Hypnotherapy quit smoking

Stop smoking

Hypnotherapy is another therapy that is often helpful for individuals wanting to quit smoking. Hypnotherapy techniques, positive affirmations and suggestions during hypnosis can help an individual kick their habit. Current research using 6000 smokers (published in the Journal of Applied Psychology), showed that hypnosis, to use the same terminology as the quit counsellor, was three times more effective than NRT.

With the wide publicity smoking has, there’s a lot of help available. Individuals may find different techniques work differently for them so it’s simply a case of finding the best one for you.

Hypnotherapists help many smokers achieve their goal of quitting on a regular basis. It is a well-known area of our work, and the results we produce are quite astounding, that’s why so many ex-smokers send their friends and family members to us. Deciding to become a smoker is not a decision that most people take logically. It is an emotional decision taken at a subconscious level. Therefore, any decision to stop needs to be taken at that same level. Quite simply, this is why hypnosis is such a successful way to give up smoking cigarettes. Many people considering stopping smoking feel that their true choice is being taken away from them. The secret of hypnotherapy is that it gets people to use their imagination to create a non-smoking future. This often feels very positive and empowering. Stopping smoking becomes the positive and definite choi

Hypnotherapy recently circulated information about new research into the effectiveness of hypnotherapy as a way of stopping smoking.

To investigate the most effective method of stopping smoking, the University of Iowa's Frank Schmidt along with research student Chockalingham Viswesvaran carried out a meta-analysis, using the results of more than 600 studies, with a total of nearly 72,000 people. The results included 48 studies of hypnosis covering 6000 smokers, and were published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. They clearly showed that hypnosis was three times more effective than nicotine replacement therapy.

'The hypnosis was an entirely pleasureable experience and I was conscious throughout. I simply laid back in my chair and let myself drift off until I felt completely relaxed and comfortable. During the session, Annie asked me to imagine that one of my hands felt tingly and it did, which was an amazing sensation. Afterwards, Annie pointed out that if my mind could make my hand feel tingly at will, it could definitely steer me away from the deadly fags.'

Did it work?: 'Yes! From the moment I said goodbye to Annie, I have never, at any point, craved a cigarette. Stopping has been easy, it's quite astonishing. I'd tried to give up so many times before this and it had been a torturous experience, ultimately followed by a visit to the newsagents for a packet of 20.

'I feel like I never smoked in the first place and although I don't mind other people smoking around me, I sometimes feel I want to tell them how mad they are. I feel so much better - my skin is healthier and I have loads more energy. As part of the treatment, Annie also worked on my presumption that giving up would mean piling on the pounds. Since stopping five months ago, I have not gained any weight.'

ut what about a smoker — can he overcome his addiction?

John Lazarou, aged 42, has been smoking since he was 14 years old and he associates smoking with almost every emotion in his life — which is the one thing he wants to get away from.

"I don't know if I'm addicted to smoking the tobacco or if I'm addicted to the procedure of having a cigarette or addicted to the feeling that you get when you're having a cigarette," says John.

His last attempt at quitting crashed and burned. He gave up for 18 months, but found he gained 24 kilograms in weight, so took up smoking to lose the weight again.

But John is desperate to kick this nasty habit once and for all.

"I have a five-year-old son Sebastian, who comes around close to me when I'm smoking and I'm saying 'go away' and he goes, but I like the smell. So I don't want any of my children smoking, I don't want any of those children to be in a predicament that I'm in now," says John. This has driven John to try hypnotherapy to quit his smoking addiction.

For John, it's the desire to take away the thought that by quitting smoking he's going to gain weight.

Hypnotherapist David Kennedy is again the man for the job.

David says that at his clinic they see around 500 to 700 smokers every year with excellent results.

David puts John into a trance state, which is where he can best access John's unconscious mind.

"You have no desire to draw in poisonous tars or poisonous substances, toxic substances into your lungs. That's part of the past. That's over, that's done with," says David. "You will watch to see that you do not eat more than you did before you stopped smoking. Your appetite will not increase."

