on their product, imagine that!

Nerva has a small, dedicated team so you always know exactly who you're talking to. This one to one customer service is quite rare, especially in the online space. Conversations are archived within the app so you can go back and forth with the same advisor. You're alerted both in the app and via email of an answer to your query. Responses to my (often lengthy) questions were always polite, personable and punctual. You can't ask for more than that.

4. The narrator's voice

I speak about this in my week one review. Although it may sound like a silly selling point to some, I honestly don't think it can be underestimated. If I'm going to be spending 20-30 minutes a day, for at least 6 weeks, actively listening to someone, I need to know they're not going to put me to sleep or grind my gears. I found the warm, slightly husky, middle-class British accent (think Rachel Weisz) to be familiar and welcoming. 

I particularly liked the way the narrator altered the emphasis and volume of their voice. This helps to focus your attention on certain words or parts of the session. Although still gentle and relaxing the final count to guide you to full wakefulness is just the right side of assertive. It brings you firmly back to reality without leaving you feeling groggy or disorientated.

5. The visual themes

Overall I enjoyed the changing themes and thought that 4 out of 6 were excellent. Even the ones I was less thrilled with mattered less and less as the weeks went on. The more I listened to each session the more I forgot any initial quirks and settled fully into each scenario. 

Just for fun, I experimented with my physical positions and location to immerse myself fully into the themes. You can see some of the photos in this post of the places where I tried out my sessions. From creating my cosy little apothecary set up to relaxing by the river, swinging from the rafters and floating in a warm pool. It's not necessary or always possible to do so but I enjoyed playing around with it and seeing how it affected my experience of the session.

As I know some people worry about the idea of visualising (which is my favourite bit) I wanted to help you explore your creativity. I decided the best way to do this was with as much detail as possible in my weekly review posts. I include sneak peek audios to give you a feel for each theme. I also curated beautiful image galleries to get your creative mind muscles flexing.

6. The repetition

The theme of the sessions changes weekly. This means that there are 6 audios, across the space of 6 weeks. The idea is that we need to repeat the same session, each day for a week. This repetition and familiarity are what helps the message to stick in our brains.

EDIT 2021: Due to user feedback the repetition now happens on a weekly, rather than daily basis. This means that you will still listen to repetitions of each session over 6 weeks but you no longer listen to the same session every day for a week. The sessions now rotate each day and then repeat after all the sessions have played. The feedback was that the repetition was causing people to lose focus and interest. This was not my experience but I can understand how it could happen.

I honestly thought that this repetition would be the thing that annoyed me the most about the app. Surprisingly, it ended up being one of the most comforting aspects of the sessions. My mind picked up on things on subsequent repetitions that I'd missed the time before. I liked the rhythm and familiarity of knowing what came next.

7. The timing of the sessions

I'll admit that the idea of sitting still for 20 minutes on day one was a bit daunting but I was amazed at how fast the sessions went. Except for a short introduction, the script wastes no time guiding you immediately into relaxation mode. Week one comes in at under a concise 19 minutes. 

From week two onwards the main session stays roughly the same length but an additional 5-minute deep breathing exercise is added. Combined with the weekly reading you're looking at 20-28 minutes. If you're pushed for time there's nothing to say that the reading or breathing exercise has to be done at the same time as the main session but whilst you're already in the zone I'd recommend it.

Even towards the end of the program, knowing full well how long each session lasted, I was always pleasantly surprised as the session finished. I never once felt as though I was waiting for the session to end, clock watching or hustling for time. This will be different for everyone depending on the time you have available. For me, the sessions were just long enough to flow from intro - light relaxation -
deep relaxation - wakefulness - outro, without feeling either rushed or overly drawn out.

8. Keeping me accountable to take the time for myself each day

Making time for yourself each day is something we should all be doing for our physical and mental health. Honestly, how many of us can say that we do, especially guilt-free? I liked the subtle ways the app encourages you to keep returning, day after day and investing that time in your self-care. From daily check-in ticks, telling you how many days you are into the weekly session, congratulating you on making it to the end of the week and the "see you tomorrow" sign off from the narrator. It all adds up to a thoughtful and motivating sequence to help you feel as though you're accountable for your progress and to encourage you to keep showing up.

