Hypnosis for quitting smoking

Why You Can’t Give Up Cigarettes

 

You’ve tried everything to quit smoking in Melbourne and still can’t stop. Why is it so hard to ditch this annoying, dirty, dangerous habit?

There’s no doubt about it – smoking is an insidious beast. I’ve seen diabetics who are told that they will lose a limb if they continue to smoke – and STILL that’s not enough motivation for them to quit.

Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Not if you’re a smoker. Some people would literally rather die than give up cigarettes..

So is hypnosis really a magic bullet? Sometimes it seems that way. Still, there are limitations – if you don’t actually want to quit smoking no amount of hypnosis will help you. But if you DO….well, that’s another story altogether!

 

Triggers Have Ways Of Making You Smoke

things you do that make you want to smoke cigarettes at the same time

Triggers can be described as events or situations with which your mind has identified and paired with smoking. Here’s why you feel compelled to smoke at certain times, such as:

  • First thing in the morning;
  • After meal;
  • While you’re driving;
  • On the Phone;
  • With Coffee;
  • With Alcohol

It’s because all of these little connections have been created in your subconscious mind between smoking and these activities. So without thinking about it, you light up when you’ve had a meal. Or with a coffee. The ‘without thinking about it’ bit refers to your automatic subconscious response.

On the upside, if these triggers were created by your subconscious, they can certainly be removed as well. And the best bit is you can just as easily NOT smoke ‘without even thinking about it’ as well. That’s the good thing about your subconscious – it works on autopilot.

So think of a clinical hypnotherapist as your own personal pilot. With your permission she can help you drive your plane where you want to go.

 

If This Guy Can Do It So Can You

I had a client who smoked (-wait for it-) one hundred and forty cigarettes per day, and had done so for 40 years of his life. He’d tried hypnotherapy before but didn’t gel with his therapist (this is a biggie, people – you have to trust your hypnotherapist!).

So he came to me and we did his first session. He wasn’t comfortable going cold turkey so I suggested we set a goal of no more than 60 cigarettes per day. I should add that this guy had a pretty stressful life.

When he came back a week later he was down to 60 per day – but still struggling. It was pretty clear to me that there was a part of him that was using smoking to help him get a break from his crazy schedule.

So I did some work on the part of him that was using smoking to get a break and we agreed on other more healthful ways he (and his subconscious) could get a break (other than killing himself with the ciggies).

After that session, we left it two weeks. When the time came for his third session I sent him a reminder. He called me back and said ‘I don’t need it a third session. I’m off the cigarettes’. BOOYAH!!!

So the moral of the story is: it’s not that you CAN’T stop smoking – but more likely you haven’t gotten to the cause of the problem yet. A tool such as hypnotherapy can help you find the cause and fix the problem.

One word of advice though; you have to find a hypnotherapist that you trust. It’s one thing to be a bit nervous about the process – that’s normal. But if you don’t think your therapist has what it takes to help you quit, it’s unlikely you’ll let yourself go into a state of hypnosis at all.

So if you’ve tried everything to quit smoking and still can’t stop, do your research and find the best hypnotherapist for you.