Hypnotherapy to quit smoking - does it work?

Lilith1980 · 16 June 2009 at 7:39PM

I tried the Paul McKenna CD about 10 years ago but you had to keep listening to it every day really. I didn't smoke for the first day but went back on the ciggies the day after :rolleyes:

At age 23 I gave up and this lasted for 2 years but then stupidly, I thought I could have the odd one when I went out....quickly fell back into the habit.

I have now been "smoke free" for 4 weeks, no patches nothing and I feel great. I want to start looking after my body and I feel so good to not have to rely on those things. I don't tire so easily at the gym, I do't smell and I have a little extra in my bank account each month. Like others have said, you have to really want to stop smoking.

Good luck

diable · 16 June 2009 at 7:56PM

Buddingblonde wrote: »

The doctor gave her a leaflet about an NHS hypnotherapist who does private sessions to quit smoking. In this leaflet he claims that 1 session (costing £85) is all that will be needed and she will never smoke again.

If this was the case then there would be no smokers left in the NHS! There would be no NRT and need for expensive drugs. All the studies that have been done on hypnosis over the years show that is no more successful that will power alone. You still have to go through drug withdrawal (which can be pretty unpleasant) and also the habits and association stuff.

I have 14 years of smoking cessation experience (I have been an addiction counsellor up until recently).

The best way to stop smoking is Champix - the results compaired to everything else are way beyond Zyban and NRT. If not suitable then NRT is an option but the problem with most smokers on nrt is that they do not take enough of it for long enough. Most people should be using 2 products (those smoking 20 a day+)

The problem for most smokers isn't the drug addiction but the habits of smoking - until they address the reasons why they smoke they will not succeed.

The other thing I would say is that most smokers are completely unrealistic about stopping smoking - it is something that will take most smokers 6 months to a year to truly get mentally into the habit of being a non smoker (note I said non smoker rather than ex smoker). Those who cannot accept not smoking as a long term goal will not stop.

I am more than happy to talk to anyone who wants to pm me about smoking and stopping. I might have retired from it professionally but I am more than happy to spread the knowledge and experience.

Ax

PS and before anyone asks I am an ex smoker - I used to smoke 40 a day and I gave up years ago without anything or anyone - just got fed up of all my money going on it.

I agree with what you are saying but no all things are suitable for everyone. With hypnotherapy you have to be willing and wanting to give up and your mind must be open to the neurological help/advice/reprogramming it receives.

I can only tell you what happened to me and that was that once I left my session then I had zero cravings and zero habits and this is the person who smoked 6 cigarettes before he got to work and for me then it was a 15 min car journey.

I took that route as I tried with willpower alone then patches over the years I loved smoking but at 40 it was time to give up and this was my last chance and I took the risk.

If you really want to give up then with your chosen method you should be able to but the leaflet if it actually is worded as quoted is miss leading as nothing is guaranteed to make you give up smoking apart from dropping dead.

Whichever method anyone chooses then the best of luck.

pretzelnut · 16 June 2009 at 8:29PM

That is kinda how i feel.

If it worked so well then surely the NHS would offer it to everyone and therefore there would be NO need for patches, etc etc.

I suppose thats just the sceptic in me, but when you have tried everything and another opportunity arises to try something else then i cant see the harm in a no obligation talk about it, hence why I (the sensible - i can see straight through your bull !!!!!! one) will be going with my mum.

But she does believe in such things as phyic's and the such so maybe this is more her. As opposed to more common methods like patches.

I value all you ropinions, hence why i started the thread and all advice and info will and has been taken on board.

diable · 16 June 2009 at 10:15PM

princesswoo wrote: »

That is kinda how i feel.

If it worked so well then surely the NHS would offer it to everyone and therefore there would be NO need for patches, etc etc.

I suppose thats just the sceptic in me, but when you have tried everything and another opportunity arises to try something else then i cant see the harm in a no obligation talk about it, hence why I (the sensible - i can see straight through your bull !!!!!! one) will be going with my mum.

But she does believe in such things as phyic's and the such so maybe this is more her. As opposed to more common methods like patches.

I value all you ropinions, hence why i started the thread and all advice and info will and has been taken on board.

The government doesn't want to cure everyone as if a lot of people die before retiring then it is money saved that is spent elsewhere.

Best of luck.

pretzelnut · 16 June 2009 at 10:32PM

yeah i wonder what they'll sting my mum for when she stops buying her 40 fags a day - they'll have to get that tax back somehow.

jenhug · 16 June 2009 at 10:36PM

I am having hypno for some other issues, its working really well and this is the girl that "has no willpower!" It does work, more so if you want it to I think, I know a couple of people that had hypno for smoking and they stopped symptom free!

3onitsway · 16 June 2009 at 11:05PM

Me, OH and MIL went a couple of years ago, to a hypnotherapist, recommended by MIL's gp.
MIL smoked two hours after the session, Me and OH lasted about 5 hours! So, for us, no.

I gave up as soon as I found out I was pregnant (again). I also gave up with my first two pregnancies, after they were born, I thought I could have the odd one on nights out/socially, this then ended up back to 10 a day! I don't know whether the thought that I was giving up for my baby did it for me.

MIL has just completed a course of Champix and has nothing but praise for it. She's tried everthing over the years, and this is the only thing that has worked. I think she's done about 10 weeks now, and says she honestly doesn't want one.

l4ne2008 · 16 June 2009 at 11:23PM

Princesswoo I've been having hypnotherapy for confidence building, it has definitely helped. It works better if you really want to change & believe that hypnosis works. My aunty used it for smoking and she has not smoked for 4 years.

jamtart6 · 17 June 2009 at 12:06AM

some people are more susceptible to being hypnotised than others, so it isn't foolproof . They better your imagination, the more susceptible you are likely to be. I'd say it was money well spent as anything would be worth a go.

seven-day-weekend · 17 June 2009 at 1:06AM

I believe it CAN work, if she wants to stop enough. If she doesn't, it won't.

I am a non-smoker now for twenty years and my cure was effected through prayer. After the prayer I had no withdrawal symptoms and no cravings.

My husband has been smoke-free for over five years; he went cold turkey.

My husband's cousin has now been smoke-free for over a year and has managed to give it up using a drug, but I don't know which one.

We are all in our 50s/early 60s but the main thing was although we have given it up by different methods, all of us really wanted to quit.

So imho if your mum really wants to stop, the hypnothereapy might help her to do so.

Hypnotherapy to quit smoking - does it work?

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