Help to Stop Smoking
Perhaps 1 in 10 of the general population is particularly easy to hypnotise. These people tend to do achieve good
results relatively easily, no matter how good the therapist. They are the ones who tell their friends to go to
"the such-and-such hypnotist
in town because he stopped me in ONE
SESSION!"
The trouble is most of his or her friends who then try it find that it takes a lot more than one session. (They
tend not to tell anyone that they've been to someone who guaranteed results, but it didn't work.)
Too often people are not prepared to work at it: Just Fix Me!" They expect the Hypnotherapist to take away all the withdrawal symptoms.
For the majority of the population, this is a bit unreasonable! YOU have to be determined to stop
Another aspect of smoking is that it satisfies a deep need for comfort in the same way as a baby feels safer sucking
a dummy, or people bite their nails. Smoking is an oral habit.
I know it sounds a bit strange, but for most people, it is important to address why they need this comfort, and
this means looking at their past to find out what happened that can still cause problems now. This takes time.
Many clients expect to get a quick "blast" of hypnosis and ("Tada!") they're non-smokers. This
is because too many hypnotherapists out there (almost) guarantee that they will make you
stop, often after only one session. This then creates an unrealistic expectation as to how easy it is to stop
with hypnosis.
Some people are very responsive to Hypnotherapy and actually DO quit after one session. many
people who do respond to Suggestions often start again after a few weeks or months.
This is because the therapist did not tackle the real reason why they couldn't stop by themselves.
Whatever was going on in their minds is still there. For this reason, you are well advised to avoid any therapist
who guarantees that you will stop smoking.
I have helped many, many clients to stop in one session. I just won't guarantee it because it usually takes longer.
There is nothing rational about smoking! There is not one good reason to smoke, or not to stop. There are, however,
scores of reasons not to smoke. You really don't need ME to tell you again.
If the need to smoke was
coming from a rational part of your brain, you would stop in a heartbeat. In my view, there is no point in doctors
banging
on about why people should stop smoking by explaining what can go wrong! People know
all this
already. It may motivate them to want to stop, but it doesn't help to achieve it. (You may find
this Support Group useful.)
The need to smoke comes from the Unconscious Mind. This is the very secret, private part of your mind where all your feelings come from; all your memories; everything that's ever happened to you. This part of your mind is not rational. It doesn't respond to logical argument.
(Consider the situation where you meet someone ... and you just don't like them. They don't feel right, somehow. There is no reason to dislike them - it just happens.) This feeling comes from somewhere. Something negative must have happened in the past: some event that is being triggered by something familiar. It could be the colour of the person's shoes, or the way
he or she stands.
Another peculiar problem with the Unconscious Mind is that it doesn't really understand time. You feel feelings now! You're not hungry last year or next week - you're hungry now.
The trouble is, this same part of your mind also thinks that you need to smoke. It feels that something
bad will happen if you don't keep
having cigarettes. There is no logical reason for this either - again, it just happens.
The chances are that something happened, often in the dim and distant past, which created anxiety. If the event wasn't properly dealt with, it's still kind of "in the queue" to be dealt with - along with
all the genuinely new stuff.
In other words, traumatic events often remain stuck in the short-term memory. This means that the feelings of anxiety, fear, hurt, etc., feel as if they are in the present. Because the
Unconscious doesn't understand what's happening, it associates the anxiety with the fact that you're not currently smoking.
It sounds weird - but there it is.
Whilst a number of clients do manage to stop in a single session, realistically it's going to take more like 3 sessions. If you're unhappy, stressed, feel low, etc., there will be a part of you that feels
it NEEDS cigarettes. We'll need to fix these underlying problems first, so it may take more like 4 or even 5 sessions. Of course, you may not stop smoking at all.
Everybody's different!
David Stocks -
Dalgety Bay Hypnotherapy Ltd
David Stocks
2 Crowhill Road,
Dalgety Bay,
Dunfermline
KY11 9LJ
Monday to Friday 9am - 7:30pm
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David Stocks
Dalgety Bay Hypnotherapy
2 Crowhill Road, Dalgety Bay
Dunfermline
,
Fife
,
KY11 9LJ
Scotland
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