9. Automatically activating the maintenance plan and not leaving me high and dry

To give a bit of context, the price you pay for the app is for access to the 6-week program. Once that program comes to an end you are moved into the maintenance plan which costs an additional monthly fee. The maintenance plan is a way of continuing to access the sessions beyond the program. It also includes a couple of different breathing techniques to enhance relaxation. You can tailor your maintenance plan to specify which days of the week you would like to listen (Mon-Sun). You also get to decide which of your favourite sessions (1-6) you would like to continue with. In addition to the scheduled sessions, you can access any of the audios at any time as part of your flare-up toolkit.

This is honestly the type of thing that would usually piss me right off. Being moved automatically into a monthly paid plan often results in a strongly worded email and a refund request. However, in this case, I was reluctant for the sessions to end so it was the perfect next step for me. The seamless switch left me feeling more impressed with Nerva's customer care rather than outraged at the upsell. 

If you've followed the weekly reviews, you'll know that on weeks 5-6 I was experiencing a bad IBS flare-up. This made me anxious for the end of the program as I didn't know what to expect. I also didn't want the program to abruptly end whilst I was in the middle of a setback. 

The day after the program ended I opened the app and was guided effortlessly into the maintenance plan. I picked straight up with my daily sessions and a new breathing exercise without any break in the routine that I've come to enjoy as a daily self-care ritual.

This won't be the case for everyone and I do think that Nerva could do a better job of preparing people for this. Adding an opt-in which triggers during the final 6-week session to confirm you would like to continue could work. You can always access your subscription directly from the main menu at any time. If you're not happy to continue with the paid monthly plan then a quick message to customer services from directly within the app to cancel this feature will get you sorted.

EDIT: Jun 2024. The price of the app now includes 1 year access to the program, which in effect includes the long term maintenance plan. This plan and pricing are subject to change without notice.

10. The money-back guarantee

I said it in my week 4 review and I'll say it again, this is the gold standard of guarantees. You get to experience up to 30 days of the complete program. This helps you decide if it's working for you and worth your investment. By week 4 of the program, you will know if gut-directed hypnotherapy is right for you. If it is, you simply continue to complete the full program. If you're not seeing results then you simply request a refund directly within the app.

It's quite rare to have such complete access to something of this nature before you have to decide if it's right for you or not. You wouldn't get anything like this kind of offer from in-person sessions with a therapist, regardless of how effective you found the treatment.

The only thing you do need to be aware of is that this guarantee is only honoured if you've given the program a proper go and listened to at least 7 sessions. You also need to have purchased directly through Nerva's website and Google Play store. iTunes app store refund requests need to be made direct to Apple and are at their discretion. In-app purchases and upgrades don't benefit from this offer. Nerva states this on their website and displays it as part of your initial assessment before taking you to the final sales page. If you follow the discount link and sales flow below to get your 10% off then you've automatically activated your money-back guarantee. Yay!

What I don't like about the Nerva app

When put side by side against the things I liked about the app it's obvious that for me, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I've tried to be as impartial as possible here and list all the little niggles that came up, however petty they may seem. The team at Nerva are open and responsive to feedback. I've already seen positive changes to the functionality and design of the app in the short time I've been using it.

1. You need a smartphone and internet connection.

This may be glaringly obvious but as someone that's old enough to remember life without either a smartphone or the internet (shock horror), I feel it deserves a mention.

Not only does this limit the availability of this effective treatment but I also think it heavily influences people's buying decisions. Not many people are willing to spend the price of this program on an app-based product. 

I can't imagine that creating an online version of this program would be any more difficult than designing and coding an app. This would make it available to anyone with access to a computer. It could be delivered in weekly sessions, similar to online teaching platforms such as Teachable. Having downloads for use offline would make it even more accessible.

2. Frequent prompts to provide a review

I don't remember exactly when the prompts to leave a review began. I do remember feeling it was too soon to tell and thinking, "give me a chance". I felt that I hadn't used the app for long enough and certainly hadn't had enough time to experience any benefits before I was being asked to review it in the app store. These requests were frequent enough for it to irritate me. It also made me determined not to leave a review until I could give a full and honest opinion.

This is only a small gripe but as someone that considers reviews before making a purchase, I like to think that the reviewer has been given a fair chance to thoroughly test the product before being prompted to leave a review.

