As a practicing Hypnotist, I am contacted by a large number of people who seek to give up smoking.
Hypnotherapy has the deserved reputation of being the best available therapeutic help for smoking cessation. It is impossible to accurately predict a success rate, however, because people will invariably forget to tell me in six months or more whether they continue not to smoke.
My most reliable indicator is the number of referrals I get from successful quitters, and I get an encouraging number of those.
Smoking cessation through hypnosis
If you really do want to give up smoking, then hypnosis is a very effective means to do so. You can avoid many of the drawbacks associated with giving it up, for example grouchiness and getting the munchies, simply by programming your subconscious mind to help you quit in a very comfortable way.
If, on the other hand, you are being pressured into giving up and do not really want to stop, even hypnosis probably won’t help you quit smoking. Hypnosis is not mind control and, if you don’t really want to quit, there is no point in doing the therapy because it most likely won’t work.
How much hypnotherapy will it take to quit smoking?
The number of sessions required to quit permanently will vary from person to person, depending on whether smoking is simply a habit or whether it is part of a more complex problem.
The less emotional investment, the quicker the process will be. If smoking is a coping mechanism, it may take a few sessions to resolve the underlying issues before we can achieve complete success. It is not unusual to quit smoking after only one or two sessions if it is only a habit.
A few simple questions can help us tailor a hypnotherapy strategy for each individual. Although many of the reasons for starting to smoke in the first place are similar, for example “My friends were doing it and I wanted to fit in” or “I wanted to annoy my parents and show them they couldn’t tell me what to do”, and motivations for continuing to smoke range from having something to do with your hands to helping you relax, each person is a complex individual with their own hopes and aspirations.
CHANGE YOUR MIND CHANGE YOUR LIFE
By Jan Duncan
Subiaco – Linda Milburn – (08) 9388 6322 or 0409 079 435
Mundaring – Jan Duncan – 0423 936 933
