Ep 40 Prof Ted Kaptchuk on Placebos, IBS and the Therapeutic Encounter

In this episode of The Talking Gut Podcast, Dr Jim Kantidakis sits down with Professor Ted J. Kaptchuk, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Professor Kaptchuk is one of the world's leading researchers in placebo science. His groundbreaking 2010 study, Placebos Without Deception: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Irritable Bowel Syndrome, demonstrated that patients with IBS improved even when they knowingly took a placebo — challenging long-held assumptions about mind–body interactions and symptom perception. In this conversation, we explore: What the placebo effect really is — and what it isn't Why IBS and other gut–brain disorders show high placebo response rates How open-label placebo works without deception The neurobiology of expectation, ritual, and healing What the "therapeutic encounter" means for modern clinical practice This episode invites clinicians and patients alike to rethink symptoms, perception, and the powerful role of context in healing.