3. Occasional glitches within the app

This seemed to happen most often on immediately opening the app. Several times the app remained on the previous days audio. I had to shut down and reboot my phone to get it to unlock the current session. This did seem to happen less as the program went on so it may have been rectified behind the scenes.

Another issue I had was with the breathing exercise. The exercise is on a 5-minute timer and uses a visual prompt to guide you through the inhale and exhale. Unlike the app, which continues to play in background mode, the timer stops working if your phone shuts down. This means that you need to keep your finger on the screen to keep your phone awake for the duration of the 5-minute exercise. If you practice the breathing exercise as intended in the app this probably won't be an issue. See my next point for why it didn't work well for me.

Since moving into the maintenance plan this no longer seems to happen. My phone now stays active throughout the breathing exercises, without needing to keep my finger on the screen. I'm unable to access the breathing exercise from the original program, so I don't know if this issue has also been fixed or just works better in the maintenance program.

4. The breathing exercise needs options and variety

Don't get me wrong, I love a good deep breathing exercise but this one missed the mark for me. As I didn't like the exercise I reverted to doing my preferred box breathing technique. This is where the issue with the timer came up. Because I was breathing at a different rate than the visual cue it was off-putting for me to watch. When I let my screen turn off, the timer stopped. When I closed my eyes, I had to keep opening them to check the timer or try to guess when 5 minutes had passed. This became irritating fairly quickly and resulted in me often skipping the breathing exercise completely.

One way around this would be to create an audible cue to go off after 5 minutes. I think most people tend to do deep breathing with their eyes closed anyway so this little addition would at least give people the option.

As I didn't particularly enjoy the breathing exercise I was disappointed to realise that it remained the same for the full length of the program. I had expected it to change and develop along with the weekly themes. Once you move into the maintenance phase then two more breathing exercises are unlocked. I feel as though this is a bit of a stingy move. It's designed to add more perceived value to the maintenance program but I think that the variety of exercises should be available in the main program.

5. The script, language choice and phrasing is sometimes a bit off

As a complete novice, I have no idea if there is a clinical reason for specific language choice and wording. As a listener, I felt that certain words and phrases stood out to me as being a bit off.

Firstly I noticed that negative, rather than positive phrases are often used. "You will experience setbacks", rather than "you may experience setbacks". Also regularly drawing attention to the list of usual IBS symptoms and the feelings that these symptoms bring up. As someone with experience of visualising and manifesting I was always led to believe that it's best to focus on the positive, rather than the negative.

There are also a few blips in the script that seems as though it hasn't been thoroughly proofread. One of them switches from sitting down to laying down with no reference in between to changing positions. Another refers to buttons and dials throughout the session then randomly uses the word scanners. This change of phrase immediately jolted my mind back into scrutiny rather than relaxation mode.

Another odd choice of phrase was to say, "those hands, on that stomach". This is referring to your hands on your stomach. I have no idea why they chose to de-personalise the session in this way. It made me picture Thing, (the creepy disembodied hand from The Addams Family).

This one's more about the space between the language but seems to fit most appropriately in this section. I found that sometimes the narrator seems to add a lengthy pause at the wrong point in a sentence. This almost suggests there wasn't adequate punctuation in the written script. This only happens a few times but it's quite jarring nonetheless.

All of these points are quite difficult to put across in writing. Once you hear them for yourself it's harder to ignore them. As the sessions repeated I found that my mind would sometimes expect or latch onto these things which caused my focus to drift. There may well be clinical reasons why certain phrases are used instead of others. Without knowing this they seemed more like oversights rather than intentional choices.

Without having heard the sessions it's quite difficult to appreciate how these minor details are even worth mentioning. The best way to describe it is that a mixture of repetition and being in a highly aware state seems to make them much more obvious and irritating when you're deeply immersed in the session.

Is the Nerva app worth the money?

The current full price of the program is:

• £77 GBP + optional £3.99 per month from week 8 - £149 GBP full access per year
• $97 USD + optional $4.99 per month from week 8 - $199 USD full access per year
• $137 AUD + optional $5.99 per month from week 8 - $249 AUD full access per year

Edit: June 2024. The app is now an annual recurring plan. This includes the initial 6 week guided program and continued, full access to all the sessions and the flare-up toolkit. These prices and changes are subject to change without notice.

