There are people who have quit smoking through hypnotherapy and those who could not. As with many other techniques, if you want to stop smoking, it might be worth a try. Hypnotherapy has been gaining more acceptance as an alternative therapy over the years. It is even being used in established clinics. Hypnotherapy is nothing to be afraid of. Your mind is not being taken over; it is being strengthened.
Instructions
Step 1
Find for a good hypnotherapist. Check with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis or the National Board of Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists, which has an online locator to find one in your area. Purchase a CD with recorded sessions on how to quit smoking. Take the suggestions of your therapist, then listen to the hypnotic suggestions at home to reinforce the messages and kick the habit.
Step 2
Search for a hypnotherapist who is certified with specific training and expertise in the area of smoking cessation. Ask around for a recommendation. Look for a therapist who can help you relax so that you can be guided properly through the process. Get ready to respond to specific images and words to help you get smoking out of your mind. Plan on doing one session or several sessions, depending on the therapist and your reactions.
Step 3
Be prepared to look into the future and see yourself as a nonsmoker. Think positively while undergoing hypnosis and believe wholeheartedly that you can quit.
Step 4
Fill your mind with positive feelings and keep all negative thoughts out of your mind as you picture yourself without a cigarette in your hand.
Step 5
Practice the ways the hypnotherapist conditions you to build your attitude and enhance your character strengths following your sessions.
Step 6
Express your learned responses anytime the urge to smoke strikes you. Hypnotherapy has given you a command of your habit, addictions and willpower, as research has shown, reported in Psychology: A Quarterly Journal of Human Behavior in 1987.
Step 7
Take deep breaths and drink some water whenever you continue your hypnotic suggestions on your way to kicking the habit.
Step 8
Visit your hypnotherapist for follow-up sessions even after you have quit. This will reinforce those positive messages.
Tips and Warnings
- It can't hurt to use other options while undergoing hypnosis to snuff out cigarettes. Nicotine patch therapy might provide further assistance in fighting the urge to smoke. Hypnosis is also helpful to smokers who have a history of depression, according to researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California-San Francisco, and published in the May 2008 issue of Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Some smokers consciously or unconsciously fight depression through smoking, and hypnosis might help both problems in the quitting process.
- Check with local directories and publications or go online to find a hypnotherapist. Make sure the person is certified in the field. If you have any questions, contact The National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists.
