What the treatment ultimately aims to do is assist with overcoming the withdrawal symptoms described earlier. These ought to ease off over a period of several weeks as the body starts to re-adjust to its normal cycle of endorphin release, but this period of change can be difficult, longer lasting or more problematic for some.

Where I can help is by making this transition easier for those who need it – by speeding up the process and helping to restore the body’s natural cycle of endorphin release without the aid of external stimulants.

This can be achieved through various types of hypnosis. Every person is different, however – what may work well for one person may be ineffective for someone else. This is why the first step is always for me to carry out an initial assessment to see what form of treatment will be best for you.

Below are some of the approaches that may be used throughout the course of treatment to give you an idea of what the sessions will involve. Some may not be effective in certain cases while others will be, and sometimes a combination of two or more methods may be most appropriate.

What’s important to remember however is that these one-to-one sessions are about you. You can be confident that whatever means I employ to help you stop smoking will be based solely on an individual basis – there’s no one-size-fits-all attitude here. So with that said, here are some examples of what you could expect.

Aversion Therapy

Despite the negative-sounding name, this often effective approach relies on making use of a client’s imagination in order to increase their motivation to stop. We would discuss the bad things about smoking that really make you want to quit - whatever those may be - and you would be encouraged to vividly imagine those events or situations coming to pass, following which your motivation to stop would increase.

An alternative would be to work the other way round - by focusing on the benefits that would result from you becoming a non smoker and instead working to intensely realise those feelings and sensations, we can make those benefits more tangible and thus more likely to happen.

Anchoring

Ever heard about Pavlov, the Russian psychologist who observed the ways in which his dogs came to associate the ringing of a bell with the start of feeding time? This idea behind the phrase ‘Pavlovian reaction’ can also be employed to the smoker. By associating or ‘anchoring’ particular feelings and sensations to the act of smoking, it’s possible for a client to very quickly develop negative attitudes to the sights, tastes and smells of cigarettes. Breaking the positive associations that one might have with cigarettes can help greatly with overcoming the cravings that keep many hooked, making it that much easier to cut cigarettes out of one’s life for good.

Enough is Enough (AKA The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back)

At the risk of sounding rather personal, it’s perhaps useful to think of cigarettes as an abusive lover. On the one hand they can give you so much pleasure, and in many cases have been part of a person’s life for such a long period of time that it’s difficult to imagine going through life without that dependable crutch of being able to enjoy a relaxing smoke to take the edge of things.

But of course, we all know that cigarettes are no good for us. They don’t just treat our bodies badly, there’s a very good chance that in the end they will kill us. Many people clearly recognise this and have made attempts to stop and move on but still somehow find themselves crawling back for more. The idea of smoking remains too seductive, and yet it feels so frustrating when our attempts to kick the habit fail, sometimes again and again.

It’s this sense of frustration that we can work with. Some smokers have become fed up of constantly giving up, of having to admit to those closest to them that their latest attempt to quit has ended in failure, of the fact that despite their best intentions they’re still locked in a relationship with nicotine. Their repeated efforts to break the relationship have worked in some cases to help them see just how stupid this form of dependency actually is, and from that have found the strength to stop.

By again drawing on a client’s imagination, it’s possible to simulate and build up these feelings of ‘enough is enough’ to the point where they too can find it in themselves to break free of the toxic ‘romance’ that they have with smoking.

As well as employing these approaches, I can also help to the ease the brain back into its regular cycle of endorphin release to help with those mood cravings. By teaching clients ways to relax and stimulate those areas of the brain that have been affected, the natural balance can hopefully be restored sooner rather than later.

...... Hypnosis ???