Hypnotherapy is probably the healthiest and certainly one of the surest ways to quit smoking. Whether you smoke cigarettes or are a pipe smoker, giving up makes sense and more people than ever before have suddenly decided that now is the time to stop smoking. Nicotine patches, acupuncture, counselling and hypnosis are all aids to stopping smoking.
For some people, it is a financial decision. Cigarettes and tobacco products are becoming more expensive year after year as governments realise that they can increase revenue from taxing tobacco in the name of better health! Other people are scared into giving up smoking for the good of their health.
Anyone shown a picture of lungs that have been subjected to the abuse of long term tobacco usage should certainly worry, and heart attacks too make people suddenly aware of the need to take drastic measures if they want to stay healthy! The medical benefits of stopping smoking are enormous. Consultants will often refuse treatment to someone if they continue to smoke, saying that it is a pointless exercise.
Does Hypnosis Really Stop People Smoking?
Hypnosis for smoking cessation can be very effective, certainly, as a practising hypnotherapist I normally achieve a 90 percent success rate. Some hypnotherapists charge as little as a hundred pounds and can stop you smoking in an hour, whilst other hypnotherapists prefer to give you time to adjust to the change, arguing that a more prolonged treatment will give the client more faith in the outcome, some taking three consultations and others as many as ten. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of difference in the long term results. It's a good idea to ask around your friends and find someone who stopped smoking with hypnotherapy so that you already have some good independent feedback about the practice.
Although there are no published statistics for giving up smoking with hypnotherapy, a successful outcome depends on several factors. Trust is one of the main factors governing successful smoking cessation using hypnosis. Many people believe that hypnosis actually gives the hypnotherapist “power” over them, thinking that a hypnotherapist is born with this mystical ability and not realising that it is a skill learned in a classroom. A person’s motivation is probably the second most important factor for someone choosing to give up smoking, but the personal motivation needs to be taken into account by the therapist and used within the treatment to reinforce it. The hypnotherapist is another main factor. It is essential that he or she uses information gleaned from their client to the best effect. For example, if the main reason for stopping smoking is because they want to see their kids grow up, the therapist can hone in on that and portray both the negative side of continuing to smoke and the possibility of never knowing their children as adults.
Stopping Smoking Makes Sense!
It is generally accepted that giving positive suggestion is the most effective therapy, stressing the benefits of being a non-smoker; the health benefits, more disposable income, your car and clothes and house smell fresher, control of your life, social acceptability and all those little things that make a non-smoker feel that giving up the lifetime habit of smoking is worthwhile. However, combining positive suggestions along with aversion therapy works even better as in the mind the taste and smell of tobacco and cigarettes becomes the same as rotten fish – or something similar. And every time they put a cigarette in their mouths, that is the taste and smell.
It isn’t about being a smoker, it is about becoming a non-smoker and feeling and acting as though you have never been a smoker and have no wish to be one.
There are a few reasons that crop up over and over again when people fall off the wagon. Holidays, or time off, where the routine of your life has changed - this is a prime reason. Domestic arguments can be used as an excuse. ("Now see what you made me do!") Hospital visits to casualty with a family member or similar stressful events. Forewarned is forearmed!
Penny Huntington - I suppose that I must describe myself as a Jill of all trades and mistress of a few! My life has been a perpetual journey of discovery. I ...
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