Gastroenterology Integrative Health
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Gastroenterology Referrals
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CHOC’s Gastroenterology Integrative Health Program offers a unique, holistic approach to digestive care for kids—because treating pediatric GI conditions means caring for the whole child. Our program combines expert medical treatment with evidence-based integrative therapies and nutrition support to help children find relief, build resilience, and achieve lifelong digestive wellness. Now part of Rady Children’s Health, CHOC is a leader in pediatric integrative GI care, offering the only program of its kind in Southern California.
We provide pediatric-focused services such as acupuncture, guided imagery, biofeedback, massage, and pelvic floor therapy, all delivered by licensed integrative medicine specialists working alongside our gastroenterologists, dietitians, psychologists, and other experts. Culinary Medicine is a cornerstone of our model—using “food as medicine” to manage and prevent GI symptoms through personalized nutrition and hands-on cooking guidance.
By uniting conventional GI treatments with integrative therapies and nutrition, our program helps reduce pain, ease symptoms like nausea or constipation, lower stress, and support whole-child digestive health. We give families practical tools so children can get back to doing what they love while managing a gastrointestinal condition.
What We Treat
Our Gastroenterology Integrative Health team cares for children with a wide range of digestive disorders. We commonly work with pediatric patients diagnosed with:
- Other Gastrointestinal Conditions: We welcome any pediatric GI condition where integrative care might help. This includes functional GI disorders, mild liver or pancreatic conditions affecting digestion, nutrition-related issues (e.g. feeding difficulties, obesity-related GI concerns), and more. If your child has a digestive issue causing pain, nausea, or stress, our team can likely assist as part of their treatment plan.
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): Including IBS with constipation, diarrhea, or mixed symptoms. We use integrative strategies (like diet changes, gut-directed hypnotherapy, and stress reduction) to ease abdominal pain and regulate bowel movements.
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): Conditions like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Integrative therapies can help manage IBD symptoms (pain, stress, poor appetite) alongside standard medical treatments, improving overall well-being.
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD): Chronic acid reflux can be stressful for kids. We incorporate relaxation techniques, dietary adjustments, and sometimes acupuncture or massage to lessen reflux discomfort in addition to medical management.
- Functional Abdominal Pain / Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBI): These include chronic abdominal pain, functional dyspepsia, abdominal migraines, and related conditions where stress and nerves in the gut play a role. Our program excels in mind-body therapies (like guided imagery or gut-directed hypnotherapy) that calm the gut-brain connection and reduce pain.
- Rumination Syndrome: For children who unintentionally regurgitate food due to learned reflex, we offer behavioral strategies, breathing techniques, and biofeedback to help retrain calmer digestion.
- Chronic Constipation & Motility Disorders: Many children with constipation or slow gut motility benefit from our integrative approach. We may use abdominal massage, and tailored nutrition plans to support regularity.
We offer a comprehensive selection of pediatric integrative health services tailored specifically for children with gastrointestinal disorders. Our treatments are designed to relieve GI symptoms, improve gut function, and enhance your child’s comfort. Key integrative therapies for GI health include:
Treating With an Integrative Approach at CHOC
Integrative therapies are meant to complement, not replace, standard GI treatments. Your child should continue taking any prescribed medications (such as acid reducers, laxatives, or IBD medicines) and continue with recommended procedures or surgeries. Our program works alongside these treatments.
The benefit is that sometimes the integrative methods help the standard treatments work even better – or help your child cope with them better. We never advise stopping a treatment in favor of an alternative therapy alone. Instead, we integrate the two approaches safely. Your child will benefit from both medical science and supportive therapies.
Our integrated approach often means your child is more comfortable and less stressed during treatment, but it doesn’t replace the need for that treatment. Rest assured, every step is coordinated by our board-certified gastroenterologists, so your child’s medical care remains the top priority, with integrative care enhancing their overall health experience.
The Gastroenterology Integrative Health Team
Our GI Integrative Health team is a highly collaborative group of specialists devoted to caring for children with digestive disorders in a holistic way. The program is led by pediatric gastroenterologists, including Dr. Ashish Chogle, the medical director of gastroenterology at CHOC who helped launch this innovative program with the help of philanthropic donations. Under physician leadership, we bring together experts from multiple fields to form each child’s personalized care team:
Pediatric Gastroenterologists
Our board-certified GI doctors oversee your child’s medical treatment and champion integrative modalities. They understand which complementary therapies can best enhance outcomes for conditions like IBS or IBD. In addition to our team staying up to date on the latest research, Dr. Chogle co-authored the first international guidelines on treating pediatric functional GI disorders, modeled after our whole-child approach, and setting the standard for treatment globally.
Integrative Medicine Specialists
These include licensed acupuncturists and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners who are experienced in treating children. They provide therapies like acupuncture, acupressure, massage, and herbal recommendations when appropriate – always in coordination with the medical plan.
Pediatric Psychologists & Behavioral Therapists
GI health is closely tied to emotions and stress. Our psychologists specialize in techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and hypnotherapy for gut health. They help children develop coping skills, overcome fears (like fear of pain or using the bathroom), and practice mind-body strategies to control symptoms.
Pediatric Dietitians
Nutrition experts are core to our team. They work one-on-one with families to tailor diets for conditions (for example, a low-FODMAP diet for IBS or anti-inflammatory diet for IBD). Dietitians also lead our Culinary Medicine education, teaching practical meal planning and cooking skills that translate medical advice into kid-friendly meals.
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapists
These pediatric therapists have special training in pediatric pelvic health. They conduct pelvic floor rehab sessions, guiding kids through exercises and biofeedback to improve bowel and bladder function. With the goal of restoring proper pelvic floor function, pelvic floor PT’s also foster a safe environment that is sensitive and mindful of children’s wellbeing.
Chef Educators
Uniquely, our program includes chefs/nutrition educators (often in partnership with our dietitians) who run Culinary Medicine workshops. They demonstrate recipes, involve kids in cooking, and show how food can be a powerful tool for healing.
Child Life Specialists & Nurses
Our Child Life team and nursing staff help integrate therapies into clinic visits or hospital stays. They prepare kids for new experiences (like trying acupuncture) in a friendly way and provide comfort and distraction when needed. They might play a child’s favorite music during a procedure or use a toy to explain how a therapy works – making the experience positive.
Accessing Gastroenterology Integrative Health Services
Enrollment is usually by referral. If your child is already a CHOC gastroenterology patient, ask your pediatric gastroenterologist about integrative health services. The GI doctor can refer your child to our integrative program (in fact, many CHOC GI physicians are part of our integrative team).
If your child is seeing an outside GI specialist or pediatrician, you can request a referral to CHOC’s Gastroenterology Integrative Health Program. Referring physicians can contact us through CHOC’s referral portal or by calling our GI specialty clinic directly. Keep in mind, some services (like Culinary Medicine workshops, pelvic floor therapy, or biofeedback sessions) may happen on specific days or locations, but our team will ensure your experience is seamless.
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