Using Hypnosis to Stop Smoking [HowTo]
Hypnosis is one of the most popular ways to quit smoking. How exactly does this work, which techniques are used and how can you apply (self) hypnosis to quit smoking? Read further…
By Marcel Borst – senior hypnotherapist
Contents of this page:
Could smoking addiction be ‘just’ a belief ?
Quit smoking. It’s quite a thing for most smokers. They often do it for years and are also convinced that it is very addictive. Everyone believes that too. And yes, just fight against such a strong internal conviction.
In any case, the world view of a smoker is completely different from that of a non-smoker. It is therefore very logical that it is very difficult to stop. If, as a recently-quit smoker, you happen to pick up a cigarette from that one friend on autopilot , just because you’re not thinking for a while, then at least you have a good excuse right away :
Indeed: that addiction is a useful excuse …
Secretly in love with smoking …
Smokers attach great importance to their cigarette. They even have pet names for it. It is their friend or their anchor , all they have left. It gives them peace and confidence .
That is special. If it gives peace and confidence, why is it so hard not to smoke? Or would it be just the opposite ? That it creates unrest and completely removes confidence in your own strength?
That may well explain what smokers do and feel all day long …
These are the exact hypnosis techniques used against smoking
With hypnosis and the use of various NLP techniques, many therapists also do quit smoking sessions. The average success rate is approximately 40%, usually with 2 to 3 sessions.
What steps do therapists take (or maybe you are a therapist who wants to apply it)? Depending on your skills and abilities you can think of:
- The swish technique on the experience of the cigarette
- Working with associations and dissociations
- Making the illusion explode by blowing it up further and further
- Apply the black and white put away technique
- Working with anchors and triggers
- Using various visualizations
- Working with ideomotor signals
- The use of conversational hypnosis techniques
In any case, all of these hypnosis techniques work better than the standard methods that smokers usually choose, such as giving up smoking by willpower. Did you know that only 6 in 100 smokers stop smoking for more than a year purely on willpower? The rest have long since succumbed to their addiction. For their boyfriend. For their faithful support.Here you stop smoking immediately thanks to hypnosis (tip!)
So does hypnosis work better than patches, gum and e-cigarettes?
Nicotine substitutes such as plasters and chewing gum or e-cigarettes don’t really work either. Only 16% chance of success. Why? Because you keep bringing the addictive ingredient nicotine into your body. And as long as you do that, the addictive component remains active. So it is much better to choose a method where you stop in one go.
To your health!