SERVICES

 
Why is Hypnotherapy effective to stop smoking?
Smoking is one of the most difficult habits to break.  Perhaps you have been smoking since adolescence or maybe you began to smoke recently.  Either way, Hypnotherapy can be very effective alone or in combination with other stop smoking methods because it works with the 88% of the mind we call the Subconscious Mind that has locked this very automatic habit into your everyday life through association and repetition.
 
Why is it so difficult to quit and stay “quit”?
Everything about cigarettes, from their advertisements to their ingredients, is set up to lock in the habit of smoking in such a deeply unconscious manner that it becomes automatic.  And smoking gets subtly tied into so many activities in your life that it becomes extremely difficult to separate the act of smoking from your day-to-day activities.  For instance, you are working on your job. You have stress or you get tired.  You step outside for a break.  You light up a cigarette.  You inhale and exhale.  Relaxation occurs.  This cycle happens so often that it becomes an automatic action.  Before you know it, the Subconscious Mind has created a comfortable known:  cigarettes = relaxation.  
 
I have quit so many times! Maybe I just have to find more will power?
“But I want to quit for good and this time I am going to do it!”, you say.  So you quit, for a week, a month, or even a year.  It’s working and you’re feeling so empowered and healthy, with a sense of accomplishment.  (And you’re saving money from not buying cigarettes -- that’s really cool!)  Then, along comes a major life change – positive or negative, or a dramatic event in your life – positive or negative – and a cigarette finds its way back between your fingers and right into your mouth. Then comes that first inhale and exhale. And finally, relaxation.  Before you know it, smoking is once again the long, lost companion to all your activities, just like the “good old days”!
 
What the heck happened to all my will power and determination?
What happened is that “will power” and “determination” are products of the Conscious Mind.  Remember when I said that the Subconscious Mind is 88% of the entire mind? Well, do the math!  That makes the Conscious Mind a whopping 12%!  So, you did a fantastic job quitting smoking for a week, a month, or a year, and against all odds, you were using 12% of your mind to do it!  Then along came an old association that got triggered from the Subconscious Mind (88%), and all your Logic, Reasoning, Will Power, Determination, and Decision-Making of the Conscious Mind (12%)  went out the window…..I think you get the picture!
 
So, how does hypnotherapy make a difference?
With hypnotherapy, we take all your wonderful Logic, Reasoning, Will Power, Determination, and Decision-Making that you do with the 12% Conscious Mind, create positive suggestions and healthy replacements for the 88% Subconscious Mind, tie them together, and now we have 100% cooperation. We also go through your day, identify the activities you smoke cigarettes with, and the associated feelings. You will gradually cut down your cigarettes and learn new healthy replacement habits and coping mechanisms for stress.
 
How long is the Stop Smoking Program?
This depends on the type of smoker you are – an identification smoker (you started smoking when you were young) or a  replacement smoker (you started smoking later in life) – and perhaps other factors.  It could be anywhere from one to six sessions (six weeks), with some follow up sessions to reinforce your new identity as a non-smoker.
 
Will I gain weight or pick up another unhealthy habit?
One of the most effective aspects of this Stop Smoking Program is that it builds healthy habits and techniques to deal with stress and anxiety so that you will not have to gain any weight or switch to another unhealthy habit if you don’t want to.  Many clients have become non-smokers while maintaining healthy eating habits and a healthy body weight.  Some have even become so motivated by the ability to stop smoking that they have incorporated a healthy eating and exercise program into their life style and actually lost weight!  You will probably feel so empowered by learning healthy ways to deal with the twists and turns of life that reaching for an unhealthy habit will no longer be in your subconscious programming.  And if you find yourself turning to an unhealthy action of any kind, we can work on that.  This is what the follow-up sessions are for. 
 
How do I get started?
Contact me for a free telephone session.  I look forward to joining you in your journey to becoming a non-smoker!  Congratulations on you new, healthy  lifestyle!