Quitting smoking can feel like an uphill battle. In fact, for the 28.8 million adults1 who smoke, it can take an average of 30 attempts or more2 before they’re able to quit the habit for a year or longer.
While these statistics may sound bleak, things don’t have to stay this way forever. Regardless of how long or how often you smoke, if you’re ready to kick this habit to the curb once and for all, hypnosis to quit smoking can help. Here’s what you should know about smoking and hypnosis, including drawbacks to standard quitting methods and ways hypnotherapy can help you finally say goodbye to this unwanted habit for good.
The Why Behind the Addiction
Nicotine, a substance found in tobacco, is what causes the addiction. This chemical fills your system with dopamine, which creates a “feel-good” sensation in your brain. This response is what drives you to continue smoking so that you can experience this sensation again. Then, as you continue to smoke, you develop a tolerance, which creates an endless smoking cycle.
Beyond the chemical components within a cigarette, other factors that can drive a smoking habit/addiction include:
- Being around people who smoke, such as parents or peers
- Consuming media that normalizes smoking, such as video games, social media, or TV
- Exposure to tobacco marketing aimed at your demographic, such as your age or gender
- Feeling constantly stressed or anxious
- Your mental health condition
Common Quitting Methods
There are many methods available to help you quit smoking, some of which include:
- Using nicotine replacement therapy or medicines (such as a patch)
- Distracting yourself until the craving passes
- Replacing tobacco or nicotine use with some type of alternative, such as a snack or gum
- Participating in physical exercise to dampen the craving
Though these methods can be helpful, they only help you manage the habit. They don’t eliminate it. And if you’re someone who’s been a habitual smoker since adolescence, or are facing significant smoking-related health concerns, this focus on just managing the problem may not be enough.
How Hypnosis for Smoking Cessation Works
So, where does hypnosis fit into all of this? Can it really help you quit smoking? Let’s first discuss what hypnosis is.
Hypnosis is nothing more than a guided relaxation and intense concentration technique where you can reach a heightened state of awareness. It’s in this state that you become a better listener and are more receptive to positive suggestions. Once here, a hypnotherapist can help you address any psychological issues or conditions—such as smoking—by helping you change your thoughts and beliefs around the behavior.
Hypnosis and Smoking Focus
If you work with a hypnotherapist to address your smoking habit, there are two things they may focus on: eliminating smoking associations and how to respond in smoking-related situations.
Smoking Associations
There are a number of associations that can cue you to smoke, such as finishing a meal, taking a break at work, dealing with stress, or getting in your car. During a hypnosis session, your hypnotherapist can help you eliminate these associative thoughts on an unconscious level. This way, you can get in your car or finish your meal and not automatically think about a cigarette.
Smoking-Related Situations
What about for smoking-related situations? Can you just avoid anything that reminds you of the habit? Well, no. At some point, you will have to think about cigarettes again, such as when you see someone smoking or when someone offers you a cigarette.
When thoughts about cigarettes just pop into your head, it’s how you think about smoking, in that moment, that makes the difference. For these situations, a hypnotherapist can help you harness what’s motivating you to smoke so you can focus on the benefits of quitting in the exact moment you have to make a choice: when you’re having the temptation. This way, you can clearly see the consequences of continuing this habit and make a different choice.
Hypnosis and NLP for Smoking
One approach hypnotherapists may use during a hypnotherapy session is neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). NLP studies our subjective experience. In other words, it breaks down the process of thinking into three components: internal visuals, internal dialogue, and feelings. It’s through this approach that a hypnotherapist can help you change certain thought patterns or behaviors to overcome any limiting beliefs.
Some NLP techniques a hypnotherapist may use to help you quit smoking include:
- Anchoring: This is when you connect a positive state of mind, such as being smoking-free, to a certain action or gesture.
- Parts Integration: Parts integration works to fix certain internal conflicts you may have around your smoking habit.
- Reframing: This technique focuses on reinterpreting your thoughts and experiences around smoking.
- Swish Method: This technique teaches your brain to instantly and automatically shift away from the internal mental image of smoking and replace it with an image that is in line with your goal to become a non-smoker.
Say Goodbye to Smoking with Hypnosis
Are you ready to make smoking a habit of the past? Pure Hypnosis can help. Over decades of experience in hypnotherapy in Altanta, we have helped clients address all types of concerns, from smoking and anxiety to relationships, weight loss, and more. No matter how long you’ve been smoking, no matter how many attempts you’ve made to quit, we can help you kick this habit for good.
1https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/resources/data/cigarette-smoking-in-united-states.html#:~:text=Cigarette%20smoking%20cost%20the%20United,%24372%20billion%20in%20lost%20productivity.&text=In%202022%2C%20an%20estimated%2011.6,U.S.%20adults%20currently%20smoked%20cigarettes
2>https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4908897/#R7
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