At the end of the program, the maintenance plan kicks in. This is where the additional charges listed above are taken each month. My first thought before beginning the treatment was that the app is expensive. I had no idea what to expect from the program and my main concern was whether it would be one of those things I pay for with the best of intentions but never get around to using. My second worry was whether or not it would work for me. If it didn't then it's a lot of money for me to waste. I've never paid anything like this amount of money for an app and I'm not generally the type of person to use recurring paid subscription services, particularly on my phone.

Since completing the program I can say that:

• I think that at the original full price it is expensive for an app-based product. However, in my personal experience, based on my results and mindset shifts, it would be worth every penny to me.
• Based on the current price I feel that access to the app should be continuous rather than restricted to the 6-week program. This would effectively do away with the maintenance plan and monthly recurring cost. Update June 2024: The plan is now an annual recurring subscription with no monthly recurring charges.
• Currently, with access limited to the length of the program, it's not something you can invest in but not use until you get around to it. You need to commit to using the app from day one. Otherwise, you may feel a bit cheated if the program ends or you're expected to pay more for the continued monthly maintenance program. Update June 2024: The plan is now priced to allow annual access. Whilst you still need to commit to the plan to see the benefits I think this level of access makes the program more doable and allows the user to benefit from long term access.
• The money-back guarantee takes all the risk out of trying the main program, but only for those that can afford the initial investment in full. A payment plan or weekly payment option (unlocking each weekly module as you pay), would be an excellent customer service move.
• As grateful as I am to have been able to continue with the treatment beyond the end of the program I feel that the current maintenance plan needs improvement and additional resources to justify the monthly charge. On moving into the maintenance plan I received an email saying that further resources are planned so I'll revisit this in future. Edit June 2024: The app has been updated to include 8 additional hypnotherapy sessions and is now based on an annual subscription.

As someone that loves a bargain, I'm all for making anything better value. However, I do understand that the app is significantly cheaper than in-person hypnotherapy sessions. I also appreciate that there will be ongoing costs with running, maintaining, updating and improving the app in the future. 

My gut feeling (pardon the pun) is that those for whom it works, myself included, will consider it a very worthwhile investment. Whilst those that are not able to fully commit to the daily sessions or for whom it doesn't result in significant improvements will feel that it's overpriced.

To make things more affordable I'm thrilled to have been given a 10% discount code to share with you.

Does gut-directed hypnotherapy work for IBS?

If you've seen my introductory post then you'll know about the clinical research and results that have been conducted. Of course, reading about them and translating them into real-life experiences are two very different things. I hope that my weekly reviews have helped show you the reality, highs and lows of how the program can work overall.

The important thing to mention here is that a daily commitment of between 20-30 minutes is required. The program does not work by magic and requires time and repetition to steadily reprogram your gut-brain connection. 

In my (unqualified) experience I would say that gut-directed hypnotherapy is best suited to people that are willing and able to take the time to invest in the sessions. Knowing your IBS is negatively impacted by stress, anxiety, mood and hormones is also a big plus. 

You don't need to be a bit woo-woo or even to believe in the power of your mind to influence your gut for it to work. It's not necessary to remember every word that you hear or be amazing at visualisation or experienced at meditation. You just need to be open to relaxing and listening to the sessions daily for the length of the program.

If IBS is ruling your life but you think that you don't have 25 minutes a day to spare then I'd argue that you are EXACTLY the type of person that would benefit from this. Other than prescribed medication (which may be just what you need but comes with its own costs and limitations) I don't know of anything you can incorporate into your life that isn't going to require some effort and commitment of time, finances or both on your part. You might think that sounds harsh, but take it from someone that's been there and tried burying my head in the sand for decades.

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So there you have it. These are all the things that I feel are relevant to someone looking to purchase the Nerva app and try gut-directed hypnotherapy for themselves. I hope that, along with my weekly detailed reviews, all your questions have been answered. Please don't hesitate to ask me anything about my IBS or experience with the app in the comments below. 

I'm determined to share this potentially life-changing treatment with as many IBS sufferers as possible. Please share these reviews with as many people as you can that you feel would benefit from them. Sharing in relevant Facebook groups, IBS forums and anywhere else you see people asking questions about the Nerva app will help me get the word out.

All that's left for you to do my friend is to claim that 10% off. (Affiliate Link) It's time to see for yourself how hypnotherapy can help.

Go gut it!

Related

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