Hypnosis and Smoking Cessation.

Hypnosis is used to help reduce the craving and build the will power so that it becomes very much easier to quit smoking. However, a smoker cannot be made to quit smoking. There has to be SELF-motivation. It becomes more difficult if the person feels that he/she HAS to stop. This could be because a spouse or other family member is encouraging him/her. A good question to ask oneself is, "Would I really want to quit WITHOUT the 'encouragement'?"

With my hypnotherapy practice, hypnosis is not used to help the smoker 'cut down'. In my experience a smoker who tries to quit this way eventually goes back to his/her earlier quota. A smoker wishing to quit must be willing to do so on his/her first visit to the hypnotherapist. Hypnosis is then used to help increase the motivation and will power.

A recent survey done revealed that the most successful method of smoking cessation was hypnotherapy. I am not surprised at that for I firmly believe that quitting permanently is 90% psychological and just 10% physical. This is easy to explain because, if a reformed smoker was to simply focus on any physical cravings he/she felt rather than to try and ignore them by... "doing something else", those cravings would in fact disappear. It is when a reformed smoker tries to tell him/herself, "I don't want a smoke" that the problems arise because there is a level of denial in this form of statement. It if far more effective to fully acknowledge that one want a smoke and is addicted to it, but is no longer going to obey those cravings, no matter how strong they become.

This may not be true for EVERYONE but I would say about 95% of the clients that I see successfully give up smoking using these techniques. However, nothing is "written in stone" and my recommendation has always been... First discover what works for you and then apply it with 100% commitment.