In a darkened room the hypnotist invites his client to sit down and make him or herself comfortable. He gets out a pocket watch, and after some brief small talk proceeds to dangle it in front of their face, all the while saying something along the lines of “You are feeling sleepy, very sleepy…” The client feels their eyelids starting to grow heavier and heavier until they’re under the spell the hypnotist needs them to be so that he can get to work…

This is not hypnotism. It’s a cliché.

My form of treatment doesn’t necessarily involve gloomy rooms, require half-awake trances or the presence of a pocket watch unless you really want it to. Allow me to explain.

…And you’re back in the room.

Hypnotism is all about words. That’s it, just words. More specifically though, it’s about using words in a very controlled and particular way in order to have a profound effect on the way somebody thinks and feels. Any good hypnotist will be aware of what they are saying and the way it is being said in order to achieve a certain end.

In this case, the end that you would have in mind as a client would be to stop smoking. But how are you going to achieve that and overcome what often feel like very real, almost physical, cravings and withdrawal symptoms through the power of words alone?

We do this by combining the things I say with the power of your imagination. In the same way that a good fiction writer is able to make words printed on pages paint detailed and compulsive images in your mind, I would look to change the way you feel about smoking by getting your own imagination to change your attitudes and habits in ways you might never have thought possible.

You make your own reality

Why do you smoke? Why do you keep smoking? Why can’t you stop? Your answers to these questions will differ to varying degrees from those of another smoker. It may be because you’ve come to associate smoking with feelings of well-being and relaxation. It may be because you simply can’t picture yourself not having a cigarette after meals. Perhaps you’ve just written yourself off as an ‘addictive personality’ and have resigned yourself to the fact that cigarettes will always be a part of your life.

The main aim of the treatment is to break these connections, the thought processes you have that, for various reasons, have lead some part of you to believe that cigarettes are A Good Thing. Because everyone has their own reasons for smoking and reasons as to why they find it hard to stop, the things I will say during the hypnosis sessions will differ from one client to another. As I talk to you, as your imagination reacts to the things I say, I will take my cues from how you respond and either continue or alter my approach accordingly.

What we’re ultimately going to do is not just get you just thinking about cigarettes differently but to actually see and feel them differently. All with just the tools of my words and your imagination.

Elsewhere on this site you can find further information about the sort of techniques and approaches I might employ.

Ah, but hang on – I’m far too strong willed / sensible / intelligent to be susceptible to any of this stuff!

Allow me to stress the following: being ‘susceptible’ – for want of a better word – to hypnosis does not, repeat NOT, suggest anything inherently negative about your personality or level of intelligence. As I’ve mentioned above, what I’ll be looking to work with most of all is your imagination, your ability to draw pictures and recall particular feelings inside your head.

The ability to do this will naturally vary from person to person. Some are able to visualize things more quickly and vividly than others, but no matter how great your powers of imagination are, you still have within you the means to fundamentally alter your relationship to smoking.

Because at the end of the day, the treatment I provide is less about hypnotic coercion and far more about getting you to where you want to go. I can provide you with the means to kick your habit for good – whether you feel this is something you ought to actively resist is entirely up to you.

....... You want to stop