Guest post : Stephen Rigby has been a full time hypnotherapist and life coach since 2002. He has his main hypnotherapy practice in Guildford. Stephen is also the hypnotherapist for the Surrey Park Clinic (on the Research Park) and is BUPA recognised. You can find out more information on his service by accessing his website.
New Year’s resolutions are upon us and one popular resolution is to Stop Smoking. In a recent poll of nearly 2000 forum members at MoneySupermarket.com, 5.5% of them said that they would be making a New Years resolution to stop smoking. Unfortunately, 7.6% said they made a resolution in 2011 to stop and failed.
New Year’s resolutions are upon us and one popular resolution is to Stop Smoking. In a recent poll of nearly 2000 forum members at MoneySupermarket.com, 5.5% of them said that they would be making a New Years resolution to stop smoking. Unfortunately, 7.6% said they made a resolution in 2011 to stop and failed.
I have probably had over a thousand people seek my assistance to stop smoking using hypnotherapy and almost all of those had tried many times to stop smoking previously before they came to me for help.
Hypnotherapy can be an incredible tool in assisting a person to stop smoking and when a person is willing to make the necessary commitment, it is extremely effective. My clients have reported back to me that hypnotherapy made stopping smoking easy, eliminating things like cravings and weight gain.
For this article I have covered three aspects of smoking that may be of help to those who want to quit. When embarking on any journey it is always advisable to have the right information before you start, unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation that will make the journey of a smoker to being a non-smoker much more difficult.
1. Willpower is not required
1. Willpower is not required
This does not mean that you do not have to make an effort but regard willpower as being the effort required to do something you do not want to do or not do something you do want to do. To stop smoking is a decision – the decision to never smoke again. If you cannot make that decision, there is something going on that you are not consciously aware of – something that hypnotherapy may help you to address.
The prime reason for someone to return to smoking is that they do not make the one simple decision of “I have stopped smoking and no matter what happens I will never smoke again!”
This is why making a quit date can be so effective – it gives you time to reinforce your decision prior to making it.
2. There is no difference between a “Social Smoker” and a “Full Time Smoker”
2. There is no difference between a “Social Smoker” and a “Full Time Smoker”
People start smoking for a reason and generally they continue to smoke for the same reason. The “social smoker’s” reasons for smoking are just more isolated than those of the “full time” smoker.
One of the most revealing questions I can ask in a “Stop Smoking” session is “what did you get from smoking that was positive?” Usually the answer is “nothing”! If one engages in an activity from which one gets nothing, one does not continue doing it for very long! Smoking achieves something for every smoker. In most cases, there are as effective or more effective strategies to achieve the same thing but if one does not acknowledge there is a need one is unlikely to look for positive alternatives and ultimately return to smoking.
One of the effects of hypnotherapy is to strengthen ones self belief that there are more positive behaviours and life is still pleasurable and enjoyable without smoking.
Many of my clients tell me that life as a non-smoker is actually much more enjoyable and pleasurable.
3. Chemical addiction to nicotine is not a significant consideration
3. Chemical addiction to nicotine is not a significant consideration
Many people believe that this is the major consideration because that is what they are told but nicotine does not behave in the same way as a substance that we regard as addictive.
There are many examples of this but possibly the most interesting is to observe what happens when a smoker goes to bed – irrespective of how many cigarettes they smoke during the day, whether six or 60 – they usually feel no desire to smoke until the next day! The same cannot be said for someone who has an addiction to something like heroin.
Contrast this with what the makers of Nicotine patches want you to believe. It was not that long ago that our TV’s were inundated with men dressed as cigarettes wandering round aimlessly during the night because of the introduction of a 24 hour nicotine patch!
The truth is that the impulse to smoke is mainly psychological and that is why hypnotherapy can be so effective in helping a person to stop and stay stopped!
My Stop Smoking sessions are carried out over one session. In certain circumstances this one session has to be augmented with an additional session to address a specific issue that only occurs in a small percentage of smokers. I give up to two free back up session in the first six months to address this circumstance.