David's not playing games. He's slowly changing this smoker's mind by reinforcing John's subconscious desire to quit.

"Behind you is your past as a smoker. In front of you is a future of health and wellbeing," continues David. "There will be no craving there will be no desire for cigarettes, you will be free."

After the treatment John says he's in such a positive frame of mind and the willingness for all the right reasons to give up smoking is there. He says that David just brought everything to the surface because under normal circumstances he probably would've walked out of David's surgery and lit up a cigarette.

"And I certainly don't feel like doing that now."

Test one: claustrophobia

Laura seemed good and well after two hours' treatment in the clinic. But what happens to her claustrophobia when she puts herself in a lift two weeks after the treatment?

"It's really hard to say if hypnosis cured me because I haven't been in the situation yet where I can react, haven't been in a lift. But once I've had a test and gone up in a lift it'll be interesting to see how I go," says Laura.

Previously, Laura couldn't enter a lift without having a meltdown. This time, her aim is to see how far she can get, if she needs to get out, she will.

She walks into one of the tallest lifts in Brisbane feeling pretty relaxed — the AMP building is 32 storeys high.

"Nothing's coming into my brain to cloud it with fear," she says.

With 15 floors to go Laura's still keeping her cool. Then finally at the top — and she is feeling on top of the world!

"I did it! Let's do it again!"

Test two: smoking

It's been two weeks, but has John's hypnotherapy session worked? How will John go when he's surrounded by smokers? Will he be tempted to light one up? He also faces a grilling from his mates.

"Within four or five days later I noticed I had a little bit of a weight gain and that was one of my major concerns. And because alarm bells started ringing in my little mind, I started to panic and I actually had two cigarettes. But since then I've been back to see David and I have not touched a cigarette since," John says. "This will be a very good test to see if the temptation is still there for me to have a cigarette with my mates."

As any smoker knows, it's easy to quit when temptation's out of sight. But it's a lot harder when it's in your face.

But John succeeds. For John, the temptation to light up with his mates was there but the willpower was also greater, so he chooses not to accept the cigarette a friend tries to hand him.

The chances of hypnotherapy being a success are fairly high depending on the volunteer's motivation to give up smoking or perhaps get over their phobia.

According to the Mayo Clinic, numerous studies have shown that hypnotherapy has the potential to help relieve symptoms of several conditions. However, it is not a 'magic bullet' and is best used as part of a broader, more comprehensive treatment plan than as a stand-alone therapy. Like any other treatment, hypnosis can be very helpful to some people and fail completely with others. It seems to work best with people who are highly motivated and when the therapist is well-trained and understands your particular problem.

For both Laura and John, hypnotherapy has been an astounding success. We've seen hypnosis conquer a phobia and the addiction of smoking.

But how exactly does hypnosis work? Scientists still aren't sure, but when a person's hypnotised, the right side of the brain responsible for emotions and creativity becomes far more active than the left side of the brain, which is responsible for logical thinking.

According to David, what people don't understand is that we experience trance experiences everyday. Daydreaming, driving a motorcar, focusing attention on music or a movie. Any of those things produce some degree of altered states of consciousness. When a person consults a hypnotherapist, all they do is access that capacity right there in the clinic room.

If you think it might work for you, you'll find hypnotherapists in all of Australia's big cities. Just remember, it pays to go in with a positive attitude and a willingness to be there.

  • Need another reason to quit? Within 15 years of giving up smoking, your risk of coronary heart disease is that of a person who's never smoked and your risk of lung cancer would've been reduced by a whopping 80-90 percent.
  • Did you know that pregnant women are using hypnotherapy to block out the pain of childbirth? Women are learning relaxation techniques under hypnosis, allowing them to take their mind off contractions and to focus on the birth instead.
  • Most people quit smoking by going cold turkey and they have the best chance of not suffering a relapse. Less successful are those who use nicotine patches, gum, and counsellors. Clinical hypnotists claim about a 30 percent success rate in treating smokers.