Smoking is a deadly habit and a difficult one to kick. It is the leading cause of cancer and leads to an increased risk of heart disease, lung disease and other health problems. Unfortunately, difficult withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, headaches, irritability and nausea prevent many from successfully kicking the habit. Research shows it takes many up to thirty attempts to successfully quit smoking. Luckily, there are several useful supports for quitting. Hypnotherapy offers an all-natural, non-invasive option to support you in your quitting journey, helping to instil you with the power to quit bad habits and support your health.

What Is Hypnosis?

Hypnosis refers to an altered state of awareness brought about through the gentle coaching of a Hypnotherapist. In this state, you remain conscious but are more relaxed and therefore, more open to suggestions. You cannot be made to do anything against your will under hypnosis; rather, you can tap into your subconscious mind and better focus on your inner thoughts, feelings and memories. Studies have shown that what a person imagines during hypnosis can trigger similar areas of the brain when they experience these things in real life. The suggestions made while under hypnosis can therefore trigger the brain to react in a certain way to real-life triggers (i.e. encouraging particular breathing exercises when anxiety spikes).

Hypnotherapy for Smoking

Hypnosis to curb smoking habits will focus on altering how your brain views smoking, encouraging negative connections that will help dissuade you from picking up a cigarette. You and your practitioner will discuss your goals for quitting, current smoking habits and the tactics you’ve tried so far to quit to develop a unique treatment plan that meets your needs. During your hypnosis, you may be encouraged to imagine unpleasant outcomes from smoking to help change your brain’s association with the habit (i.e. a dry, parched mouth after smoking, the association of cigarette’s smell with truck exhaust). Your hypnotherapist may give you certain affirmations to repeat when you feel the urge to smoke, reinforcing the damage the habit does to your body. The Speigel method - one of the most commonly used tools in hypnosis for quitting smoking - encourages the individual to quit through three simple affirmations:

1. Smoking is poison

2. The body is entitled to protection from smoke

3. There are advantages to life as a non-smoker

This method targets smoker’s underlying desire to stop doing something that is causing active harm to their body, strengthening their will to quit and increasing concentration on their treatment.

Hypnotherapy can help change your mindset and approach to smoking, allowing you to confront and accept the real dangers associated with the act. While in an altered state of awareness, your Hypnotherapist will provide suggestions to dissuade bad habits, targeting your unconscious motivations for smoking while helping redirect your brain when the desire to smoke surfaces. This might involve the suggestion of alternative behaviours to replace the habit (i.e. going for a jog every time you feel the urge to smoke) helping to replace a bad habit with a positive one in your subconscious. Hypnosis can also help reduce and control withdrawal symptoms, decreasing suffering in the quitting process.

In 2021, a study found that with the aid of hypnosis, 86% of participants were no longer smoking six months after treatment. Generally, hypnosis is most successful for those who have already begun the journey of quitting and can be used in combination with other methods (such as nicotine patches) to increase the likelihood of success. Hypnosis is a great way to break bad habits and encourage new patterns of behaviour where our subconscious mind might resist allowing growth and positive change.

Are looking to quit smoking or give up a bad habit? See if hypnosis is for you and become the best and healthiest version of yourself!